The Great Soy Debate

Just signed up on here last week and have been moving toward a vegetarian/vegan eating plan to be more healthy, etc.  Just came across a website today, I'm sure you've heard of this guy, who basically condemns soy and any soy-based product, including all those soy "meats" we've been eating in order to get adequate proteins or fulfill our desire to eat "meat".

Here's the link to the article posted on this doctor's website:

http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/avoid_soy. htm

Can anyone out there provide some good feedback on what they have heard/read/think about soy?  Thanks.

Soy isolates are not a good thing.  Check out this video for why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHYFOJBU434

Soy products that use the whole bean can definitely be a part of a healthy diet.  However, I do think that veg*ns can get carried away with soy.  Soy shouldn't be consumed any more or any less than any other legume.  Most nutrition for everyone should come from leafy greens and other veggies and fruits.  There is no reason to substitute soy for meat in your diet.  Quite simply you can get all the protein (and all the other macro and micro nutrients) you need from a wide variety of lefy greens, other veggies, fruits, grains, legumes, and seeds.

So in a sense, the article is right, particularly about isolated soy proteins.  And if you're eating more soy than you need because you've fallen for the idea that you need to make up for not eating meat, then you'll find that your diet is probably lacking as well.  But if you're sensible about what you're eating, consuming soy is beneficial to your health.  Repeat after me, Soybeans are just another legume. 

Hope that helps. 

I eat all non-GMO soy and I eat it at every meal. Personally, I think it completely depends on the person and their genes.

First of all, with articles & "research" you must look at who conducted it, who's funding it, who's promoting it, how many people were tested, etc. A lot of research is biased and misleading.

Too much of anything is unhealthy. I've talked to plenty of people who consume large amounths of soy, and have since they were children....they are perfectly fine. Sure, that's not going to be the case for everyone. We are all different. Consume it in moderation, and you'll be fine. Just buy organic soy products.

i realize that soy may not be the best thing, but i still think its better for you then meat.

Original Post by littlemissposh:

i realize that soy may not be the best thing, but i still think its better for you then meat.

 Things that use the whole bean (tofu, tempeh, miso) are better for you than meat, absolutely.  Things that do not use the whole bean (TVP, fake meats, soy milk, etc) are no better for you than meat and in some cases can be worse for you.

pretty much everything out there has SOMETHING bad about it.... moderation... i dont' know if i could handle being a vegetarian without the "fake meats" out there.  maybe it's not the best, and i still need to do more research on it myself... but there are worse things and something in everything... i'm trying to eat a little less of it but i don't think i'll be cutting it out completely.

Admittedly I haven't read the articles in all of the links posted on this thread, but I've read a lot of other ones and have pretty strong feelings on the subject.  First of all, about five years ago, soy was the new miracle food; I remember reading studies saying that it could help you lose weight, reduce chances of tons of types of cancer, etc.  Experts couldn't have been more enthusiastic.  I think soy has the same future as what the egg has gone through . . . every other minute it has a new spin on it.  I agree with the age old diet philosophy of moderation.'

More importantly, however, I think you have to look at the people side of who they can study.  Obviously, these scientist's can't force feed normal people tons of soy; they have to find people who already eat a lot of soy! Vegetarians yes, but more so vegans who are eating it to replace everything from scrambled eggs to ice cream and cheese.  Vegans OBVIOUSLY have a very different lifestyle than omnivores in more then just the soy that they eat.  I think you can correlate soy to some of the nasty side effects that they tease out, but it certainly is not causation by any means.

Original Post by mikelane:

Original Post by littlemissposh:

i realize that soy may not be the best thing, but i still think its better for you then meat.

Things that use the whole bean (tofu, tempeh, miso) are better for you than meat, absolutely. Things that do not use the whole bean (TVP, fake meats, soy milk, etc) are no better for you than meat and in some cases can be worse for you.

 So, am I harming my daughter by giving her soy milk every day instead of cow's milk (which she can't drink because she has a dairy intolerance)? If I am, what alternatives do I have?

Who needs milk?  If your child is the right age, breast milk is in order.  After weaning, milk from any source is unnecessary.

Well, obviously she would need something as an alternative since soy milk is a part of her diet...any suggestions?

Rice milk, almond milk, etc.  I don't know if those suffer from the same or similar issues as soy milk.  That's something you may want to research.

So, I looked at the ingredients in the soy milk my daughter drinks and here's the list:

Filtered Water, whole organic soybeans, organic evaporated cane juice, calcium carbonate, sea salt, natural flavours, carrageenan, sodium bicarbonate, soybean oil, vitamin A palmitate, zince gluconate, vitamin D2, riboflavin, vitamin B12

I guess that means not all soy milks use isolated soy proteins instead of the whole bean. That puts my mind at ease.

EDIT: the soymilk I buy is called Silk. 

Almond milk is really good. I love the chocolate flavored. You can also try hemp milk. It's pretty good too.

As a person returning to a vegetarian lifestyle (and hopefully a vegan one) I think that soy beans in moderation never hurt anyone whether in the pod or in the form of tofu or soy sauces.  Just stay away from genetically modified food stuff.

As long as your diet is well balanced you should be fine.  I know too many vegetarians who are so unhealthy and overweight because they don't have a well balanced diet.   Veggies, fruits, legumes, grains, starches and nuts (hopefully I didn't miss one) can provide you with most of the sustenance and nutrients you will need.  Anything that you might miss can be supplemented with a good multi-vitamin/mineral tablet or in liquid form.

Original Post by rosamor:

So, I looked at the ingredients in the soy milk my daughter drinks and here's the list:

Filtered Water, whole organic soybeans, organic evaporated cane juice, calcium carbonate, sea salt, natural flavours, carrageenan, sodium bicarbonate, soybean oil, vitamin A palmitate, zince gluconate, vitamin D2, riboflavin, vitamin B1

Dude! That is liquid sugar!

At least buy full fat unsweetened fortified soy/nut milks. There are even unsweetened carob & vanilla soymilks.

Here is a list of foods that are naturally calcium rich: http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fi t/nutrition/calcium.html

 

so morning star products & things of that nature aren't good for you?

I use almond milk and it's fabulously delicious! 

When I do use soy (for baking) it's light, unsweetened. 

Original Post by muzzleq:

so morning star products & things of that nature aren't good for you?

 No, unfortunately, they're not.  Stick with food that uses the whole soy bean (tofu, tempeh, miso, edamame, etc) if you're going to eat soy.  Soy IS healthy, partial soy is not.