Soy is used as an ingredient in many packaged foods today. It's said to be healthier than dairy products; as a result soy milk, soy butter, and soy yogurt have emerged as "healthy alternatives". But is soy actually better for you? Soy advocates often point out that Asian people have been eating soy for ages and are extremely healthy. In truth, a typical Asian diet consists of a lot of rice, meat, and fresh vegetables. Soy is merely a side dish in Asian food.In fact, Asians typically consume about 10 grams (2 teaspoons) of soy a day. It just seems rather illogical to say that Asians are healthy because of such a small portion of beans; rather than because of all the fresh, unprocessed meat and vegetables.
Soy is proclaimed as a food that can replace meat. We need to eat meat because it contains amino acids which our bodies require to produce proteins. Without proteins, our bodies grow sick and die. Soy contains a HUGE amount of amino acids, which is why it's used as a meat 'replacement'. I'll prove that soy causes more problems than it fixes, and that these amino acids are essentially useless when consumed from a soy product.
PHYTOESTROGEN
Soy contains phytoestrogen, which simulates the effects of the hormone estrogen. Estrogen is produced naturally by several organs; the addition of more estrogen or phytoestrogen leads something called estrogen dominance, estrogen and other hormones are completely unbalanced. Nobody disputes the fact that such an overabundance of estrogen is a cause of several health problems, including Uturine Fibroids, Breast Cancer, and Infertility. Estrogen is one of the main ingredients used in birth control pills, which you wouldn't give to young children for obvious reasons. Feeding an infant the recommended dose of soy formula is the equivalent of feeding them 4 birth control pills. Even adults don't take that many at once.
PHYTATES
Phytates are found naturally in all grains, seeds, nuts, and legumes (like soybeans!). Phytates are a type of enzyme inhibitor. Now, an enzyme is a substance that speeds up chemical reactions. So in this case, enzymes in your stomach are speeding up the breakdown of food. Phytates inhibit this process; which, of course, is not a good thing. If your food is not broken down properly, your body can't absorb any minerals from the food during digestion.
Some phytates are removed from these foods simply by cooking them. Many more are removed by either soaking said foods in an acidic medium or by fermenting them in a lactic acid.
Now, an acidic medium is not necessarily a substance that will burn through concrete. About 30 ml (two tablespoons) mixed with some warm water will do just fine. The phytates in most foods are found mostly on the outer shell, or bran. The acidic water eats through this bran and removes most of the nasty phytates. The few that remain are insignificant.
Unfortunately, soy contains so many phytates, soaking it just doesn't solve the problem. By the time the acid has burned away enough phytates, there isn't any soy left! Fermentation is the only viable option to eating soy.
Fermenting your phytate infested foods in lactic acid is more effective still. Instead of using acid to burn off phytates, fermentation utilizes bacteria which eat away the phytates. As these bacteria consume they phytates, they increase the acidity of the substance they're in, which kills off any harmful organisms that would normally cause the fermenting food to rot. Common examples of fermentation are yogurt and sauerkraut.
Fermenting soy only removes the phytates, not any of the other problem substances that I have mentioned or will mention. Fermented soy products should only be consumed as a minor condiment, not a main course.
TRYPSIN INHIBITORS
A trypsin inhibitor is, you guessed it, any substances that inhibits trypsin. But what exactly is trypsin? Trypsin is an enzyme used in digestion; it's necessary for the absorption of protein. This enzyme is similar to the other enzymes we discussed, but is used in the intestines, rather than the stomach. A deficiency in trypsin causes digestive cramps, diarrhea, bleeding, and could lead to problems with your pancreas. Soy contains an incredible amount of trypsin inhibitors, which keep trypsin from working and give you all those problems I just described. That is, simply put, not good.
The raw soybean contains these trypsin inhibitors, which is why raw soybeans are toxic to humans and other mammals. Cooking or fermenting soy does remove enough of the trypsin inhibitors to keep any drastic health issue from immediately occurring, as long as the soy is consumed in small enough quantities.
Hey, wait a second... Aren't we eating soy as a source of protein? How effective is that protein if soy also contains trypsin inhibitors, which prevent the absorption of proteins? It isn't effective at all. Most of that valuable protein is completely worthless to you, now that your trypsin is being suppressed.
So now to reiterate a bit. Soy is not good. Soy contains high levels of phytoestrogen, phytates, and trypsin inhibitors, which are also not good. As I mentioned a couple of times, fermented soy products aren't nearly as bad as the rest, as long as they are used conservatively. For example, a small amount of soy sauce (which is fermented!) in your soup won't hurt you at all.
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