re: OT: soya

[Guest guest]

Here is an article that I have saved in my files.

 

 

HOW SAFE IS SOY?

Susun S Weed

 

Condensation of an article in NewLife Mag, May '96, by Sally Fallon, M.A. and

Mary Enig, Ph.D.

 

 

With widespread concern about the possible unhealthy effects of commercial meat

and cows' milk many more people than before are using soy products as

substitutes for animal products. Soy products are supposed to be high protein,

low calorie, devoid of cholesterol, and easy to digest. The authors disagree on

most of these counts.

 

Soybeans were one of the five sacred grains(1) in the Orient according to

records dating back to before 1134. Agricultural reports speak frequently of

using soybeans in crop rotation (to fix nitrogen and thus improve soil

fertility) but there is no indication that soybeans were eaten until

fermentation processes were discovered, sometime around 440 BCE. The first soy

products eaten by people were tempeh, natto, miso, and shoyu tamari. And it was

not until some centuries later (2nd Century BCE) that the process of making tofu

was discovered.

 

While it is true that the people of the Orient have relied heavily on tofu as a

source of protein for about a thousand years, this is not necessarily by choice

or beneficial. The early Chinese did not eat soybeans, although they did eat

other pulses, because they recognized the large quantities of a number of

harmful substances which have been well studied scientifically. Some of the most

detrimental are potent trypsin inhibitors which block the action of enzymes

needed for protein digestion(2). Soybeans also contain hemagglutinin, which

causes red blood cells to lump together. Soybeans are also high in phytates, an

organic acid which blocks the uptake of calcium, magnesium, iron, and especially

zinc, and contributes to widespread mineral deficiencies(3). In fact there are

more phytates in soybeans than in any other grain, bean, or plant studied and

these phytates are remarkably resistant to reduction techniques. Only a long

period of fermentation will significantly reduce the phytate content of

soybeans. The phytates and other anti-nutrients in soybeans are only partially

deactivated during ordinary cooking and can produce gas, reduce protein

digestion, and create chronic deficiencies in children(4).

 

Another way to moderate the harmful effects of tofu and other unfermented

soybean products is to eat tofu with meat or fish, as is traditionally done in

the Orient. Vegetarians - especially vegetarian children - who eat tofu and

drink soy milk as substitutes for meat and dairy products are at very high risk

of loss of bone mass and severe mineral deficiencies. Oriental children who eat

soy but no meat, eggs, or dairy often suffer from rickets, stunted growth, and

lowered intelligence. Unfermented soy virtually destroys all zinc in the body;

and zinc is critical for optimal development and functioning of the brain,

nervous system and immune system.

 

To what do we owe the current upsurge in use of soy products such as TVP and

tofu in America? Most of the 140 billion pounds of soybeans raised in the USA

every year are made into animal feed or pressed into soy oil(5).

 

The soy industry has concentrated for 20 years on creating markets for the

byproducts of soy oil manufacture: lecithin and soy protein. But these were

generally (and rightly) considered " poverty foods " and rejected by most

consumers.

 

The soy industry recognized that, according to a spokesman: " The quickest way to

gain product acceptability in a less affluent market is to have the product

consumed on its own merit by those who are more affluent. " Thus these soy

byproducts have been cleverly marketed to resemble traditional foods: soy milk

malteds, soy baby formula, soy yogurt, soy ice cream, soy cheese, soy hot dogs,

and so on. Let's face it: these are fake products, not health foods.

 

The production of soy milk does remove trypsin inhibitors, but at the expense of

denaturing the proteins, making them indigestible, of creating a carcinogen,

lysinealine, and of reducing the cystine content, an essential amino acid which

is already very low in soybeans(6). The phytate content remains, further

deranging the diet.

 

Soy formula and soy milk is often made with soy protein isolate, an extremely

refined product lacking virtually all minerals and vitamins. Many soy formulas

sold for infants are rich in trypsin-inhibitors which can stunt growth. And all

contain staggering amounts of mineral-depleting phytates. The aluminum content

of soy formula is 100 times greater than unprocessed milk. Aluminum has a toxic

effect on infants’ kidneys and may be a cause of Alzheimer's in adults. Soy

formula lacks three important nutrients found in all milk: cholesterol, which is

essential for brain development, and lactose and galactose, which play vital

roles in the development and functioning of the nerves.

 

All is not what it seems with the supposed health benefits of soy. Allergies to

soy are at least as common as allergies to milk. Nitrosamines, potent

carcinogens often associated with meat, are found in high concentrations in all

commercial soy protein foods. Isoflavones, anticarcinogenic substances present

in soybeans may have a pro-cancer effect when consumed unfermented(7). Although

soybeans contain large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, these acids are

particularly susceptible to rancidity when subjected to the high heat and

pressure required to remove the oil from the bean; such rancidity promotes

cancer and heart disease. Additionally, all soy oil is extracted with a solvent,

traces of which remain in the oil.

 

In addition to containing anti-nutrients, soybeans lack these important

nutritional elements (found in all animal products): cysteine, vitamin B12,

vitamins A and D, and cholesterol. Consumption of unfermented soy products

actually increases the body's needs for vitamin D and vitamin B12.

 

To summarize: traditional fermented soy products, especially when made with

organic beans, are beneficial in the diet when combined with rice, seafoods, and

fermented vegetables. The value of other soy products is questionable at best,

disease causing at worst. The use of soy as a primary protein source is

misguided.

 

Condensed by:

 

Susun Weed

PO Box 64

Woodstock, NY 12498

Fax: 1-845-246-8081