@jimbaker10
Latest posts by Jim (see all)
- Are Soy Foods Worth Your Health? - September 16, 2012
- Enjoy Broccolis With These 2 Alternative Recipes - August 14, 2012
- Is Grilling Food Healthy? - July 20, 2011
Doing so means you get exposure to thousands and thousands of other CommentLuv users and your posts get sent out to the massive subscriber list.
Google loves this site and indexes it multiple times per day and posts always get lots of comments so you can be sure of some excellent exposure.
See the Write For Us page for more details
btw.. you can get this author box here
Soy foods have been around for thousands of years, well at least in China.
But it wasn’t until recently; we began to see an explosion of soy based products invading our supermarkets, fast food stores, baby milk powders and a whole bunch of other foods. I am sure you must have ordered a “soy latte” or had miso soup in your lifetime.
But are soy foods really that beneficial to our health?
I asked this question to some of my friends and 4 out of 5 of them said that it is a very healthy food while the other one was undecided. When I asked him why he wasn’t sure, he merely replied that he didn’t know enough to say if it was healthy. When I asked my other 4 friends why they thought it was healthy, they mentioned that they have read that it does prevent certain types of cancers like prostate and breast cancer.
While my 4 friends are right to a certain extent, they probably did not know that these days there are all sorts of soy based food products in the market that the masses simply cannot tell if everyone of them is good for your health.
Soy Foods: How Did They Become So Popular?
Soy foods did not become popular in the Western world until later on in the 20th century but its popularity did not come overnight either. It was a result of massive advertising and publicity by powerful food manufacturers aimed at promoting the benefits of eating soy food products to the masses.
Here are some startling stats:
- From the year 1992 to 2006, soy food sales increased from $300 million to about $4 billion.
- And during this period, food manufacturers have been churning up to 2000+ soy food products to the public in various forms. Everything from soy milk, soya sauce, soy cheese burgers, soy based infant formulas and soybean oil were sold to the public in huge amounts.
- Approximately 90% of soy grown for the public are GM or are “Genetically Modified.” Most of these GM soy crops are contaminated with pesticides.
- As a result of the increasing popularity with soy foods, about 80% of the public perceive that the soy food products are healthy
- Almost all of those who believe that soy food products are healthy believe that eating them reduce heart disease and cancer risk.
Although Asians have been eating soy food products for a long time, there is a difference between the type of soy food they eat and what we eat in our soy foods.
The Great Deception
The real story is that all of us have been duped to believe that all soy foods are healthy and have anticancer and cholesterol lowering properties.
In the late 20th Century, a number of prominent researchers and research papers showed that soy products are toxic and can lead to digestive problems, infertility, increased allergic reaction to soy products, increased risk of cancer and increased heart problems.
Unfortunately, a number of greedy influential figures in the soy food industry thought that there is a lot of money to be made from selling soy products so people working in the FDA were coaxed to change some of the labelling regarding soy products so that it will sound as if it is healthy. Strong criticisms from some prominent scientists were also dismissed and so the soy food manufacturing industry gained the upper hand and the media promoted the idea that soy foods were great and healthy and so for a long time we continue to believe in fallacy that all soy foods are healthy.
Here are some things that you should know about soy foods…
The soy foods that we have in our diet today are mostly unfermented soy products. The food industry have led you to believe that soy milk, soy bean oil, soy cheese, soy infant formula are all good for your health when in fact they are NOT healthy at all!
The Chinese have been having fermented soy products for the last hundreds of years.
Thanks to the unfermented soy products and the processed soy products found in the food industry, eating them poses great risks. Here are just some of the problems eating them.
- Soy foods contain “Anti-Nutrients”. These “anti-nutrients” interfere with enzymes in our body which makes digestion more difficult or even impossible (in large quantities).
- Phytates. Phytates prevent absorption of important minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc which have important biochemical roles in our bodies. Less calcium and magnesium absorption means decreasing bone density. Less iron means more chances of getting anaemia
- Goitrogens. This compound prevent the synthesis of thyroid hormones and interferes with iodine metabolism. There have been cases of an individual with hypothyroidism following consumption of soy food products
- Haemagglutinin. This substance causes clumping of red blood cells. Clumping causes impaired oxygenation and hence a person will feel more lethargic and tired.
- Isoflavones. Soy has a lot of genistein and daidzein which are both isoflavones. These two compounds mimics human oestrogen and causes and increased risk of breast cancer and can cause infertility. The FDA has regulations against consuming oestrogen food products but surprisingly none for soy products. I wonder why”¦.
- Genetically Modified Soy beans. Eating GM soy beans means that the body is unable to remove all these bad toxins for a long time. Prolonged exposure poses an allergenic risk as well as exposes our body towards a host of health problems.
What About The Good Soy Foods?
I am sure you have heard of this before. Yes, it is also true but note that fermented soy products gets rid of the dangerous toxins otherwise found in unfermented ones and the Japanese and Chinese are really good at making fermented soy products which reduces the risks of prostate and breast cancer. They also help with blood clotting.
The good soy foods are tempeh, some soya sauce (especially the traditionally made ones), miso and natto. Tofu is NOT a good soy food.
Finally
I hope that you will be convinced that not all soy foods are healthy. My friends were pretty shocked when I told them that tofu is not a good food at all. They were even more amazed when I told them that most soy food products are bad for health except for just a few.
What are your thoughts about soy foods?
Thanks for the great info. Before this i like soy. Always drink soy in can. I have heard some people said soy not good for health but don’t know why. Thanks.
Naziman Blogger Malaysia recently posted..Jana pendapatan online di internet Malaysia
Twitter: jimbaker10
Hi Naziman, there are a lot of misconceptions about soy foods. You have to be careful about what sort of soy you drink. Generally the soy you drink from your can is NOT healthy. I know that in Malaysia there is a big trend of drinking soy milk that you can order from hawker stalls and road side stalls. Be wary of them.
Jim recently posted..Orange Juice Recipes – Delightfully Refreshing and Healthy!
in my view soy is not good for mens!
Twitter: jimbaker10
It generally isn’t but be cautious about what kind of soy products they are. Fermented soy products gets the green light. Unfermented soy products are an absolute NO-NO
Jim recently posted..Delicious Celery Juice Recipes and Its Health Benefits!
I think soy foods are not good for your health!
Twitter: jimbaker10
Thanks for your comment Arslanh. It is ok if you don’t eat soy foods. It does not harm you either. I think it is much better than eating soy foods that you don’t know if it is good or not
Jim recently posted..Beetroot Juice Recipe and Its Health Benefits
very nice post, I really like the soy-based products.
sum recently posted..Guide to lose weight fast without doing exercises
Twitter: jimbaker10
Thanks Sum, hope you learn something from this post
Jim recently posted..Health Benefits of Kale Juice and Smoothies
Soy has strong proponents and opponents. Yes, there are negatives to taking GM soy products but you have to balance the good and the bad. Soy is a better choice that high cholosterol beef with antibiotics and hormones. The best choice is non GMO soy but if I can’t find it I will go for regular soy, but I don’t each as much. Fermented is best but Tempeh tastes horrible. And tofu is not great because it is a processed product like white bread.
Ken Tyler recently posted..Hercules Costume
Twitter: jimbaker10
Hi Ken, you’re right. there are a lot of horrible foods that food manufacturers make to feed us. There are pros and cons to eating things and yes, for sure eating cholesterol beef with antibiotics and hormones but I am still in the notion that GMO soy is bad.
Twitter: Elena__Anne
Just like with any food product, it is up to the consumer to do some homework and never just trust the advertising. You’re right in that we shouldn’t just trust the hype and assume that anything labeled “soy” is necessarily healthy. People shouldn’t be scared of soy, though, as fermented soy has a lot of excellent health benefits and tofu is not necessarily bad. You can find or make fermented tofu – and even unfermented soy is fine as long as it’s consumed as just one part of a balanced diet and not used as one’s sole source of protein. Thought-provoking post!
Elena Anne recently posted..Health Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds
Twitter: jimbaker10
You’re right Elena. There are some tofu that are fermented which is better than unfermented ones. And those are the ones you should go for. Glad you like the post!
Jim recently posted..Vegetable Juices That Boost Immune System
Twitter: GeekandJock
Oh trust western culture to stuff up something that’s traditional good in the East. Mass production and greed, yet again, Jim.
Good eye- opening facts. I’ve personally never eaten soy since my brother used soy milk in my coffee decades ago. I’ve had black coffee ever since but the big revelation was on Tofu – wow!
Martin Cooney recently posted..How To Have The Ideal Recipe for Love
Twitter: jimbaker10
Hi Martin, there are a lot of things that food manufacturers don’t tell us. Even food labelling is misleading and unclear. It is up to us as a consumer to separate the good from the bad. This often means that we need to do our homework too!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoCalMobileAuto
Thanks for this post. Another thing that was pointed out to me by my doctor is that Soy should not be given to young boys because it promotes estrogen growth. So we stopped given it to my sons.
Thanks for sharing.
Joe S. recently posted..Detailing Tips for Tire and Wheel Cleaning.
Twitter: jimbaker10
One thing that I didn’t mention in my post here is the negative effects of unfermented soy foods towards fertility. Men are more affected than women in this aspect
Jim recently posted..Orange Juice Recipes – Delightfully Refreshing and Healthy!
This post is so interesting and very informative. I can’t say anything about the soy. because i don;t know about of that. I heard from some people that they are saying soy is not good for our health.Well thanks for sharing this post.
neha recently posted..Grade 10 – Science and Math Combo
Hi Neha! This is fact. I also heard about the soy that soy is not good for our health. I think everyone should know about the soy. thanks….
Twitter: jimbaker10
Thanks for your comments Neha. Hope you learn something from it
Jim recently posted..5 Easy Juicing Recipes That You Can Make In Your Kitchen!
I would say:
“it depends on how much you consume”, even for vegetarian food-ingredients like soy (beans). But in general, i think its more a question of presonal taste than health
Twitter: jimbaker10
I would say that we have to be cautious about the type of soy foods we consume. Personally, for something as dangerous as unfermented soy foods, it is much better to not eat it than eat less of it
I think Soy is very healthy food. Doctors and gym instructors also give advice to intake Soy in any form. One who said it is not good for health I am not satisfied with this.
Twitter: bhar
Interesting, this is contrary to popular belief. This is not what we have been told about soyas. I suppose we need to be careful and separate the good soya from the bad ones. Next time I buy soya, I am going to think hard about it. Thanks for this interesting article.
Twitter: jimbaker10
I think we all have to do our homework on the foods we buy and eat. You don’t necessarily have to believe what I write here. I think it is important if this article has challenged your long-held beliefs about soy foods and make you want to know more
Jim recently posted..Beetroot Juice Recipe and Its Health Benefits
just don’t take too much of the stuff. Soy has some qualities to it. But hey, isn’t that the case with all food?
bert smit recently posted..MKB Marketing MISSER: de reclame-nee-sticker
Twitter: jimbaker10
You’re right Bert. But there are some foods that we should really try to stay away from. I generally agree that we should take less of foods that are highly processed
Vegetables are good in general, no ingredient by itself is a miracle.
Just to have a healthy and varied diet is enough by itself
Jean-Luc recently posted..Urban Valeur 2e Trimestre 2012
Twitter: jimbaker10
Yes, Jean it is important to have a healthy and well balanced diet but it is good to know what food manufacturers put into our foods too
nice info….i like soy so much, especially when it prossesed become tempe dan tofu, soy contain rich nabati protein, and good for health…..in my country Indonesia soy as tempe and tofu are very popular food
riza recently posted..Menguasai Sebuah Bahasa Asing Dalam 90 Hari
It is thanks to articles like this that wake us up and force to re-examine what is being told to us about the food we eat.
Twitter: jimbaker10
Thanks John for your comments. I hope this article has taught you something
Jim recently posted..Delicious Celery Juice Recipes and Its Health Benefits!
Twitter: healthy_start_
Very interesting. I’m going to have to look into tempeh more…my husband and I are both vegetarians, but he leans more towards vegan with his meat substitutes. I have never ate meat, so I don’t feel the need to substitute anything.
Kari recently posted..Why I Expect To Pay Money For Your Good Customer Service
Twitter: jimbaker10
Hi Kari, glad to hear that your thoughts on this. Tell me what you think of it
I have soy spreads everyday for breakfast and can’t get enough of it. But I don’t like it that much after reading this.
Adam recently posted..Mission to Gain Weight: The Beginning
Twitter: jimbaker10
Hi Adam, You have to be careful about what soy foods you eat. They are not all bad but you just got to know which are the good ones.
Jim recently posted..Delicious Celery Juice Recipes and Its Health Benefits!
In Indonesia Soy product popular with tempe. This is the fermented product of soy. Many nutritionist say this product is good for our health , rich in vegetable protein.
julidarmaputra recently posted..Benefit Of Garlic To Vaginal Health
Twitter: jimbaker10
That’s right, tempeh is great but not many people are fans of it and it is not easy to find in most Western nations.
Hey Jim,
Actually, I am totally believed that soy foods are great for our body and health. From I came to this world,I was told that by my parents and tv ads. And even we eat soy foods everyday, the bread and soya-bean milk. We are totally cheated. But, I do think that soy foods are a benefit to our health to some extent, just as great as we were told.
Truely
Bonnie
Bonnie Smith recently posted..SINGER 160 Anniversary Limited Edition Computerized Sewing Machine: 58% Off
Twitter: AnnettaPowell
I am not a big fan of Soy food and especially I don’t like the taste of it (has it got any taste at all?). Interesting to find about the history and the health claims and the truth behind it.
Annetta Powell recently posted..Organo Gold Coffee Infused with Ganoderma: A Tough Product to Sell?
What’s not to like if it does not have any taste? : )
Try adding some flavour, spices etc.
Matthew Green recently posted..Dry Eyes After LASIK
Great post!
Most of the people think that the soy is very healthy food, they have read about the positive benefits of the soy like that soy protein could significantly lower levels of LDL cholesterol. But the most importent thing to know about the soy is that this “Miracle Health Food” has been linked to brain damage and breast cancer…. So I advice you do not eat every kind of soy.
Best Regards
Borce Velkovski
Borce Velkovski recently posted..Healthy breakfast food
Asian countries only use soy as a condiment….too much soy IS BAD and its everywhere now…its almost like they found a way to use it as a replacement for corn.
I worry what kind of effect soy has on women + hormones.
christine recently posted..Scentsy Buddies: Buy One Scentsy Buddy Get one FREE!
I don’t like soy that much; however, it’s good to find out about some of the issues it produces. After reading this article I don’t think I will never eat it again. Great information!
Nathan Frazier recently posted..All Organo Gold Reps Should Read This
I Strongly believe that eating soya related foods like Taho or Tokwa help or boost everyone’s LIFE. It is a BEST ANTI-OXIDANT and can prevent you from having cancer related illnesses. So i strongly suggest having it in a daily basis especially when it only available.
It’s a fact that chinese people has a longer years on Earth.
Twitter: blogdum
In India,it is very commonly used.I believe it is healthy.
But i heard here for the first time about fermented soy products containing dangerous toxins.
Shasha recently posted..11 Home Remedies for Ulcers in Mouth | Tongue | Gum
Twitter: AllSeasonsWA
Thanks for the post. I run a catering company in Perth, Western Australia and frequently am asked to produce menus that have an alternative to meat. I will certainly look into using soy based foods as a vegetarian option in the future.
Thanks again.
Michael
Twitter: fionamaclean
Isn’t the truth likely to be that Soy in moderation is good for you. Too much, too processed, too often – well, probably not.
Fiona Maclean recently posted..Cooking the Perfect Steak