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
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 nor 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.
Soybeans also contain hemagglutinin, which causes
red blood cells to lump together. Soybeans are also
high in phytates, an organic acids which blocks
the uptake of calcium, magnesium, iron, and especially zinc and contributes to widespread mineral
deficiencies. 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.
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.
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, coy 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.
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 effects on infants kidneys
and may be a cause of Alzheimer’s in adults.
Soy formula lack 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
sub-stances present in soybeans may have
a pro-cancer effect when consumed unfermented.
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 require 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, sea foods, 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.
