Recently, the public has been hearing a lot more about soy, and the benefits to your health. Others argue that soy is extremely harmful to our helth. Soy contains many potent toxins including phytic acid, trypsin inhibitors, toxic lysinoalanine, and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines. Although companies who use soy know of all the harmful toxins, they do not remove them from the soy before using them in their products. Studies show that male infants feed solely on soy formula ended up underdeveloped while female infants were seen to be prematurely developed. These infants also had 13,000-22,000 more estrogen compounds in their bodies. That many estrogen compounds is the same as five birth control pills!! Also, soy formula for infants has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease. It is also linked to thyroid cancer, infertility, breast cancer, and hypothyroidism.
But on the other hand, there are those many healthy benefits that are widely believed true. Many of the benefits include heart health, preventing cancer, strong and healthy bones, and reducing menopausal symptoms in older women. Soybeans are also rich in many vitamins and minerals, including: calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, B-vitamins, and magnesium. It is the only vegetable source of all amino acids and contains a lot of protein. In the middle of the 1990's, a study showed that soybeans also can help lower cholesterol. Trigylceride levels are lowered by the soy protein while the HDL cholesterol is maintained. And in 1999, the FDA even put up a health claim that lends a helping hand in proving that soy consumed is healthy for you. It reads...
Health Claim:Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein a day may reduce the risk of heart disease. One serving of [name of produce] provides [amount]g of soy protein.
Personally, I had not known that soy was dangerous to our health until I read what our new post was to be about. Therefore, I am not so sure that I believe soy is as harmful as everyone seems to make it out to be. With technology making keeping things quiet, I believe that if soy was a serious threat, I would have already heard about it. Also, growing up in a household where Japanese food is in abundance, I have been exposed to tofu and other soy products from a very young age. If I do say so myself, I don't believe I have any of the problems linked with infants and children. I don't know if that's because companies treated soy differently 16 years ago, or just because soy does not contain all the harmful toxins people believe it does. I believe the latter. Also, I am pretty sure that the oldest living man is a Japanese man. Most all Japanese people eat tofu and many, many, many other soy products throughout their whole lives. Yet they are able to live happy, healthy, and long lives. Vegeterians/vegans also consume soy as an alternative. So many people consume soy that if it were actually extremely harmful to our health, it would be a lot bigger news.
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i personally don't think soy is bad for you even though i read that scientists say its bad i don't think so but yet again i always go with my own rules and don't really care what people think.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think there are positive and negative views of eating soy. I did not realize how many toxins were in soy, but I still believe soy is perfectly fine to eat. I don't think a person will die from eating soy products. It's not like you are eating french fries everyday.
ReplyDeleteAlso Jaden, keep in mind that the toxins are normally removed from the soy by fermenting the beans. So the toxins are not supposed to be present in the final product.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your information and jadens blog id have to say that i found some of those toxins in my information also. I have to disagree with jaden though and slightly agree with kevin. In moderation soy shouldnt be bad, but if you eat soy everyday and it has some of those toxins in it, your right it wont cause heart disease or obesity, but it could cause other deformities or cancer. GREAT BLOG ER!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that soy is more good than bad. There may not even be toxins at all, or like Erica said, not as many as people think there are. I, like Jaden, was not aware of the variety of toxins that could potentially exist in soy products. You know what's funny? I just had dinner with soy in it! (I'm not sure I'll be okay to continue blogging, however. haha!)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I am very interested in the fact that the oldest living man is Japanese! That must say something about the negative health effects of soy: they are not significant. I also find it interesting that I haven't heard much bout soy in the news....hmm...
Soy is just a fad. We've been living without it for hundreds of years and been doing fine. Why do people always blow things out of proportion? I could avoid soy foods my whole life and be totally healthy. Nuff' said. Good blog!
ReplyDeleteWell, true, Kevin, that soy is a fad. But I don't think I could live my whole life without soy. I love tofu and soy milk!! But mainly, I think it depends on what your meals consist of and how you live your life. My meals and childhood have always included soy. So I will always include it in my diet. But others just may not be exposed to it.
ReplyDeleteErica that was a good blog. I haven't heard anything about soy in recent months. I also agree with kevin that soy is just a fad. Like everything soy is good in moderation i think that if you ate it alot then you could see some of the health problems associated with soy but i think that it is fine to eat soy
ReplyDeleteGreat job Erica. The statistic concerning babies and the birth control pills, a fact I included in my post (before I saw yours), was shocking! That is amazing...imagine what it does to the babies' development. I was interested to hear that soy causes breast cancer, because I also read that it prevents breast cancer, along with some other cancers. I would like to know which is right. In my research I found that a chemical in soy (I forget the name) is an anti-nutrient, which blocks good nutrients from getting into the bloodstream. I saw that soy had many of the materials that the chemical blocked, so I wonder how that works. Haha. Whatever, I guess we will never know which sources are right. Once again, wonderful job.
ReplyDeleteI think we must have used one of the same websites because we have a lot of similar information. Haha nice. Anyways, to be honest I do not believe that soy is particularly good or bad. I am more so neutral in this agrument, because like lots of people have mentioned, how do we REALLY find out for sure which facts are true and which ones are false? I believe that some aspects of soy are good, but there are also better options when you look at other aspects. I definitely agree with you when you mentioned the idea of opinions being based on what you are used to. I believe that if i grew up eating tofu and soy I would become accustomed to it and therefore think it is good. However, since I did not, I never really understood the concept of tofu. For instance, we already have meat, why do they have to replicate it? I know it is mostly for the purpose of vegetarians, but isn't one of the purposes of being a vegetarian not eating meat? I don't know....the whole thing has always just confused me. Anyways...like Kevin said, it is sort of strange that soy products have been on the rise within the last decade or so. Some people may end up avoiding soy all together because they feel as though it is harmful to their health, but what if the researchers who say it is good for you end up being right? I say just ignore all of the chaos and eat what you want.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what kevin said about soy being the latest fad that has people all excited. Only a couple people say that it helped them lose weight, and the whole country is suddenly all excited about it. It will eventually pass.
ReplyDeleteI still find it hard to believe all of the health dangers soy can cuase. Since this protein has been very popular oer the years it is a surprising fact. good job Erica.
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