Eat Shrink And Be Merry

I’ve never been a big fan of soy. It’s not the taste of soy products that bothers me, although I can’t say I drool over the thought of pouring watery soy milk over my Multigrain Flakey-O’s. (Incidentally, I’m an almond milk girl!) It’s just that the whole subject of soy is so frought with controversy and confusion. Fifty percent say it’s great for your health. Fifty percent say it’s not. For that reason, I’ve tried to avoid the topic, really. I’ve tried to stay pretty neutral and take in as many of the facts as I could. But after doing more and more reading on the subject, and being a natural nutritionist, I guess I’m tending to side toward natural holistic practitioners who give processed soy products (especially soy protein isolate and soybean oil, which are in just about everything nowadays) the big thumbs down. That’s in contrast to the multi-billion dollar soy industry and its lobbyists who tout soy as being the answer to all our dietary prayers.

The kind of soy that actually has health benefits is the fermented kind: miso, tempeh, fermented tofu, natto. Even so, we weren’t meant to eat mountains of the stuff. When the soy industry, and then the government, claimed that soy was “soy-good-for-you,” they pointed to the Asian diet, which they claim contains a lot of soy. In fact, soy consumption is relatively low in Asia, ranging from two tablespoons a day in Japan to two teaspoons per day in China. And the kind of soy they eat is not the processed-to-death kind, it’s the fermented kind mentioned above. One problem with eating soy is that it’s a goitrogen. That’s a fancy-schmancy word that means it slows your thyroid function. When your thyroid gland is sluggish, your metabolism slows and you tend to gain weight even when you eat very little. Who knew? Interestingly, even with the small amounts of soy eaten in Asia, thyroid problems are widespread there, particularly in China. Another problem with soy is that it’s one of the most genetically modified crops going, and the jury’s still out on what that can mean for your overall health. Plus, most holistic practitioners agree that soy is difficult to digest for the majority of people. Many, many folks are allergic to soy products (and most of them don’t even know it.)

Again, like I said, we weren’t meant to consume massive amounts of soy, and that’s exactly what’s happened. People hear from the media that something is “the next greatest thing” and they just go soy nuts! They take it too far. Processed soy is in so many products now–protein bars and shakes, cereal, ice cream, cheese, burgers, soymilk, baby food and formula (Eeeek! Read more about this!) and the list goes on and on.

Rather than hearing me going on and on, I’ve included a link to an interesting article about soy products and possible health implications. I think it’s best to do your own research and form your own opinion. Hopefully you’ll find this a good starting point:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/3/6/weston-a-price-foundation-to-fda-soy-is-no-health-food.aspx