DANGER OF EATING SOY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
I recall about 8 years ago or so, soy suddenly became trendy. Every super market starting shelving soy products. Soy milk was touted to be the ultimate healthy food… better than dairy, it promised to be the next best alternative to milk. Boasting protein, phytochemicals, copper, iron, B12 and magnesium among other vitamins, soy seemed like the ultimate super plant!
Till the research around soy slowly started to sprout up. It turns out soy isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Today I will be sharing with you some of the dangers of soy and discuss why you may want to avoid soy altogether.
DANGER OF EATING SOY: WHAT RESEARCH SHOWS
The research on soy ins’t exactly peachy. In his article, “The Health Dangers Of Soy”, Dr. Joseph Mercola writes “Thousands of studies link soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility — even cancer and heart disease.” (source: The Huffington Post)
He goes on to write “One of the primary reasons it would be wise for you to avoid soy is that more than 90 percent of soybeans grown in the United States are genetically modified. Since the introduction of genetically engineered foods in 1996, we’ve had an upsurge in low birth weight babies, infertility, and other problems in the U.S., and animal studies have shown devastating effects from genetically engineered soy including allergies, sterility, birth defects, and offspring death rates up to five times higher than normal.”
Indeed its well know that soy (alongside corn) are the most modified crops in North America. Why should you care? Because GMOs have been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, eczema, and digestive problems amongst other things.
Soy crops also contain high amounts of herbicides which can again lead to disease when consumed. The good news is most of the health conditions caused by unfermented soy products like soy milk and tofu. Fermented soy products from organic crops like tempeh, miso and natto are safe to consume.
- Soy is the most heavily modified crop in North America. GMOs have been linked to birth defects, cancer and digestive issues.
- Contain high amounts of toxic herbicides
- Contains high amounts of aluminum causing toxicity
- Can interfere with iodine production and thyroid homerooms
- Can disrupt female hormones and throw your cycle off balance
- Contains photo and xenoextrogerns that disrupt our endocrine system and can lead to breast cancer and infertility. Further more these phytoestrogens can cause hypothyroidism and even thyroid cancer.
- Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals, soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
- Can cause a deficiency in b12, calcium and vitamin D as in intruppts how our body absorbs these vitamins.
WHAT TYPE OF SOY IS SAFE TO CONSUME?
The studies on unfermented soy products all point to costly health hazards. Does this mean you need to give up soy? Yes, and no. Fermented soy products like miso, tempeh, and natto are much safer to consume. So it’s rather about making the switch over to fermented soy products and eliminating the unfermented kind (like tofu).
If you are going to eat soy, the best thing to do is to keep to organic FERMENTED types, like:
- Tempeh: a fermented soybean cake with a firm texture and nutty, mushroom-like flavor.
- Miso: a fermented soybean paste with a salty, buttery texture (commonly used in miso soup).
- Natto: fermented soybeans with a sticky texture and strong, cheese-like flavor.
Lastly, be careful of what I call “sneaky soy”. Many vegan and vegetarian products like vegan burgers, vegan dairy and milk contain unfermented soy. Read your labels and stay way from these products!
xoxox, LL.
