Soybean vs soybean oil

[Guest guest]

Dear Jahnu Dvipa Prabhu,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

>Soybeans and hence also the oil are absolutely useless and even harmful for

>human consumption, especially if taken on a regular basis. Soy is totally

>in the mode of ignorance.

 

Well, taking Prabhupada's words in their face value, I guess you may want to

reconsider this point:

 

"So far this soy sauce, I have no personal experience with it. I understand

soy beans are nice, but I do not know about this soy sauce".

-- Srila Prabhupada's letter to Janardana — Los Angeles, 2 March, 1969

 

But, getting back on track, once again -- we were discussing if vegetable

oils are acceptable as ghee replacements or as a cooking media, and not

their comparative health benefits, culinary values or Vedic roots.

 

>From Srila Prabhupada's direct statement "vegetable ghee is all right if

real ghee is not available or easily acquired". (letter to Dines Candra, 13

July 1971) I understand that the answer to this question is "yes". Nothing I

have read so far in this discussion has convinced me otherwise.

 

I apologize that by my inadvertent remark about some oils as being more

healthy than ghee I have channeled the discussion in the wrong direction.

However, from my short research into Ayurvedic cooking I could glean that,

for instance, sesame oil is also extolled by Ayurveda as ”vegetable ghee",

which is extremely beneficial for human health.

 

See, for instance, http://ayurveda-foryou.com/treat/vegdiet.html

 

"Ayurveda has described various types of oils e.g. sesame, mustard, coconut,

linseed, castor oil, safflower, sunflower, and cottonseed. According to

Ayurveda the wholesome oil for cooking is sesame and unwholesome is that of

safflower. The proportion of fat and /oils should be 1/3 saturated fatty

acid (ghee, butter), 1/3 omega 3 (mustard etc.) and 1/3 omega 6 (sesame,

coconut). Hydrogenated oil is harmful for body. It increases pitta. It

should not be used for cooking. Ayurveda considers sesame oil as nutritious

and wholesome while safflower oil as unwholesome as it increases pitta as

well as not nutritious also".

 

But, again, as a tyro in Ayurveda, I would rather not discuss this topic any

further.

 

>This is especially true of modern soy products that

>are without almost no exception all made from gene-manipulated soy beans.

 

Honestly, I also believe that the real issue about soy oil is not the oil

itself, which is fine, but the GM-soybeans from which it may be mostly made.

For this reason only I would steer clear from it unless I am certain it is

not made from genetically modified crops.

 

However, this does not mean that the oil itself is useless even if it is

derived from pure beans, which "are nice" (SP).

 

Thank you for your patience.

 

Your servant,

Madana-mohana das