By Eeka King (BA.H.ScAcu)
Many people believe they are doing a good
thing for their health when they turn to Soy over Cow’s milk or as a protein
option in a vegetarian/vegan diet. What you may not be aware of is that
choosing to consume Soy may slowly be killing you. You
may think…it's just a bean from a plant, right? So how bad could it really be? If you take the time to look into the actual
science, then the answer is devastating.
Thousands of studies link soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune
system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive
disorders and infertility- even cancer and heart disease.
Soy in very small and
occasional doses it is not going to do you too much damage, but once you start
ingesting an excessive amount of it, soy's evil side manifests. And it’s easy to overdose on soy and not even
realise it. The more processed foods you’ve got in your pantry, the more soy
you are eating. “Soy is a cheap source of protein for many packaged and processed
foods, so if you are eating protein bars, cereals, bottled dressings,
mayonnaise, vegan meat substitutes, and fast foods, you are probably consuming
soy,” says Vance. You’d be surprised by how many different forms that it can
come in — you'll be able to identify it on a label as soy oil, soy protein
isolates, soy protein, soy lecithin, and textured vegetable protein (TVP),
among others.
There is a widespread misconception that soy
was consumed for many years by Asian cultures and because they are considered
among the ‘most healthy’ race of people, if we consume soy now, we should all
be fine. While this is true, there is a glaring difference between how ancient
Asia prepared soy and how we do today. That key difference: fermenting the soy.
Un-fermented soybeans, what we mainly eat
today, contain large quantities of natural toxins or “anti-nutrients”. Some of
the most important to avoid are potent enzyme inhibitors that block the action
of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. These inhibitors are
tightly folded proteins that do not deactivate during the cooking process.
Without being deactivated, they have the ability to produce serious gastric
distress, reduce protein digestion and chronic deficiencies in amino acid
uptake. Several tests were done on animals that showed diets high in trypsin
inhibitors cause enlargement and pathological conditions of the pancreas,
including cancer.
The un-fermented consumption of soy creates
an environment in the body that is unable to properly digest and
break the protein in soy. This means the soy can become toxic within the body
and create a series of adverse challenges. The Asian cultures consuming soy in
the past knew that soy needed to first be fermented and so they did not consume
it unless it was (Martino, 2013)
Another one of the primary reasons it would
be wise for you to avoid soy is that more than 90% of soybeans grown in the US
are genetically modified (GM). Since the introduction of genetically engineered
foods in 1996, we've had an upsurge in low birth weight babies, infertility,
and other problems in the States, and animal studies have shown devastating
effects from genetically engineered soy including allergies, sterility, birth
defects, and offspring death rates up to five times higher than normal. Soybean
crops are also heavily sprayed with chemical herbicides, such glyphosate which
a French team of researchers have found to be carcinogenic.
Here is a list of 10 dangers (compiled by the
Western A. Price foundation) that comes with consuming un-fermented soy;
Soy
Dangers Summarized
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.
5. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
6. 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.
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.
Some facts on Soy Infant Formula: Birth Control Pills for Babies
Babies fed soy-based formula have 13,000 to 22,000 times more oestrogen compounds in their blood than babies fed milk-based formula. Infants exclusively fed soy formula receive the estrogenic equivalent of at least four birth control pills per day.Male infants undergo a testosterone surge during the first few months of life, when testosterone levels may be as high as those of an adult male. During this period, baby boys are programmed to express male characteristics after puberty, not only in the development of their sexual organs and other masculinity traits, but also in setting patterns in the brain characteristic of male behaviour.
In animals, studies indicate that phytoestrogens in soy are powerful endocrine disrupters. Soy infant feeding, which floods the bloodstream with female hormones that inhibit testosterone, cannot be ignored as a possible cause of disrupted development patterns in boys, including learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder.
Male children exposed to DES, a synthetic oestrogen, had testes smaller than normal on maturation and infant marmoset monkeys fed soy isoflavones had a reduction in testosterone levels up to 70 % compared to milk-fed controls.
Almost 15% of white girls and 50% of African-Americans girls show signs of puberty, such as breast development and pubic hair, before the age of eight. Some girls are showing sexual development before the age of three. Premature development of girls has been linked to the use of soy formula and exposure to environmental oestrogen-mimickers such as PCBs and DDE.
Intake of phytoestrogens even at moderate levels during pregnancy can have adverse affects on the developing foetus and the timing of puberty later in life.
So
what Soy products are good for you?
The
only soy with health benefits is organic soy that has been properly fermented,
and these are the only soy products I ever recommend consuming.
After
a long fermentation process, the phytate and "anti-nutrient" levels
of soybeans are reduced, and their beneficial properties become available to
your digestive system.
The
primary fermented soy products that can be consumed moderately are:
* Tempeh- a fermented soybean cake with a firm texture
and nutty, mushroom-like flavour.
* Miso- a fermented soybean paste with a salty, buttery
texture (commonly used in miso soup).
* Natto- fermented soybeans with a sticky texture and
strong, cheese-like flavour.
* Soy sauce- traditionally made by fermenting
soybeans, salt and enzymes. Be wary because many varieties on the market today are
made artificially using a chemical process, so please check!
Please
note that tofu is NOT on the list. Tofu is not
fermented. Also BONSOY milk is the only soya milk made from fermented soybeans,
however, I am not sure if I can recommend it as it was recoiled some years back
due to excessive iodine levels (due to an ingredient- kombu) that caused
thyroid problems in hundreds of people. It may be fine now? One big nature
providing clue, which makes it very clear to me that soy, is not really meant
for humans to eat, is the fact that soybeans are horrid on the palate. No
normal person could eat them. That’s why all soymilks on the market are loaded
with fillers, oils and other ingredients so you can get it down!
References
Daniel (2012) The whole soy story: the dark side of
America’s favourite health food
Western A Price foundation- http://www.westonaprice.org/soy-alert/not-so-soy-healthy-for-the-heart
Dr Joseph Mercola- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/soy-health_b_1822466.html
