Dangers of Soy Products

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They say soy is good for you but there are two sides to every coin. Soy has been marketed to us as this healthy product with a great source of protein. In particular for women and vegetarians soy has been touted as a great alternative to cow’s milk. However, some people tend to disagree with this notion and based on the information that I have read and researched I tend to lean against soy products as well. In the end you are the master of your own destiny. I encourage you however to consider looking deeper into your health choices.

The following are quoted bits of a nexus article from Third international Soy Symposium. Soy Contains:

“antinutrients”. First among them are potent enzyme inhibitors that block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. These inhibitors are large, tightly folded proteins that are not completely deactivated during ordinary cooking. They can produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors cause enlargement and pathological conditions of the pancreas, including cancer.

Soybeans also contain haemagglutinin, a clot-promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together.

Soy also contains goitrogens – substances that depress thyroid function.

Soybeans are high in phytic acid, present in the bran or hulls of all seeds. It’s a substance that can block the uptake of essential minerals – calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc – in the intestinal tract.

The soybean has one of the highest phytate levels of any grain or legume that has been studied, and the phytates in soy are highly resistant to normal phytate-reducing techniques such as long, slow cooking.

Vegetarians who consume tofu and bean curd as a substitute for meat and dairy products risk severe mineral deficiencies. The results of calcium, magnesium and iron deficiency are well known; those of zinc are less so.

Milk drinking is given as the reason why second-generation Japanese in America grow taller than their native ancestors. Some investigators postulate that the reduced phytate content of the American diet – whatever may be its other deficiencies – is the true explanation, pointing out that both Asian and Western children who do not get enough meat and fish products to counteract the effects of a high phytate diet, frequently suffer rickets, stunting and other growth problems.

To read the full article follow this link to Tragedy & Hype

ORIGINAL SOURCE: Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 7, Number 3 (April-May 2000).
PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. editor@nexusmagazine.com
Telephone: +61 (0)7 5442 9280; Fax: +61 (0)7 5442 9381
From the Nexus web page at: www.nexusmagazine.com

© 2000 by Sally Fallon SAFallon@aol.com
& Mary G. Enig, PhD MGEnig@aol.com
All rights reserved

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• Katherine Nichols: The Soy Controversy (huffingtonpost.com)