Soy no longer a health food?

An article just came out on this.

here's the link

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/ar chive/2008/10/07/the-evidence-against-soy.asp x?source=nl

for every article you find arguing against something (soy, etc), there's another article arguing for it. scientists keep coming out with these new studies either praising a food or warning people about a food every week because they really aren't sure what's good and bad.

everything in moderation is the key to life. have some soymilk with breakfast, etc.. but don't live off the stuff. y'know?

yeah I know what you mean. Though lately I've found more and more articles agaisnt soy than in favor. Like, it has been supposely proven that to have too much soy can cause harmful hormonal changes in your body. Of course, there's always the fact that, that would only happen if one were to literally live off soy, but for example, vegetarians need either legumes or soy as protein sources (those who dont drink milk, or eat eggs). For example I know a friend of mine was trying to become vegetarian, and her protein was too low, so her nutritionist said to up in soy products and more legumes....so she basicly had soy in all her meals. I think that to have that much soy can be harmful, cos she even had them on snacks :S (soy milk and soy yogurts). Im not sure if it caused some damage, but Im sure it wasnt that healthy at all. She gave up on the idea of being vegetarian and instead just settled for no red meat or processed foods (much better!).

Either way I love tofu and soy...I guess that its just like you said...everything in moderation is key to having a healthy balanced diet.

My personal opinion is that soy is not good. Linked to several types of cancer in women. That is enough for me to hear.

You're not really supposed to have ANY one thing in all your meals! Even with fruits and veggies, they suggest varying the colour of the produce you're eating to get a full range of health benefits. Eating soy for protein is understandable, but the vegetarian was passing up other legumes, nuts, and (if she ate cheese) things such as cottage cheese and non-soy meat substitutes. If your diet limits you to one kind of food, it'll be super hard to stick with it. Doesn't sound like she opened herself up to the possibility of eating anything BUT soy!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/ar chive/2008/10/07/the-evidence-against-soy.asp x?source=nl

That's a working link.

Although I appreciate the frustration behind sentiments behind comments like eerica's, can I make a small rebuttal to your wording?

No, scientists aren't really sure what's "good" or "bad", and they are very aware that it's often a more nuanced case than just one or the other. So they do studies, which are frequently highly complicated and detailed, and are often meant to provide new avenues for other scientists to study.

The articles are also available to the public, and people who need to generate content to make money (journalists, health-centered websites, and people with something to sell who need to sound like they know what they are talking about, like our Dr. Mercola here), interpret the findings of basic science and translate them into something that will direct traffic to their site, store, or publication.

Typically, people who aren't already studying biochemistry don't give two craps about a finding about a chemical in a food product interacting with a subtype of cells in a particular organ in a certain way, so they over interpret the findings and publish something that the common person will find interesting, like "Soy is Bad" or "Carbs will kill you."

So it isn't the scientists saying Soy is wonderful one day and Soy is terrible the next, it is people who generalize small findings into overarching headlines and have to backtrack every time a new study comes out. Luckily, wacky "scientists" who "don't really know" are always there to be a convenient whipping boy.

Lay off scientists. They are trying hard to make your life better, and it's not their fault that the progress is slower than news cycles would have it.

EDIT: eerica please don't feel singled out... people use that "scientists don't really know" schtick so much that it's cliche. you just said it on the day i feel particularly verbose. :)

too much of anything is bad for you.  that's the moral of the story: eat a varied diet and you'll be fine!

Soy is incredibly processed....we all know processed foods aren't good for us, right? Why should soy be any different?

Now, if we eat pure unprocessed edamame, that's another story! ;-)

But beyond that, soy has been so genetically modified over the years so it can be a big cash crop, it's no wonder it's nutritional identity has gotten warped. Also, soy is one of the heaviest sprayed crops there are.

So, all in all, unprocessed, organic edamame is great for you, and in a lot of cases, fermented soy like miso is okay, too...but tofu, isolated soy protein, and all their chemical cousins? Stay away!

I have a friend, in his late 40's .  very health concious, eats well, excercises etc.  He started adding lots of soy to his diet and eventually he became very sick, he was sleeping all the time, no energy at all.  Finally went to the Dr. and it turns out the soy was distroying his thyroid!  He cut out the soy and is back to his normal energetic self.

I live in Japan, and soy is one of the staples of the cuisine, and thought to be very good for one's health. Asians have been eating it for hundreds (thousands?) of years with no recorded side effects.

I can't figure out why so many people are so determined to prove that soy is evil. Maybe they've never had good tofu? Japanese tofu is so yummy and delicate, much different from anything I've had overseas. That, or maybe all the studies are funded by the dairy industry.

from what I can gather, the Japanese do things in moderation.  I am sure tofu, tempeh, miso and edemame are perfectly fine foods to eat every day if you eat reasonable sized portions.  I enjoy these foods weekly.

I think the problem with soy is that SO many things (in the US at least) are now fortified with soy protein.  There are bars, shakes, fake meat products, cereals. ...There are even soy supplement pills I have seen at the drug store. People are eating WAY too much concentrated soy products instead of eating them in their natural state.  I am sure that the average Japanese person is not swilling down 300+ cal smoothies made with soymilk AND soy protein powder everyday.

Above, I wrote about my friend who became sick from soy, I beleve it was due to lots of soy milk, shakes etc , not natural soy beans, tofu, tempeh etc.

bugink is right. Soy having an effect on the thyroid and its normal functions is true. It affects anything having to do with hormones. I dont know why exactly but so many studies have shown it.

basicly this all brings up back to "moderation is key" to optimum health.

Original Post by corduroyfirekills3:

Although I appreciate the frustration behind sentiments behind comments like eerica's, can I make a small rebuttal to your wording?

No, scientists aren't really sure what's "good" or "bad", and they are very aware that it's often a more nuanced case than just one or the other. So they do studies, which are frequently highly complicated and detailed, and are often meant to provide new avenues for other scientists to study.

The articles are also available to the public, and people who need to generate content to make money (journalists, health-centered websites, and people with something to sell who need to sound like they know what they are talking about, like our Dr. Mercola here), interpret the findings of basic science and translate them into something that will direct traffic to their site, store, or publication.

Typically, people who aren't already studying biochemistry don't give two craps about a finding about a chemical in a food product interacting with a subtype of cells in a particular organ in a certain way, so they over interpret the findings and publish something that the common person will find interesting, like "Soy is Bad" or "Carbs will kill you."

So it isn't the scientists saying Soy is wonderful one day and Soy is terrible the next, it is people who generalize small findings into overarching headlines and have to backtrack every time a new study comes out. Luckily, wacky "scientists" who "don't really know" are always there to be a convenient whipping boy.

Lay off scientists. They are trying hard to make your life better, and it's not their fault that the progress is slower than news cycles would have it.

EDIT: eerica please don't feel singled out... people use that "scientists don't really know" schtick so much that it's cliche. you just said it on the day i feel particularly verbose. :)

Amen, Corduroy!  That was very well said, and I totally agree with you.

On the subject of soy--I try not to each too much of it.  I have a blood clotting disorder, and the hormone stuff (which has been connected to soy intake) can have an effect on blood clotting too.  I'm probably being overly paranoid, but before I had my first blood clotting episode, I *was* eating a ton of soy-based stuff.  Now, of course there were lots of OTHER more important factors causing my blood clots, but I always wonder if all that soy contributed too.  So, I limit my intake these days (I still eat tofu and stuff sometimes, though.)

Damn it and I just started to drink chocolate soy milk regularly. T_T

hey cptbunny its fine to consume soy! just do it in moderation. If you're only having the soy milk as your only soy intake daily, I dont think its gonna do you harm :) so dont worry. Soy isnt THAT bad...everything in moderation will work just fine. Even treats in moderation work fine haha!

take care :)

Original Post by littleshellys:

My personal opinion is that soy is not good. Linked to several types of cancer in women. That is enough for me to hear.

Too much sun is linked to several types of cancer. Are you going to completely avoid it? ;)

There's advantages & disadvantages to everything. I think as long as you're not consuming only soy and nothing else - you'll be just fine.

Well you cannot really avoid the sun completely if you are a human and want to enjoy life.  But I do protect myself in the sun and limit my exposure.

But I can avoid food. I have done some reading and it effects womens hormone levels. Particularly women who have a family history of breast cancer. Soy effects estrogen levels. That is enough for me to know. I personally don't' eat it but that is my opinion. I also am not a believer in "anything" in moderation is OK. And I don't think you can safely say "you will be fine" we just don't know that for a fact.

I see what you're saying, littleshellys; 'anything in moderation' is not necessarily true one hundred percent of the time.

I personally woudln't touch tofu or other overly processed forms of soy; man has taken all the little soybean had to offer and thrown it aside when he cooks it to high temperatures, refines it, isolates parts of it and basically changes it into something completely unrecognizable from it's original form.

Now, where actual soybeans themselves are concerned (because when I say soy, I mean soy, not some contrived imitation from a factory), my only issue with them is the fact that they are very genetically modified, and are very heavily sprayed with pesticides.

Eating this substance 'in moderation' would cause your body to develop leukocytosis or something similar 'in moderation', which would in turn keep your immune system busy on something relatively unimportant, meanwhile scarier things metastasize in other parts of your body. Play it safe, save your reserves! 

hmmm leukocytosis is not the right word.

But definitely an immune response or generation of free radicals in response to the pesticides.

Idk, just felt the need to clarify.

if anyone has a opinion......i have 100G TOFU DAIKLY + 1 GLASS OF SOYMILK.......is this moderation?

thanks:)