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View Full Version : Soy -- Is it healthy? Is it toxic? Can it impact on fertility?



Jivattatva
Nov 15th, 2012, 02:55 AM
Hi Korn

The link below is for an internet tv from The Age online newspaper. I understand that I can't post it on the Vegan TV section so Im posting the link here. It's a very interesting documentary.


Soy

So is it healthy? Or is it toxic? And can it impact on fertility?


http://www.theage.com.au/tv/food/show/whats-really-in-our-food/soy-4211401.html

Clueless Git
Nov 15th, 2012, 09:49 AM
Oh Poo!

Content not authorised for GB location, so can't watch it to see what it has to say.

I was curious to know if the proggie touched upon the oft ignored fact that soy consumption seems to have little adverse effect on the fertility of the chinese.

BellaTanie
Nov 16th, 2012, 06:25 AM
Why wouldn't it be authorized for GB? I had something tell me that on youtibe before and I didn't understand why.....

Korn
Nov 16th, 2012, 08:28 AM
Hi Korn

Hi Jivattatva! :-)

I don't know much about soy, and like many vegans, hardly use soy, so I can't help you much with that question. These threads, however (see the link below) are all tagged with 'soy', and some of them may help you with some info:

http://www.veganforum.com/forums/tags.php?tag=soy

Unfortunately, this forum has some limitations re. searching for very short words (except when searching for tags), so - for a more complete overview of our threads about soy, try to google this:

site:veganforum.com soy

moondaddy
Nov 16th, 2012, 09:50 AM
Soy gives me headaches. I'm not saying it will give everyone headaches or any other problems. The Chinese and Japanese have been eating soy for many centuries. In the West it is new and is bound to cause bad reactions in some. You just have to see for yourself.

Robinwomb
Nov 16th, 2012, 10:52 AM
I can't access the link either.

Personally, I need to avoid soy for medical reasons, but I don't think soy itself is unhealthy, as long as it is not the genetically modified highly processed type often found in western culture. It amazes me how many products (omnivore and vegan) have soy in them, even some herbal teas! Far more soy is grown for animal feed than human consumption which does disturb me. But soy is not limited to food production either. If you google "North Carolina Soybean Producers Association" (which I do not endorse, just pointing it out for educational purposes) they explain what they grow soy for, and the majority seems to be for animal feed but it's also used for petrolium and other things. I do have a few soy candles in my house.


I would probably eat soy here and there if it didn't jack up my thyroid TSH every time. Sighs...

Lentils
Nov 16th, 2012, 11:00 AM
The video is unavailable in my country also.

My view on soy is that it's just another legume, nothing special but nothing bad either and it's just that many people have a vested interest in convincing the public either way - all the good about it applies to many other foods also, and all the 'bad' does also if there is actually any truth to the claims. I don't avoid soy but also I don't regularly consume it either because it takes far more preparation than other legumes and I don't find tofu that tasty unless I've spent a lot of time prepping it. (draining, dry frying, marinating and then baking)

Jivattatva
Nov 17th, 2012, 08:24 AM
I think the reason why the video is not allowed in other countries is that it's syndicated.

Korn, I wasn't asking the questions , they were the teasers for the video and if you were able to watch it they were answered.

Yes, it's healthy because it's considered one of the best plant source of complete protein, (and I think only second to quinoa) it has the essential amino acids and has many health benefits, like reduce risk of type of cancer in men, low in cholesterol, etc, although it was pointed out that it may be a contributing factor to some medical conditions, like gout which generally the jury is still out about them -- studies are inconclusive. It also touched on GM soy, however, the video says that based on the study GM soy helps the environment because cultivation of GM soy reduced used of pesticide but there is a slight increase in herbicide use. I guess if we want to use soy products make sure that it is not GM if you are particularly worried about about killing small organisms. About impact on fertility, although soy has estrogen -mimicking compound, the research seems to prove that it has no effect on fertility on woman or adverse effect on fetus or adverse effect on puberty of children. There are many topics discussed in the video that I can't remember now.

Lentils
Nov 17th, 2012, 01:40 PM
Quinoa is nothing special, it's amino acid profile is no better than that of potatoes and most legumes - it has just been well marketed :) The whole 'complete protein' idea is pseudoscience anyway, rat studies showing increased growth while eating animal protein compared to plant protein doesn't have anything to do with optimum amino acid ratios for humans - good marketing tool though.