My Soy Rant

CoderGal
CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
in Food and Nutrition
First I'd like to say that yes, I do eat soy, and drink soy milk. I replied to so many soy related questions I decided to make a post and put most of the info here. This is a collection of information that I've gotten.

SOY:

It tastes nasty according to many, and you probably get enough in your diet, it's in everything these days. Try to find a regular loaf of bread in a grocery store that doesn't contain it. It's in things such as:

{quote]breads, crackers, cakes, rolls, or pastries containing peanuts, peanut oil, soy flour, processed and "natural" cereals, pasta, soy beans, soybean sprouts, sauces, fruit drink mixes, fruit toppings, coffee substitutes instant coffee, hot cocoa mixes, malt beverages, pork link sausage, deli/luncheon meats, commercially prepared meats (used as a meat extender), cheese substitutes, tofu, bean curd, natto, miso, textured vegetable protein, canned soups, commercial entrees, and combination foods, baked goods, such as cakes or cookies which contain soy flour, commercial ice creams and other frozen desserts, Hard candies, nut candies, fudge, and caramels, protein powders (even ones that are not soy protein based), margarine and butter substitutes salad dressings, mayonnaise, sauces, or gravies, Commercial vegetarian products and meat substitutes Heinz® Worcestershire sauce, Lea & Perrins® sauce, fermented soybean pastes (miso and natto), soy sauce, tamari sauce, granola, breakfast bars, Imitation bacon bits, Roasted soybeans or "soy nuts"... http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/allergy/soy.html - Children's Hospital at Standford
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/consumer-centre/food-safety-tips/labelling-food-packaging-and-storage/soy/eng/1332437930120/1332437995901 - Canadian Food Inspection Agency
[/quote]

There are many nutrients in soy that are wonderful, but it's added to so many of our foods these days, one hardly needs it added to their diet. Especially since you can get these nutrients elsewhere. It's to the point that it's a big deal to not have soy in your food, so they put a big bold label on food packaging. If we turn to my friend Google we'll find that a lot of thyroid and other types of prevention websites suggest avoiding soy (a link or 2 is provided below).

Still feel like arguing that you should gorge yourself every day with tofu, soy milk, and soy protein powder? watch and learn....and read...

Video

Soy Myths Exposed: The Dangers of Soy: (talks about which soys to avoid, worth the watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uIn2L90wA8&feature=player_embedded

Reads

Soy and the Thyroid (hormonal problems): http://thyroid.about.com/cs/soyinfo/a/soy.htm

Thyroid/Cancer/Soy: http://www.westonaprice.org/blogs/kdaniel/2012/02/02/thyroid-cancer-on-the-rise-is-soy-a-cause/
Pro Soy Cancer Doctor is even frightened by the facts: http://thyroid.about.com/cs/soyinfo/a/soy.htm

Study: soys link to cognitive impairment and brain atrophy: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10763906?dopt=Abstract
Soy info, Brain Damage and breast cancer: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/09/18/soy-can-damage-your-health.aspx

How to prevent thyroid disease: http://www.ehow.com/how_5678448_prevent-thyroid-disease.html

There are also many books out there talking about the negative affects of soy...can't remember the popular one...I think it's called "The truth about soy" or something and then there are the ones mentioned in the links above.

Also, there's different types of soy. Not all of them have been proven bad (which you'll get if you read the links and video).

Replies

  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    The video even touches on infant formulas that include and exclude soy.
  • tameejean
    tameejean Posts: 197 Member
    I have endocrin issues, so I avoid it. You are right, it's in absolutely everything...and it's almost always GMO :/
  • cheesy_blasters
    cheesy_blasters Posts: 283 Member
    The GMO issue drives me crazy. I want to option to choose to or not to eat GMO foods. It sucks when GMO crops end up affecting biodiversity.

    What freaks me out is that for someone (like me) who is switching to a vegetarian/vegan diet, it's sooo easy to eat an diet that's all soy with some veggies. I eat tofu like no one's business (and edamame) but there are other ways to create delicious foods without resorting to making fake meat with soy. It's the same as only eating chicken and veggies. You miss out on other beneficial nutrients when there's no diet diversity.

    I'm really interested in hearing stuff like this when it comes to cultures where eating soy in incredibly common (in China I ate tofu in some form for every meal- now it was freshly made, not the fake meat stuff we have here). Most of what I've read is always from a NA perspective, which is interesting since our farming/political/environmental climate is very different than China's but it's nice to hear from a world-wide angle as well.
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
    I can't really have soy anymore. I used to eat a lot of it when I was a vegan/full vegetarian, but now if I have soya milk, I notice I get bunged up and gain weight. I also have hypothyroidism so it isn't good for me anyway.
  • AlabasterJar68
    AlabasterJar68 Posts: 121
    I enjoyed drinking soy milk and found out that it was aggravating my fibroids.
  • Jencogneeto
    Jencogneeto Posts: 3 Member
    Since my body is violently opposed to soy, I avoid it whenever I can. Between that and not doing artificial sweeteners, it's getting damned complicated finding foods I like that aren't horrible for me, especially when I want a treat.

    Guess my love affair with greek yogurt and fruit will just have to continue. :)
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    There is way too much soy consumed in this country. The only safe soy is fermented soy, and 98% of soy is unfermented garbage that is basically toxic.

    I have hashimoto's thyroiditis, so i never ever EVER consume soy, but even if I could - I wouldn't, for the reason state above.
  • Jadzea42
    Jadzea42 Posts: 20
    Soy makes me FAT! So I avoid it at all cost even SOY Protein.
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
    I'm allergic to unfermented soy. Even if I was not, I would still avoid it.
  • Samstudent88
    Samstudent88 Posts: 135
    I started drinking soy milk because I noticed it had less calories...and in all honesty..I think it tastes better than cows milk?
  • saragato
    saragato Posts: 1,154
    I wasn't aware it was that prevalent in every day items. I don't have problems with it, morally or in terms of body reactions, but with that knowledge it does make it seem rather excessive for people who don't need to consume it in place of something else (like, say, dairy products due to lactose intolerance) to gorge themselves on it and then act high and mighty.

    I get it's a health fad, but it's rather scary that it can hurt you like that. But I guess that's usually what happens with these fads, huh?
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
    I eat soy every day, doesn't bother me.
  • saragato
    saragato Posts: 1,154
    I started drinking soy milk because I noticed it had less calories...and in all honesty..I think it tastes better than cows milk?

    I drank soy milk for a while and thought the same thing. I think the difference is you're not getting that taste of the milk fat that can sometimes be real tangy or even sour tasting depending on how fresh and untouched (as in, they didn't add stuff in) it is. I still drink cow's milk over it because it's cheaper for more. Those cartons I can go through in a couple days, same with the cow's milk the same size. Wasn't ever anything health-wise that justified spending more for it.
  • cheesy_blasters
    cheesy_blasters Posts: 283 Member
    I wouldn't say it's a 'fad' per say...it's been used for thousands of years and can be really beneficial. I think it's just become so cheap to grow in NA that it's become a victim of over-processing and over-use. It's used as filler now and it's generally not very high quality.

    So sad because freshly made tofu is amazing. I used to make my own and it tasted like nothing else :)
  • veganpoler
    veganpoler Posts: 50 Member
    I'm not afraid of soy. Soybeans are just...beans. They aren't miracle foods but they aren't something to fear, either. Those products that contain trace GMO soy are very processed - if you get a natural bread, like an artisan bread, or you make it yourself, there are only a handful of ingredients in it, and not soy. I would say that eating these foods is bad for you not because of the soy, but because they are just generally unhealthy, processed foods.

    I eat tofu and tempeh, and I drink soy milk and eat soy milk yogurt, and it doesn't worry me at all. People in Asian countries have been eating these soy products for ages (well, maybe not the yogurt) and they are among the healthiest populations in the world. You can find organic soy milk and organic tofu quite easily at just about any store, and if it is organic, that means it is not GMO.

    Bottom line: a whole foods diet is not going to include "hidden" soy and the soy foods that you choose to eat with this diet are not dangerous, unless of course you are allergic.
  • katenmills
    katenmills Posts: 113 Member
    The GMO issue drives me crazy. I want to option to choose to or not to eat GMO foods. It sucks when GMO crops end up affecting biodiversity.

    What freaks me out is that for someone (like me) who is switching to a vegetarian/vegan diet, it's sooo easy to eat an diet that's all soy with some veggies. I eat tofu like no one's business (and edamame) but there are other ways to create delicious foods without resorting to making fake meat with soy. It's the same as only eating chicken and veggies. You miss out on other beneficial nutrients when there's no diet diversity.

    I'm really interested in hearing stuff like this when it comes to cultures where eating soy in incredibly common (in China I ate tofu in some form for every meal- now it was freshly made, not the fake meat stuff we have here). Most of what I've read is always from a NA perspective, which is interesting since our farming/political/environmental climate is very different than China's but it's nice to hear from a world-wide angle as well.


    GMO crops increase biodiversity..
  • cheesy_blasters
    cheesy_blasters Posts: 283 Member
    The GMO issue drives me crazy. I want to option to choose to or not to eat GMO foods. It sucks when GMO crops end up affecting biodiversity.

    What freaks me out is that for someone (like me) who is switching to a vegetarian/vegan diet, it's sooo easy to eat an diet that's all soy with some veggies. I eat tofu like no one's business (and edamame) but there are other ways to create delicious foods without resorting to making fake meat with soy. It's the same as only eating chicken and veggies. You miss out on other beneficial nutrients when there's no diet diversity.

    I'm really interested in hearing stuff like this when it comes to cultures where eating soy in incredibly common (in China I ate tofu in some form for every meal- now it was freshly made, not the fake meat stuff we have here). Most of what I've read is always from a NA perspective, which is interesting since our farming/political/environmental climate is very different than China's but it's nice to hear from a world-wide angle as well.


    GMO crops increase biodiversity..

    I guess I simplified it a bit too much. The emergence of the modern agricultural system has caused a decrease in biodiversity, globally. Large scale farming is so common now, most farms use GMO seeds. it's easier. They're also commonly used in developing countries. It creates a monoculture. In terms of my personal experience, all the farmers I know have a much harder time procuring the same seeds they did a decade ago.

    The Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN has already been discussing this for awhile.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    soy is cheap junk filler. I avoid it as much as I can. Dont ask for a study. I may be wrong, but soy just seems wrong all the way around. It has nothing that cant be found elsewhere.
  • veganpoler
    veganpoler Posts: 50 Member
    all this hype over a bean! Seriously...

    this is like refusing to eat corn on the cob because HFCS is bad for you and present in a lot of junk foods. It's not the corn that's the problem, it's the processed food.

    Same with the humble soybean. It's. A. Bean.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    I have endocrin issues, so I avoid it. You are right, it's in absolutely everything...and it's almost always GMO :/

    Same here. My Dr told me that some of my female issues and my thyroid issue occurred due to the soy I was intaking when I was vegetarian some years ago.

    It directly affects thyroid hormones, estrogen and testosterone.

    I stay far, far away from it now.,
  • concavity
    concavity Posts: 143 Member
    I had to drink soy for a year when I was a baby as well as for 6 months when I had pneumonia as a preteen since other milks weren't as easily available back then.
    I discovered that I am allergic when I tried soy beans and kept feeling tingly. I am a vegetarian and I never liked tofu since once I started coughing heavily but didn't think it was because of the food.
    Is so hard for me to find processed food without soy in it now a days since its put into everything as what I see as a filler.
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
    all this hype over a bean! Seriously...

    this is like refusing to eat corn on the cob because HFCS is bad for you and present in a lot of junk foods. It's not the corn that's the problem, it's the processed food.

    Same with the humble soybean. It's. A. Bean.

    According to the FDA soy is one of the eight foods most likely to cause food allergies. Because of that, food manufacturers are required to list soy on their label as a possible allergen.
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-allergies/AA00057

    I'm allergic to soy, but don't have problems with any other bean or legume.

    I don't think it's just 'A. Bean', as you put it - there's a bit more to it if it causes that many problems for that many people. Personally, I get hives and horrible eczema if I eat soy.

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