Photo courtesy of Virundhu

A few weekso ago, New Scientist reported that Eating soya could slash men’s sperm count. I posted a link to an article a long time ago that declared a Soy-cancer warning.

Men who eat just half a serving of soya a day have drastically fewer sperm than those who do not consume such foods, according to a small, preliminary study.
….
Soya foods contain high amounts of isoflavones, compounds that mimic the effects of oestrogen in the body. For this reason, women sometimes increase their intake of soya foods to treat hot flushes caused by declining oestrogen levels in menopause.

So what’s so bad about soy? How about goitrogens, protease inhibitors, phytoestrogens (hooray for emasculation!), and too much aluminum and manganese?(1) And let’s not forget about the unusable vitamin B12 in soy that actually makes the body need more B12, the increase in the body’s need for vitamin D, and phytic acid which reduces the body’s use of calcium, magnesium, zinc, and other important minerals. The soy products in your supermarket are rife with these problem constituents for reasons that I’ll get to in a few paragraphs.

But The Asians…

Now this is where someone says “But the Chinese have been eating soy since the dawn of time and it is a staple of their diet, so it must be good for you.” Here is an example of just such a claim from the Soy Nutrition website owned by Silk (2):

During its 3,000 year history, soy has remained an important staple in Asia. These important culinary, nutritional and health benefits are taking the western world by storm.

Let’s start with the notion that soy is a staple of the Asian diet. As The Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) notes (3):

The famous Cornell study of diet in China, conducted by T. Colin Campbell, found that legume consumption ranged from 0 to 58 grams per day, with an average of about 13 grams.5,7 Assuming that two-thirds of this is from soybeans, this translates to about 9 grams (less than 2 teaspoons) of soy on average, with a high of about 2 tablespoons.

This paltry quantity of daily soy matches other lists stating that soy is “a minor source of protein,” while “meat, poultry, fish, and eggs” are major sources. Also, note that this is the same T. Colin Campbell that wrote The China Study damning any foods of animal origin. So apparently 2 tsp to 2 tbsp is a “staple” in marketing terms. I probably eat more mustard than that, on average.

The Truth Of Soy’s History

Also, the history of soy is not quite what we’ve been told. We’re told that soy has been consumed for 3000-5000 years (or more, depending on the source). Here is an example of just such a claim from Lightlife Foods, which conveniently sells fake meat products (4):

Soybeans have been a favorite food in many parts of the world for more than 5,000 years. In fact, the people living in ancient China were growing soybeans in the year 2800 B.C. Traders, missionaries and maybe even sailors helped bring soybeans to the rest of the world.

But Mothering Magazine (5) takes shot at this notion with the truth, also backed up by WAPF:

The ancient Chinese honored the soybean with the name “the yellow jewel” but used it as “green manure”-a cover crop plowed under to enrich the soil. Soy did not become human food until late in the Chou Dynasty (1134-246 B.C.), when the Chinese developed a fermentation process to make soybean paste, best known today by its Japanese name, miso.3 Soy sauce-the natural type sold under the Japanese name shoyu-began as the liquid poured off during the production of miso. Two other popular fermented soy foods, natto and tempeh, entered the food supply around 1000 A.D. or later in Japan and Indonesia, respectively.

You see, soy has to be properly fermented to neutralize the laundry list of toxins mentioned above. Tofurkey, soy burgers, meatless hot dogs, and textured vegetable protein are not fermented products, nor are soy chips or any other products you see sold to vegetarians and health nuts. The ONLY soy products traditionally consumed in the Asian diet were miso, tempeh, natto, soy sauce, and a little tofu. The people eating all of the soy in America are likely not eating miso, tempeh, and natto predominantly.

Unfortunately, this is the kind of baloney that passes for soy advice (6):

Tofu is a “super-food.” It is high in muscle-building protein, contains a healthy dollop of omega-3 fatty acids, and unlike meat, is practically devoid of saturated fat–and what’s more, it contains lots of fiber! All of this means, tofu is great for your digestive system, is heart-healthy, and keeps you lean and feeling energetic. This great dinner disk is super easy to prepare and deliciously satisfying.

So to address those claims, the protein is of low quality compared to animal products, the omega-3 fatty acids are alpha linolenic acid (ALA) and are more than offset by the omega-6 fatty acids (ratio of ~7:1), and ummm….who cares about the saturated fat?

There’s an excellent book that I read a couple years back titled The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla T. Daniel. It’s an eye-opening read about American’s favorite “health food.” And here is another WAPF article on the soybean, describing the detriments of those processed soy products in the store. The bottom line is: Avoid the bean, unless it’s fermented, and then keep it to a minimum.

Sources:
(1) Soy Dangers Summarized
(2) Soy Nutrition – History of Soy
(3) Soy Alert! – Weston A. Price
(4) Lightlife Foods – History of Soy
(5) Mothering Magazine – Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food
(6) Wired Berries – Soy the Super Food