Dietary Soy Has Been Implicated in Increased Belly Fat! Are there real “benefits” of soy-based foods like soy milk, soy protein, and tofu?
Food processing giants and government agencies want us to believe that soy products are a “health food” and a suitable substitute for meat, poultry, and dairy products. However, upon closer examination, many of their offerings have been revealed to contain added dairy by-products and contribute to mineral deficiencies in humans.
Soybeans contain antinutrients such as goitrogens (substances that depress thyroid function) and some of the highest levels of a plant lectin that is a natural insecticide, a “poison” that can cause severe allergy problems in humans.
Because of its poisonous potential, soybeans had never been considered a “food” in Asia until the discovery of the fermentation process during China’s Zhou dynasty around 1000 BC. beans cause digestive problems and gastric discomfort). Centuries later it was discovered that mixing a soybean puree with plaster of paris or Epsom salts would result in a chewy semi-solid curd (tofu). But it wasn’t until around the 11th century that soybeans were cultivated in China.
Soybeans are high in protein and for committed vegetarians seemed to herald a suitable substitute for meat. While fermentation deactivates some of the bean’s antinutrients, no amount of cooking or processing removes all of the soybean lectin or its byproducts. Many people experience reactions after eating meat substitutes made from soy.
Despite widely spread misinformation about the “benefits” of soy, at no time was it considered a health food in Asia! Soybean was originally used in Western agriculture as a rotation crop for livestock fodder and also proved to be a good fertilizer for restoring nutrient-deprived soil vitality.
The modern form of soy “milk” contains phytic acid which blocks the absorption of essential minerals such as calcium, iron and zinc and promotes the leaching of calcium from the human skeleton. Zinc (the mineral of intelligence) is essential for optimal brain development and nervous system function. It plays a fundamental role in the human reproductive system and is important for protein synthesis and collagen formation. It is also involved in the blood sugar control mechanism that provides protection against diabetes.
Neither soy milk nor cow’s milk contain the “long chain” fatty acids essential for human brain development. Only breast milk does. However, coconut oil and red meat can provide a medium-chain fatty acid that the human system can convert to the long-chain form quite easily.
Traditionally, the Chinese and Japanese consumed only small amounts of fermented tofu, miso, or soy sauce as part of an “appetizer” of mineral-rich fish broth, followed by a serving of meat or fish. When soy products like tofu are eaten with meat, the mineral-blocking effects of soy phytates are greatly reduced. But substituting meat, poultry, or fish for tofu can lead to severe mineral deficiencies in the human system.
Soy is not rich in calcium and the “added” calcium in soy milk is usually calcium carbonate which cannot be processed very well by the human system. For your health it is best to take a highly absorbable supplement such as AlgaeCal or Calcium Orotate.
To make their artificial products, processors mix a soybean slurry with an alkaline solution (usually a derivative of gasoline) to dissolve the bean fiber which is then precipitated and separated using an acid wash and finally neutralized in a second alkaline solution during which a toxin called lysinoalanine is formed. The resulting curds are then spray-dried at high temperatures to produce a powder called soy protein isolate (SPI). Nitrites, which are potent carcinogens, are formed during spray drying. A high-temperature, high-pressure extrusion process then converts the SPI into a textured vegetable protein (TVP). With the addition of artificial flavors, fats, preservatives, sweeteners, emulsifiers, and synthetic nutrients, SPI is used in most soy foods that mimic meat, poultry, and dairy products, as well as in infant formulas and some soy milk brands
Despite the best efforts of refiners to remove many of the antinutrients and poisons in soybeans, their final offerings remain industrially produced “meal substitutes”—far from natural or health-promoting! However, SPI and TVP are widely used in school lunch programs, commercial baked goods, and even some diet beverages. Being much cheaper than animal protein and having an indefinite shelf life, textured vegetable protein is quickly becoming incorporated into many fast food offerings. They are heavily promoted in third world countries and form the basis of many food giveaway programs.
Quite a few medically advanced countries have banned the use of soy in infant formulas, not only because of the phytic acid content, which causes mineral deficiencies, but also because of soy’s high levels of trypsin inhibitors and phytoestrogens. Trypsin inhibitors interfere with protein digestion, resulting in stunted growth, while soy phytoestrogens, touted by soy farmers as beneficial for menopausal women, who are, but also they have the potential to cause infertility and promote breast cancer in younger women. women. And, just as serious, consumption by infants has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
It’s amazing how fake science can put a positive spin on an antinutrient for the financial gain of a few, causing massive problems for the many! We need to question all the information given by food producers and go back to the basics in our daily diet.