Of all of the factors that affect our health, food is central. Simply, we are what we eat.
But when I began to research soy in order to bring you the truth about whether it’s healthy or not, I found argument, controversy, and distracting rhetoric as indigestible as the bean itself. I learned as an avid student and as a teacher that whatever point one wants to make, one can find the data one needs to support that point. And the research on soy is no exception.
I write this blog, however, to share with you how you can journey to optimal health through healthy choices. And when it comes to food, my philosophy is simple: if it worked for people all over the world for thousands of years (and it still works in countries where food is pretty much the same as it’s been for thousands of years), it still works.
So here’s the deal, I’m not going to add to the conversation, er, soy food fight. Instead, I’m just going to let you know a few of the important things I’ve learned about this ancient bean.
First, soybeans were grown in China for a thousand years as a way to replenish the soil. Then, still thousands of years ago, with the discovery of fermenting techniques, the Chinese created fermented soy products – soy sauce, tempeh, miso, and natto – as condiments. (Fermented foods are essential to a healthy gut; part of the reason we have so many digestive issues today is the absence of fermented foods.) Much later, they discovered that boiling and mashing the beans, and adding either calcium- or magnesium sulfate (plaster of Paris or Epsom salts), they had tofu, still used as only a small part of their diet. (When tofu – processed soybeans – became a significant source of protein around 700 AD, the Asian population suffered health consequences. Asians who adopt a diet with mostly other protein sources grow taller.)
Today, soybean production is huge in the United States. Products with some form of soy line supermarket shelves. And, the controversy begins.
First, 90% of the soybeans grown in the U.S. are genetically modified. Whatever the research about safe or not, GM foods to not meet my criteria.
Second, in order to create all of the soy products – other than the four fermented products and tofu – the beans go through the pretty heavy-duty processing that includes an alkaline wash to remove fiber, an acid wash in aluminum tanks (which leaches aluminum into the…mush), another neutralizing alkaline wash, and high-temperature spray to dry the slurry into protein isolate.
Then, this soy protein isolate is used to make all kinds of products – including baby formula.
Yuck. No way these foods meet my criteria for relatively natural foods. Or foods at all.
‘Nuf said.
Blessings,
Judy
P.S. Interesting side note about the many sites I visited, however. The sites that had a financial interest in soy cited/interpreted research that supports soy as a healthy food in all of its manifestations. The sites that promoted a vegan lifestyle – and soy is an important replacement for meat and dairy protein – also seemed more willing to present both history and current research that supported their life-style choice. The sites, however, that are dedicated to informing people about health issues, including healthy eating, and had no financial or philosophical stake, presented history and research that concludes that soy in any form other than fermented is dangerous.
