Saturday, June 26, 2010

Thoughts on Soy

One of the (many) reasons I stopped eating processed foods was because I eliminated soy from my diet. I believe I've mentioned before that I think soy sucks. Here is a quickie link that further discusses the matter: Westin A Price Foundation (thanks to the cat who directed me to that site, btw!). But for me, soy was one of the ingredients that appeared to be messing up my tum. So away it went, and along with it everything between the dairy and produce aisles at Whole Foods.

Seriously. If you ever take a gander at the ingredient labels on "organic" or "natural" processed foods (cereals, bread, crackers, cookies, frozen dinners, soup, and so on and so forth....) I would be surprised if soy (in some way, shape or form) didn't pop up as the first or second or third ingredient. I used to swear by Kashi products...until I realized that all it is is puffed up soy. Sorry Kashi.


Granted, soy is a good source of protein, and if you don't eat meat/chicken/fish and you get sick of beans, I suppose this can be an option (if soy doesn't upset your stomach). But I would opt for it in it's least processed form (edamame - baby soybeans, perhaps?). Make sure it's cooked, however...apparently it's toxic to humans in raw form (from wikipedia: For human consumption, soybeans must be cooked with "wet" heat in order to destroy the trypsin inhibitors (serine protease inhibitors). Raw soybeans, including edamame, are toxic to humans, swine, chickens, in fact, all monogastric animals.[12]). Tofu and tempeh and all the other faux "meats" are easier to digest, but they are out for me...since they are primarily just versions of congealed soy. I'd rather have an egg! Yum, I heart eggs.



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

love your eggs mamma

margit said...

meg's eggs!

Anonymous said...

http://westonaprice.org/soy-alert.html

Soy Protein said...

Soy protein is a great protein, especially if you want a good substitute for animal protein because it contains all the essential amino acids and is a highly digestible protein so when your consume it, your body is able to process most of it. Soy has also been shown to reduce cholesterol, the risk of heart disease, and is also thought to reduce the risk of prostate cancer, colon cancer and osteoporosis.

margit said...

@soy protein - I certainly don't disagree that it is a good option for vegans and vegetarians. My feeling, however, is that it is QUITE frequently used as a main ingredient in "healthy" processed foods. Here is some info from wikipedia, for what it's worth. Always good to see both sides:

In January 2006, an American Heart Association review (in the journal Circulation) of a decade-long study of soy protein benefits casts doubt on the FDA allowed "Heart Healthy" claim for soy protein. The panel also found that soy isoflavones do not reduce postmenopause "hot flashes" in women, nor do isoflavones help prevent cancers of the breast, uterus, or prostate. Thus, soy isoflavones in the form of supplements are not recommended. Among the conclusions, the authors state, "In contrast, soy products such as tofu, soy butter, soy nuts, or some soy burgers should be beneficial to cardiovascular and overall health because of their high content of polyunsaturated fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals and low content of saturated fat. Using these and other soy foods to replace foods high in animal protein that contain saturated fat and cholesterol may confer benefits to cardiovascular health." -- Sacks et al. 113 (7): 1034—Circulation Article
The original paper is in the journal Circulation: January 17, 2006.[21]
Soy is also rich in estrogenic compounds such as genistein and daidzein; however, research is conflicting as to whether or not it can cause increases in estrogen in males.[22]