Dangers of Soy?

[Guest guest]

Half an hour ago, I had never heard anything about this, but there seems

to be a big movement out there which is trying to raise the alarm about

the "dangers of soy." I'm wondering what others think about this?

 

I hope we can have a calm and considered discussion about this without

getting people upset one way or another. I must say that I do cook a

lot of tofu, not so much of the other specialized soy products.

 

As I mentioned earlier, my Uncle Mike is a hog farmer. One time years

ago when we were visiting his farm, he pointed out that when the soy

beans came out of the silo, they were flash-cooked, because, as he

explained, the raw soy had some chemical that would inhibit the growth

of his pigs. But that's the only hint of the following discussion that

I had ever heard of.

 

I remember that he gave us some soy beans which we took home and cooked.

In general, I found soy beans hard to digest -- but not so with tofu

mixed with seasonings like cumin and turmeric.

 

One danger mentioned is that soy products cause stunted growth, but my 6

foot tall weight-lifting son, who has eaten lots of tofu most of his

life, doesn't seem to have stunted growth

 

Below are the major claims being made against soy. One thing a little

confusing to me is that some websites seem to say that there is more

danger from modern soy foods, especially soy protein isolate and

textured vegetable protein, than traditional fermented products. I

can't quite figure it all out yet.

 

Naturally, I'm wondering what the total marketing dynamic behind this is

alarm: Is this something being whipped up by the meat industry to get

people to leave soy products and go back to eating more meat -- or is

it, as some people say, the problem of Archer Daniels Midland and other

mega-grain-processors doing a marketing job which crushes questions

about the healthiness of all their soy products. I guess we'll see.

 

One thing this calls to mind is an old saying, "the senses are a network

of paths leading to death." Anway, I'm interested to hear what others

have to say on this.

 

I guess the other old saying is:

 

"Chanting Hare Krsna my life will be sublime:

I just have to remember this all of the time."

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi

 

 

From http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.html

 

1. 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.

 

2. Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may

cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin

inhibitors caused stunted growth.

 

3. Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential

to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.

 

4. 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.

 

5. Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the

body's requirement for B12.

 

6. Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.

 

7. Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to

make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.

 

8. Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic

lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.

 

9. Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy

food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.

 

10. Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the

nervous system and the kidneys.