Tofu the unhealthy alternative?

Here is one persons view on soy:

http://meghantelpnerblog.com/2009/09/16/no-fu-to-tofu/

(note, I am not associated with Meghan, but I have taken one of her classes, and I really have learned a lot from her nutritional ideas)

http://www.veghealthguide.com/soy-tofu/

Personally, I don't think you should eat any food too often, mainly because it makes it boring... I do eat tofu, maybe like once every few weeks. Other than that, I don't really have "meat replacers" since I think it's better for you to just eat plant foods. I guess I use some soy milk for cooking as it works better in recipes than rice milk, and I like eating soy beans... Personally, I don't think tofu would ever be as bad as eating a cow...

I would eat it in moderation. I am vegan and developed a very severe soy allergy (landed me in the ER 2x with face swollen beyond belief and my body covered in hives) from eating too much soy during a particularly stressful period in my life.
I was trying to eat "clean" to help with my stress levels and consuming a lot of tofu and soymilk.

You have to realize soy is in EVERYTHING! Crackers, salad dressings, all margerines (except earth balance soy-free), most cereals and processed carbs like bread and bagels.
So, even if you dont think you are eating soy, people are actually consuming tons of it every day without knowing it.

I think that is where the problem lies. People are already eating a lot of soy in everyday products and then if they start eating it in veggie burgers, tofu, etc the amount of soy is just too much for the body to handle.

Im now a soy-free vegan, which is not as difficult as you would think. I just have to read every label and I eat beans, lentils, quinoa, chickpeas and nuts for protein.

I just made two pounds of homemade tofu today, so let me explain the processing to you. Tofu is a cheese and is made in a similar fashion to milk cheese, minus the aging process.

I start with whole, dried beans and soak them in water for at least eight hours until they swell about double in size. I let them soak a few extra hours just to be sure they are fully hydrated.

Today I use a soy milk maker but here's the process I used to follow, which is essentially what the soymilk maker does.

1. Grind the soaked beans into a paste.
2. Cook the paste in boiling water.
3. Strain off the paste, leaving the soy milk.

At this point, you have drinkable soy milk. It tastes good with a little carob or chocolate and a little honey as a hot beverage. I used to make a cup of hot drink at this point to enjoy while I completed the rest of the tofu process, which is what I still do and will explain here.

4. Stirring the soy milk slowly, I add lemon juice or vinegar as a curdling agent. I choose the one I use based on whether I want a lemony flavor to the tofu. Other curdling agents may be used by factories.
5. I let the curdling agent work for about ten minutes but it's really finished curdling the milk after about five minutes.
6. I pour the resulting curds and whey through a colander lined with cheesecloth.
7. I press out the whey, leaving the curds.
8. Folding the cheesecloth over the top, I leave a weight on the curds for about a half hour.

Now I have a nice, meaty tofu. That's all the processing it takes and bad things are not added. How tofu is packaged at the factory may be another story. I'm not familiar with that end of things.

When I make it, I eat a lot. However, I don't make it more than twice a month, so it's not the main dish in my diet all the time. Everything in moderation is good. :-)

I think everyone's body and response to soy is different. I've had 3 doctors and 3 dietitians "forbid" me from eating additional soy (they realize it seems to be in every processed food). I'm a woman, and started having lots of abnormal bleeding when I tried to switch from fat free milk to soy milk. I have a male friend who had to stop the soy because he started growning "man boobs" (his words!). (As soon as he cut out soy, his "man boobs" went away.) My daughter-in-law barely weighs 100 pounds and has eaten soy every day all of her life with no apparent side effects. My GYN says I manufactor enough estrogen -- I certainly don't need to add more to my diet! I know they say the ill-effects of soy-based estrogen is bunk, but I know how my body feels when I eat soy (lousy), and my male friend certainly wasn't happy with his "man boobs!" How does YOUR body react to it? I'd let that be my guide. I've been doing great with my weight loss by trying to avoid processed foods as much as possible (about 80/20 raw/processed).