Is Soy Bad For You?

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No matter who I talk with about health, soy always comes up.

Everyone wants to know, “How can soy be bad for you when the Asians eat it all of the time?”

Now, this blanket statement/question drives me a little batty and we will get into why. In the USA, soy is promoted as a food source that is extremely beneficial and good for your health. So is it?

The simple answer is NO, it’s not! Want to know why? Then keep reading.

Soy is poison to your body although you wouldn’t know that by listening to the main-stream. Scientist have warmed people of the danger’s soy has on your health for over 30 years, but people haven’t been listening. Instead, they hear the louder voices and big money. Unless people, like you, do your own research it’s easy to see how you could be fooled into thinking this bean is actually good for you.

Big food corps won’t admit it because they make money. Soy started as a high commodity crop highly subsidized by the government. In order to promote soy consumption, the American soy industry spends at least $80 million a year.

That’s one thing you should always look at. Where is your resource or information about any product or food coming from? If your information leads back to big money or big corp, that’s when you should seek a different source of information.

Ultimately, manufacturers wanted a cheap vegetable oil, the government subsidized soybeans and we the people were left with an industrial waste product. A waste product that’s full of toxins, carcinogens, and isolated soy protein.

The Asian Soy Myth

Remember we were going to talk about the Asian’s and how people believe because they eat soy there is nothing wrong with it? Well, take this quote from Nina Planck, who writes:

Soy farming started around 1100 BC in China, where it was used to build soil fertility and feed animals. Soybeans were not considered fit for humans until the Chinese learned to ferment them, which makes them digestible. Asian diets now include fermented soybeans in the form of natto, miso, tamari, and tempeh.

Soy producers want you to eat more soy — more than the Asians eat, and more than is good for you. The Japanese and Chinese eat 10 grams of soy per day — about two teaspoons. Yet a soy manufacturer recommends Americans eat ten times what the Japanese eat — 100 grams of soy protein per day. In “The Soy Zone,” Barry Sears recommends a daily diet of a minimum of 50 grams of soy and up to 75 grams for women and 100 grams for men.

It’s like red wine: a glass or two a day may be good for you; a bottle or two every day rots your liver.

Do you understand that? Asian’s eat highly fermented soy and only an average of 2 teaspoons versus the 10 which American’s are advised to eat. Also Asian’s have a purer source because they don’t use pesticides and other chemicals. Asian’s eat a mineral-rich diet along with foods and broths that are nutrient-dense supporting and protecting the thyroid because they are naturally high in iodine and other beneficial thyroid nutrients.

The Ill Effects of Soy

Soy has anti-nutrients and is considered a poison because of these components:

ANTIGENS

“Antigens are substances that cause an immune response in the body by identifying substances in or markers on cells. Your body produces antibodies to fight antigens, or harmful substances, and tries to eliminate them.” -Dictionary

PHYTOESTROGENS

Phytoestrogens and phytates prevent mineral absorption and substances that block the enzymes needed to digest protein. 

Soy is higher in phytoestrogens than just about any other food source. Phytoestrogens are plant-based estrogens that mimic estrogen in our bodies. In recent years, you may have read about studies which indicate phytoestrogens are good for you. But ask yourself, who funded those studies? The soy industry, that’s who. Independent research has clearly shown that consuming phytoestrogens is downright dangerous for the human body.

It’s only common sense. No one argues, for example, that a leading cause of breast cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, infertility, and low libido is unopposed estrogen or estrogen dominance. Why, then, would anyone argue that we should consume more of a food high in estrogen?

An infant taking the recommended amount of soy formula is consuming a hormone load equivalent of 4 birth control pills a day! We haven’t even touched upon what it does to the human growth hormone. Is it any wonder we’ve seen such a dramatic rise in precocious puberty with young girls starting their periods at 6 and 7?

by Kristen Michaelis

GOITROGENIC

Soy is at the top of the list of things that will destroy your thyroid. Many foods are goitrogenic (thyroid suppressing) which overall doesn’t allow your thyroid to get iodine or the necessary amounts. This is traumatic as that is a major cause in hypothyroidism.

Friends, you do not want to mess with your thyroid. If your thyroid fails, many horrible things happen. You get tired, gain weight, get the chills, can have issues with constipation, bleeding. These are just minor effects. The list goes on and it’s not pretty.

If you suffer from any of these signs or hypothyroidism then stay away from soy!

PHYTATES

Phytic acid, or phytate, impairs absorption of zinc, iron, and calcium. Phytic acid is naturally present in all grain, legumes, plant seeds, and nuts.

Simply soaking soy overnight in an acidic medium won’t eliminate the phytic acid. You have to ferment it for humans to digest it. It also helps to keep a balanced diet.

That means that if you eat soy at all, you should stick to fermented soy products like miso, tempeh, natto, or a naturally fermented soy sauce (tamari).

by Kristen Michaelis

TRYPSIN INHIBITORS

Are, a digestive enzyme that properly breaks down proteins.

“A proteolytic enzyme of the pancreatic juice, capable of converting proteins into peptone.” -Dictionary

In other words, if you don’t have enough trypsin you will have problems with your digestive system including bleeding, cramps, and diarrhea. Pancreas problems will also be in the future.

Animals and Soy

Soy is not recommended for animal consumption and is proven to have a biological effect on pets.

The way soy is processed affects the level of phytoestrogens. Traditional fermentation reduces the levels of isoflavones dramatically, however, factory processing does not. And U.S. varieties of soy are manipulated to be pest resistant (soybeans have some of the highest concentrations of pesticides of any crop), with the result that they contain higher levels of isoflavones than soy grown in Japan or China.

The majority of experts on pet nutrition agree soy isn’t good nutrition for cats or dogs. It is considered a low-quality, incomplete protein well known to create food allergies in pets.

Soy has been linked to gas and deadly bloat in dogs. It is high in purines and is therefor a completely inappropriate protein source for urate-forming dogs. It is also high in silicates and promotes the formation of silica stones.

The carbohydrate action of soy can cause a rise in blood sugar in many cats. Soy is also linked to thyroid damage, and since hyperthyroidism is common in kitties, this is yet another reason it should not be part of a feline’s diet. 

The ingestion of soybean products is also linked to seizures in both dogs and cats.

Dr. Karen Becker

What is the Danger of Soy Protein and Soy Milk?

The FDA refused to approve isolated soy protein as a safe food additive with the designation “Generally Recognized as Safe.”

Agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland withdrew its application for the coveted GRAS status for soy protein, after an outcry from scientists about the toxins and carcinogens that come with it. They can still put soy protein in your food, but they have to get pre-market approval for every product.

Isolated soy protein is no health food. But we don’t eat soy protein with a spoon. How do we eat it? It is the main ingredient in soy burgers, ice cream, milk shakes, and fake cheese. These soy protein products are phony foods — but they must look like the real foods they imitate. So the soy industry transforms a small yellow soy bean into something resembling a hamburger. They make soy “milk” and “ice cream” white and creamy.

The other ingredients in these foods are no better for you than the soy protein that goes into them. Soy milk, for example, is simply a cocktail of soy protein, sugar, and vegetable oil. The “natural” MSG formed in soy processing is already bad for you, but even more MSG, and more flavorings, are added. Imitation foods need a lot of help to be tasty. Many savory soy foods are loaded with additives to give them the flavor of the real foods they mimic. Most imitation meat, for example, contains man-made MSG, which causes migraines and is associated with brain cancer.

By Nina Planck

Soy foods aren’t a real food. They are a money-making industrial waste product that’s been marketed and dressed by big food corps as a beneficial product so the public does not question the actual poison it really is.

There is nothing wrong with real butter, healthy fats and lean proteins. In fact, they are the key to a fit and healthy person.Tweet

Heather Earles

What Are Alternatives To Soy Milk?

If you can’t do dairy for one reason or another then there are two options left that have beneficial nutrients; almond milk and coconut milk.

If you do choose to go for a nut milk such as almond milk, it’s best to make it at home. Store bought almond milk usually contain added sugars, preservatives, and stabilizers. Plus, almonds also contain the anti-nutrient, phytic acid which can block mineral absorption. You can neutralize the phytic acid by soaking the almonds overnight — something you’re not likely to be able to find in store-bought versions.

Coconut milk, of course, is as old as coconuts. Coconuts are high in good saturated fats, lauric acid, and the beautiful, easy-to-digest medium-chain fatty acids that actually help speed up your metabolism. Coconuts also have anti-fungal and anti-viral properties.

by Kristen Michaelis

Raw or organic milk is the best choice to gain the most nutritional value. If you can't or won't use it then choose coconut milk over almond milk.

So, Is So Bad For You?

YES, AND YOU SHOULD NOT CONSUME IT unless it is in small quantities and is fermented!

If You’re Still Not Convinced of The Dangers of Soy then do your own research, but remember to pay close attention to who wrote it. Money doesn’t care about your health, it only cares about the bottom line.

Why believe me? Well, myself, and others like me have nothing to gain from sharing this information with you. We don’t make money, and we certainly don’t make friends. Your health is our reward as it should be.

Until next time, stay healthy- Heather Earles