think twice about "soy products"

check out this link. i always kinda had my suspicions about soy products. http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.c fm/soy

You can eat anything in moderation.

Scare tactics are ridiculous, fyi.

I think that's a valid article to point out that a soy 'product' is likely to contain a lot of artificial ingredients.   All of those lookalike soy foods have got to be flavoured, textured and coloured by definition.   It's like when a potato becomes a 'potato product'.  Original spud is a fairly harmless article whereas some extruded potato flour creation doused in colours and flavours is nutritionally fairly dicey.  Not harmful in small amounts but not something you'd want to live on.

As always, you can't beat a varied diet.  Too much of anything isn't good.  Soy included.

soy products have always given me extreme stomach aches and problems in the bathroom...but that could just be a weird way my body reacts to it.

Eh, this article strikes me as fear mongering, not to mention downright disingenuous.

"Reading the labels on plain tofu usually reveals two or more preservatives with unpronounceable names." - When I read the Nasoya label (the brand most commonly available in grocery stores), the ingredients are water, whole organic soybeans, calcium sulfate, and magnesium chloride. Categorizing calcium sulfate and magnesium chloride as preservatives is just plain wrong. They are both naturally occurring compounds and are used as coagulating/firming agents - not preservatives! They have been used to make tofu for literally hundreds of years in Japan and China. Calcium sulfate is actually a very good vegetarian source of calcium. Freaked out by those scary chemical names? Well, calcium sulfate is commonly called gypsum, and magnesium chloride is commonly called nigari. I could pretend that water and table salt were scary too if I called them dihydrogen monoxide and sodium chloride.

"Most soy beans used to make products like tofu and soy milk are genetically modified organisms (GMOs) – a process that introduces unpredictable elements into our food supply" I will admit that GMOs freak me out, but I don't see any statement that genetically modified soy is any worse than the genetically modified wheat or corn that we eat all the time. I avoid GMOs where possible, but from what I've read they seem more like an environmental risk than a health risk.

Also, TVP "usually" contains MSG? I don't know where they are finding their TVP. I have eaten plenty, and can't remember any containing MSG. And yes, I do check my foods for MSG since it is one of my migraine triggers.

The most legitimate argument mentioned is the concern over phytoestrogens. However, there is still a lack of consensus in the scientific community over soy's long term effects on health. From what I have read, it seems quite possible that it will be found to be beneficial in some ways, and harmful in others.

Ultimately, the same rules that apply to all other foods apply to soy - try to avoid highly processed foods, soy products included, and enjoy it in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

Sorry for the long rant, but misinformation makes me cranky.

im deffinently not giving up soy products altogether, im just going to make sure i keep good variety. i thought this article would be interesting to a lot of you.

I'm also one who can't eat soy without major stomach and bathroom problems.  I discovered this when I was in college and started trying to eat "healthy" which involved soy instead of meat.  I paid for it for about 2 weeks before I finally isolated and figured out it was the soy.  My face even broke out big-time (and I'm one of "those" girls who doesn't get breakouts, EVER).

I suppose soy in and of itself probably is ok for most people, but I think my main issue with it is that it seems to go along with highly processed foods.  I am definitely one of those who thinks that the more highly processed the food is, the worse it is for you. 

It's kinda nice, because soy is in most convenience foods which just forces me to cook from scratch and eat better anyway.

i think the bigger problem with soy is an ethical and ecological one.  south american rain forests are being clearcut to make room for farms to provide soy to china, because china is appropriating farmlands to build factories.  the combined environmental impact is off the charts.

if we lose the congo, we're doomed.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

i think the bigger problem with soy is an ethical and ecological one.  south american rain forests are being clearcut to make room for farms to provide soy to china, because china is appropriating farmlands to build factories.  the combined environmental impact is off the charts.

if we lose the congo, we're doomed.

 holy crap, i didn't know that. im going to read up on that

Original Post by pgeorgian:

i think the bigger problem with soy is an ethical and ecological one.  south american rain forests are being clearcut to make room for farms to provide soy to china, because china is appropriating farmlands to build factories.  the combined environmental impact is off the charts.

if we lose the congo, we're doomed.

This is why I worry about ethanol in my gas (made with corn and soybeans). Sure, the emissions may be slightly less, but how many acres of forest are being cut down to make room for these crops? Soy isn't nearly as bad, but corn (to be blunt) rapes the soil. It leaves it completely barren of nutrients. Just another thing to think about..

Original Post by elfkittie22:

This is why I worry about ethanol in my gas (made with corn and soybeans). Sure, the emissions may be slightly less, but how many acres of forest are being cut down to make room for these crops? Soy isn't nearly as bad, but corn (to be blunt) rapes the soil. It leaves it completely barren of nutrients. Just another thing to think about..

Agreed.  Which is why researchers are looking into using various grasses, etc. to produce biofuels.  Now, counteracting the corn-lobby will be difficult, but there are many many better sources of biofuels than corn.