Anybody NOT eating Soy products because...
 

... they've read about how "bad" soy is?

I've read a lot of negative stuff about soy lately, and I was almost moved to throwing my 12 ounce container of soy nuts in the trash. But I LOVE soy nuts in with my yogurt, and it's a great source of protein.

Is soy really that bad or is there a lot of hype out there about it? I really want your opinions on this. Thanks.

well i kinda take the 'precautions' about soy with a grain of salt, heh. More than one study that supposedly shows disadvantages of soy were done by the milk council....so ya know big huge bias there.

i tend to think plant based proteins are some of the healthiest one can consume. Many asian cultures esp the Japanese have considerable amounts of soy in their diet and they are some pretty healthy people as a population. You also just don't hear about the billions of people in asia having soy-related health problems...a food that has been consumed en masse for multiple generations.

Thanks. I wasn't aware of these studies by the milk council. I'm very new to eating healthy and just now learning a lot of new things. Heck, I wasn't even aware of frozen peaches until yesterday. :rolleyes:

Anyway, it's statements like this that make me cautious...

"Additionally 99% a very large percentage of soy is genetically modified and it also has one of the highest percentages contamination by pesticides of any of our foods."

This is from an article I copied from a site claiming it is "The World's #1 Natural Health Website". I won't post the link to the article because it's difficult to view without a pesky registration to fill out first.

So these are the kinds of claims I'm reading that makes me wonder if it's hype or proven fact. It seems to be widespread across the internet. The most common one being that soy products increase the amount of estrogen in men.

Sometimes its tough to know what to believe these days with all of the marketing lies and deception we constantly encounter.

Don't you love popcorn? You know most of the corn grown here is genetically modified too.

GM is just taking away or adding a "gene". I wonder if people are confusing GM with mutation breeding. They used radiation and chemicals for that.

I don't know where that 99% came from but I doubt it's that's high.

And X2 on what ripemango said.

Ditto on the genetic modification - does that just mean that it was bred for specific gene selectivity? A *lot* of crops are genetically modified now, and it's usually for size or something fairly innocuous like that. That statement reads as inflammatory, lacking in detail, and grammatically incorrect (while I'm not a grammar Nazi, it's always suspect to me on "scientific" websites where there's bad grammar and/or spelling). It's also suspect when they quote something like 99% and don't give their source material for it - where's the study that says so?

Further, is the pesticide "contamination" in the actual soy itself, or in some kind of extract, or....? I'd want to read the article that analyzed the pesticides?

Take it with a grain of salt :)

Vegetarians tend to be healthy and many of them eat a lot of soy. I think if you eat it in moderation like all things it's probably safe. It's a heck of a lot better than a double cheeseburger anyway.

I tend to stay away from soy products not because of the soy concerns, but because of the processing. Edamame and soy nuts are not highly processed like tofu and soy milk, and tempeh so from a whole foods perspective, they would be better soy choices.

I have an interesting perspective on soy, especially on weather or not it's detrimental to a man's ability to sire children. My brother drank only soy milk for most of his childhood, until about age 14 or soy he was very allergic to cow's milk. He tolerates it now but only in limited doses. He and his wife have one child, who was conceived on their wedding night, and they cannot have any more because my SIL has a very serious heart condition.

Anyway our oldest DD is also allergic to milk so we drink soy milk almost exclusively in our house and have for the past 8 years. I'd never heard the estrogen issue on soy until one day a few years ago my SIL (DH's sister) was discussing it with us and was completely freaking out because someone had suggested she give it to her lactose intolerant son. DH and I looked at each other and burst out laughing, because believe me we have to work at "prevention" in our house. So I suppose if a man already had an extremely low sperm count he would want to limit soy just in case, otherwise I think it's a non-issue. Somehow I think if soy were a fertility issue, Asia would be less populated.

Hi
I think with the amount of genetically modified soy and corn products in North America that we all should be making ourselves more aware of what companies like monsanto are doing to our food. Soy and corn are healthy grains, If you can go organic! If we all purchase organic local food whenever we can afford it we will continue to be in control of what is in our food and not leave such important decisions to people concerned about their bottom line not our health.

Download a non-GMO guide for free
 

Thanks Darlene.

I've just downloaded a free PDF "Non-GMO" shopping guide:

http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/N...ping-Guide.pdf



I have not found organic soy nuts yet, but I'm going to keep looking. I just switched my brand of popcorn, since I eat so much of it now, to "Fireworks" brand which is non-GMO. It can be found for a very reasonable price on Amazon. ;)



I am concerned when I read warnings such as this about GMO:


The biotech industry is fond of bragging about their genetically modified (GM) crops that “resist pests.” This conjures up images of insects staying away from GM fields.

But resisting pests is a euphemism for contains its own pesticide. When bugs take a bite of the GM plant, the toxin from the plant splits open their stomach and kills them.

The idea that we consume that same toxic pesticide in every bite is hardly appetizing. But the biotech companies insist that the pesticide, called Bt-toxin, has a history of safe use.

Organic farmers, for example, have used solutions containing the natural form of Bt-toxin—produced from Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria—as a method of natural insect control.

Genetic engineers simply remove the gene that produces the Bt in bacteria and insert it into the DNA of corn and cotton plants. Moreover, they claim that Bt-toxin is quickly destroyed in our stomach; and even if it survived, it won’t cause reactions in humans or mammals.

Studies show otherwise."


http://sustainableweston.org/2011/09...;-in-your-gut/

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! :)

It is perturbing, but I get a little impatient with those who have an axe to grind when they say,"studies show otherwise", but don't follow up with any data. Bt toxin is used by organic farmers. I presume the results are the same (the toxin splits open their stomachs and kills them!). In the absence of any other information, I'm not sure what the difference is.... Think I'll keep on eating my edamame for now...

Well, I take it back. Went to the link, read the details (they had lots), will try to modify diet to avoid GMO foods...

Hi
Just wanted to add a few easy organic switches if anyone cared.
I know it can be expensive and I totally understand that we can't change everything at once!

Swap sugar to organic cane sugar for tea and coffee keep using white for baking ect.

Shop farmers markets whenever possible.

Price check you may be surprised organics do not last as long on the shelf so sales happen often at grocery stores.

Look for no name brand organics I know Canadian Superstore and I believe Sobeys in the USA both carry them.

Buy apples, celery, berries, peaches, nectarines, spinach, grapes, peppers, lettuce, kale, coffee and meat(if possible) these foods have been found to have the most pesticides you can not wash off.

Do not waste your money buying Onions, Pineapple, Avocado Asparagus, Sweet peas, Mango, Eggplant, Cantaloupe (domestic) Kiwi, Cabbage, Watermelon, Sweet Potatoes, Grapefruit or Mushrooms they can all be washed well and you are good to go.

VitoVino and Kohsamui thanks for doing some reading it's amazing what we do not know about our food so education is the key then you can make up your own minds. My hubby was not going to change his eating based on some documentaries then he found non gmo organic potato chips taste better than regular ones; we are all motivated by different things.

Take care.:)

I'm glad you spotted that. Because yeah, the article does say that it's something like 5000 times stronger in GMO foods, and it can't be "washed away". Anyway, I'm still eating my soy nuts (regular) until I can find organic soy nuts. Just in moderation, as in everything. :)



Thank you for all the helpful tips! Great advice.

Funny about the potato chips. I've read on line that people who are eating non GMO popcorn swear it tastes better. I didn't really know what to think about this, but it's been repeated over and over. I guess there's something to it!

Edamame is one of the best 'diet' foods I've found so far. Sam's Club has a big package of little steamer packs that are 150 calories each and really make anything I add them to more filling. The only tedious thing is taking them out of the inedible pods.

You can buy them in just the bean form. I pay about $2.50 for a frozen 16oz bag in the regular food store. I add them to everything, even egg whites. :)

I may try to find them. They're a really good price at Sam's club though.