Soy, the Devil Incarnate? or Just Another Scapegoat

Soy has gotten a bad rap & has oscillated between wearing both the villain & the hero crown for decades now, leaving many confused on where they stand with the humble legume. As usual the confusion comes from our human desire to complicate matters and to apply scientific reductionism to everything to do with human health. In reality, it’s very simple. Humans have a symbiotic relationship with nature; we are not separate from it. We are part of it. When we change things and adulterate things & denature things, they are not so good for us. When we consume things in their natural form, they nourish us.

While soy has long been associated for their benefits with longevity in Asian cultures. Other information has circulated that attributes soy as being a causative factor for poor thyroid health, lowered fertility, menstrual issues, nutritional deficiencies as well as links to certain cancers due to the oxalate, phytic acid & phytoestrogen levels, commonly called anti-nutrients. To me, the interesting part of this is that none of these “anti-nutrients” can be found by placing a soybean under a microscope. All of these compounds are “isolated” via a lengthy complicated process where chemicals like hydrochloric acid, perchloric acid, trichloroacetic acid, sodium polytungstate, calcium chloride, aluminium oxide, barium acetate & sulfuric acid are added. Collectively these chemicals are known to cause various diseases and organ damage effecting the kidneys, the thyroid & even causing cancer. This begs the question, is soy alone, causing disease? Or is nature being used yet again as a scapegoat for agricultural & environmental poising?

Unless you are buying organic or biodynamic soy specifically, most soybeans grown globally are genetically modified (GMO) and engineered to withstand heavy spraying of herbicides like glyphosate (Roundup). Soy is a versatile plant & is cheap to grow, for this reason, we (humans) have exploited that & added it every inch of the food supply. If you shop at the supermarket chances are your consuming a lot of soy without knowing it in the form of soy flour, soy protein isolate, soy lecithin (often just listed as lecithin) or soy oil (commonly listed as vegetable oil). All of these products are produced with lengthy chemical processing. These processed soy derivatives are found in countless products such as breakfast cereals, packaged breads, crackers & condiments to name a few.

Additionally, 75-98% of soy grown globally goes to feeding commercial farmed livestock. Meaning if you’re consuming conventionally raised animal products (not organic or biodynamic) such as cheese, dairy, meat & eggs then you can guarantee that they have been eating GMO, pesticide sprayed soy & are passing those derivatives on to you.

This is the irony, I see people avoiding good quality, organically grown & traditionally processed soy while unknowingly consuming more soy than someone like me who consciously eats soy a few times a week.

If you focus your diet on organic, local, seasonal wholefood that is primarily made from scratch then moderate amounts of traditionally prepared organic or biodynamic soy products are a fine addition to your diet.

Soy to include

• Dried soybean

• Tempeh

• Miso

• Tamari, shoyu, soy sauce

• Fresh soybean (edamame)

• Soybean sprouts

• Tofu

• Natto

• Soy milk if its good quality, soy milk should just be soybeans & water & maybe a natural sweetener. It’s easy to make but the best one to purchase is Bonsoy

Soy to avoid

• TVP (textured vegetable protein)

• Soy flour

• Soy concentrate

• Soybean meal

• Lecithin (unless specified as egg or sunflower lecithin)

• Soy oil (commonly listed as vegetable oil)

• Soy protein

• Soy protein powder

• Soy meat (meat substitutes)

• Soy sausages

• Soy infant formula

• Soybean meal

• Soy yoghurt

• Soy cheese

• Soy concentrate