Soy is NOT a health food
Have you heard that soy is a health food? The truth about soy is surprising to say the least. When you are done reading this article you most likely reconsider eating soy….
Here is a summary of health concerns from eating soy
The propaganda that has created the soy sales miracle is all the more remarkable because only a few centuries ago the soybean was considered unfit to eat—even in Asia. The Chinese did not eat unfermented soybeans as they did other legumes such as lentils because the soybean contains large quantities of natural toxins or "anti-nutrients”.
Soy can produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake.
Soy contains growth inhibitors—rats fed soy containing these anti-nutrients (trypsin inhibitors and hemagglutinin) fail to grow normally.
Soy also contains goitrogens, substances that depress thyroid function, a fact that has been known for at least 50 years.
Soybeans are high in phytic acid, present in the bran or hulls of all seeds, a substance that can block the uptake of essential minerals--calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc—in the intestinal tract.
Only a long period of fermentation will significantly reduce the phytate content of soybeans (the anti-nutrients).
Vegetarians who consume tofu and bean curd as a substitute for meat and dairy products risk severe mineral deficiencies. The results of calcium, magnesium and iron deficiency are well known.
Soy processors have worked hard to get these anti-nutrients out of the finished product, particularly soy protein isolate (SPI), which is the key ingredient in most soy foods that imitate meat and dairy products, including baby formulas and some brands of soy milk. SPI is not something you can make in your own kitchen. Production takes place in industrial factories where a slurry of soy beans is first mixed with an alkaline solution to remove fiber, then precipitated and separated using an acid wash and finally neutralized in an alkaline solution. Acid washing in aluminum tanks leaches high levels of aluminum into the final product. The resultant curds are spray dried at high temperatures to produce a high protein powder. A final indignity to the original soy bean is high-temperature, high-pressure extrusion processing of soy protein isolate to produce textured vegetable protein (TVP). High-temperature processing has the unfortunate side effect of so denaturing the other proteins in soy that they are rendered largely ineffective
Nitrites, which are potent carcinogens, are formed during spray drying, and a toxin called lysinoalanine is formed during alkaline processing. Numerous artificial flavorings, particularly MSG, are added to soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein products to mask their strong "beany" taste, and impart the flavor of meat.25
In feeding experiments, use of soy protein isolate increased requirements for vitamins E, K, D and B12 and created deficiency symptoms of calcium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, copper, iron and zinc.
Thousands of women are now consuming soy in the belief that it protects them against breast cancer. Yet in 1996 researchers found that women consuming soy protein isolate had an increased incidence of epithelial hyperplasia, a condition that presages malignancies.45 A year later, dietary genistein was found to stimulate breast cells to enter the cell cycle, a discovery that led the study authors to conclude that women should not consume soy products to prevent breast cancer.
Dr. Fitzpatrick's literature review uncovered evidence that soy consumption has been linked to numerous disorders, including infertility, increased cancer and infantile leukemia; and, in studies dating back to the 1950s, that genistein in soy causes endocrine disruption in animals.
In 1991, Japanese researchers reported that consumption of as little as 30 grams or 2 tablespoons of soybeans per day for only one month resulted in a significant increase in thyroid stimulating hormone. Diffuse goitre and hypothyroidism appeared in some of the subjects and many complained of constipation, fatigue and lethargy, even though their intake of iodine was adequate. In 1997, researchers from the FDA's National Center for Toxicological Research made the embarrassing discovery that the goitrogenic components of soy were the very same isoflavones.
In vitro studies suggest that isoflavones inhibit synthesis of estradiol and other steroid hormones. Reproductive problems, infertility, thyroid disease and liver disease due to dietary intake of isoflavones have been observed for several species of animals including mice, cheetah, quail, pigs, rats, sturgeon and sheep.
Considering all these facts, it would be wise to remove soy from your diet as much as possible, if you eat soy only eat small quantities of fermented soy.
Here is a summary of health concerns from eating soy
- High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
- Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
- Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
- Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
- Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.
- Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.
- Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
- Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
- Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.
- Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.
The propaganda that has created the soy sales miracle is all the more remarkable because only a few centuries ago the soybean was considered unfit to eat—even in Asia. The Chinese did not eat unfermented soybeans as they did other legumes such as lentils because the soybean contains large quantities of natural toxins or "anti-nutrients”.
Soy can produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake.
Soy contains growth inhibitors—rats fed soy containing these anti-nutrients (trypsin inhibitors and hemagglutinin) fail to grow normally.
Soy also contains goitrogens, substances that depress thyroid function, a fact that has been known for at least 50 years.
Soybeans are high in phytic acid, present in the bran or hulls of all seeds, a substance that can block the uptake of essential minerals--calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc—in the intestinal tract.
Only a long period of fermentation will significantly reduce the phytate content of soybeans (the anti-nutrients).
Vegetarians who consume tofu and bean curd as a substitute for meat and dairy products risk severe mineral deficiencies. The results of calcium, magnesium and iron deficiency are well known.
Soy processors have worked hard to get these anti-nutrients out of the finished product, particularly soy protein isolate (SPI), which is the key ingredient in most soy foods that imitate meat and dairy products, including baby formulas and some brands of soy milk. SPI is not something you can make in your own kitchen. Production takes place in industrial factories where a slurry of soy beans is first mixed with an alkaline solution to remove fiber, then precipitated and separated using an acid wash and finally neutralized in an alkaline solution. Acid washing in aluminum tanks leaches high levels of aluminum into the final product. The resultant curds are spray dried at high temperatures to produce a high protein powder. A final indignity to the original soy bean is high-temperature, high-pressure extrusion processing of soy protein isolate to produce textured vegetable protein (TVP). High-temperature processing has the unfortunate side effect of so denaturing the other proteins in soy that they are rendered largely ineffective
Nitrites, which are potent carcinogens, are formed during spray drying, and a toxin called lysinoalanine is formed during alkaline processing. Numerous artificial flavorings, particularly MSG, are added to soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein products to mask their strong "beany" taste, and impart the flavor of meat.25
In feeding experiments, use of soy protein isolate increased requirements for vitamins E, K, D and B12 and created deficiency symptoms of calcium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, copper, iron and zinc.
Thousands of women are now consuming soy in the belief that it protects them against breast cancer. Yet in 1996 researchers found that women consuming soy protein isolate had an increased incidence of epithelial hyperplasia, a condition that presages malignancies.45 A year later, dietary genistein was found to stimulate breast cells to enter the cell cycle, a discovery that led the study authors to conclude that women should not consume soy products to prevent breast cancer.
Dr. Fitzpatrick's literature review uncovered evidence that soy consumption has been linked to numerous disorders, including infertility, increased cancer and infantile leukemia; and, in studies dating back to the 1950s, that genistein in soy causes endocrine disruption in animals.
In 1991, Japanese researchers reported that consumption of as little as 30 grams or 2 tablespoons of soybeans per day for only one month resulted in a significant increase in thyroid stimulating hormone. Diffuse goitre and hypothyroidism appeared in some of the subjects and many complained of constipation, fatigue and lethargy, even though their intake of iodine was adequate. In 1997, researchers from the FDA's National Center for Toxicological Research made the embarrassing discovery that the goitrogenic components of soy were the very same isoflavones.
In vitro studies suggest that isoflavones inhibit synthesis of estradiol and other steroid hormones. Reproductive problems, infertility, thyroid disease and liver disease due to dietary intake of isoflavones have been observed for several species of animals including mice, cheetah, quail, pigs, rats, sturgeon and sheep.
Considering all these facts, it would be wise to remove soy from your diet as much as possible, if you eat soy only eat small quantities of fermented soy.