Safe Soy – The Danger of Soy
The story of soy and how it went from a relatively obscure and rarely eaten industry to a $6.6 billion a year industry and growing is an intriguing one.
In 1913, soybeans were listed in the USDA guide not as a food but as an industrial by-product. Originally cultivated in the United States on a large scale in order to extract soybean oil—which eventually replaced healthier tropical oils—the by-product of the process was a massive amount of soy protein.
You’d think the (already existing) knowledge that soy was not suitable for food for animals would have led someone to conclude that the same is true for humans. But the temptation to turn a huge problem into a huge opportunity triumphs.
Through glossy marketing, intense lobbying with the Food and Drug Administration, and a smear campaign against tropical oils, the soybean industry has been extremely effective in portraying soybeans as an ideal protein and an excellent way to lower cholesterol; Reducing menopausal symptoms. and prevention of heart disease. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It seems ironic that soy is accepted as a health food when, says Dr. Kayla Daniel, author of the most comprehensive book ever written about the soy deception — “The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food,” says “Thousands of studies link soy to malnutrition, gastrointestinal distress, immune system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction and cognitive decline, reproductive cancer and infertility.”
After reviewing decades of studies on the health benefits of soy, the American Heart Association’s Nutrition Committee found little or no evidence to support the above claims — that soy foods lower cholesterol, reduce symptoms associated with menopause — or that soy also helps prevent prostate, breast, and uterine cancer.
So, is soy safe? Keep the following in mind – soybeans contain some potentially harmful ingredients including:
o Anti-nutritional, which contain inhibitors that act to deter enzymes needed for protein digestion,
o Hemagglutinin, which causes red blood cells to clump
o GITROGEN which can lead to depression of thyroid function
o Phytates that prevent the absorption of minerals
o Phytoestrogens that inhibit estrogen
Oh aluminium
o and toxic levels of manganese, a trace element we already need daily in small amounts, but excess exposure to which can negatively affect the nervous system
And if that wasn’t enough to put you off temporarily – most soybeans are genetically modified and tainted with loads of pesticides.
Two-thirds of processed foods contain some type of soy, so you may be consuming it and not knowing it. Learn to read food labels, and watch out for soy protein isolate; Soy oil; Soy protein concentrate, textured vegetable protein and hydrolyzed vegetable protein in ingredients.
What about the dangers of soy milk? While soy milk is nothing more than a waste product of the tofu-making process, it is still growing in popularity as more consumers drink it instead of milk. Did you know that drinking two cups of soy milk daily for one month contains enough phytoestrogens to change a woman’s menstrual cycle?
Furthermore, tofu is not ‘natural’, but a highly processed form of soybean curd, and it has all the health risks associated with other highly processed soy foods, including possible risks to the brain.
If fermented and non-GMO, soybeans can be a healthy addition to your diet. Fermented soy products include tempeh, miso, natto, soy sauce, or tamari.
Quite frankly, the words “soy” and “health” don’t seem to belong in the same phrase -. You’d be doing yourself a huge health favor by completely eliminating all soy from your diet.
