The Truth About Soy

A worrying trend that has gripped the western world over the last decade is the number of people, especially women, that have started drinking Soy Milk as a “healthy” alternative to Cow’s milk, adding it to teas, coffee and smoothies daily.

(I also see people turning to Soy Protein Isolate, as an alternative to Whey protein after their gym sessions, which is also just as worrying as it contains a large amount of MSG, but that is for another time.)

I ought to know what negative effects drinking Soy milk can have because back when I was in university, I was one of those people who thought I was making the healthy choice by swapping my cow’s milk for soy milk.

I soon found out just how wrong I was when my skin and gut issues got considerably worse.

The fact is, 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱..

Soy, Tofu, Edamame, TVP (texturised vegetable protein), Soy Protein Isolate, Soy pills, Soy cheese & Soybean oil, should all be avoided.

The reason for this is that Soy may damage your health in both the short and the long term, and it may do this for a number of reasons.

One of those reasons is that Soy is high in isoflavones, a phytoestrogen resembling human estrogen which disrupts endocrine function & may promote breast cancer in women.

This is backed by the Swiss Health Service who estimate that 100 grams of Soy Protein provides the estrogenic equivalent of the birth control pill!

Add to this the fact that most Soy is genetically modified (GM), loaded with toxic pesticides, and is shown to cause infertility evidenced by Russian research …

… this is unsurprising as Buddhist monks originally started eating tofu to reduce their sex drive.

Another problem is that Soy foods contain anti-nutritional factors or ‘anti-nutrients’, which interfere with the enzymes you need to digest protein, which means it is incredibly hard to digest and can be very damaging to the digestive tract.

One look into the Ancient writings from China and Ayurvedic principles from India, and you’ll see this notion is backed up as both cultures considered the soybean unfit for human consumption.

According to Ayurveda, soy is a very hard protein to digest and was not a traditional part of the Ayurvedic diet.

In fact, some Ayurvedic doctors are strongly against soy and do not consider it a digestible food because of its anti-nutrient content alone.

Energetically, it was considered heavy and dulling for the mind too.

Also, the common myth that Asians consume large amounts of soy foods isn’t true.

The average consumption of soy foods in Japan and China is 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons) per day, so Asians consume soy foods in small amounts as a condiment, and not as a replacement for animal foods like people do in the west.

Another issue is that Soybeans are also loaded with the heavy metal aluminium – which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys – as they are highly processed (by acid washing) in Aluminium tanks. These tanks then leach toxic levels of the heavy metal into the final product.

So, as you can see I am not a fan of unfermented Soy, or heavily processed Soy products, or oils.

If you want further evidence of the dangers of unfermented Soy then Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, points out thousands of studies linking soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders, and infertility – even cancer and heart disease.

I will also list these out below.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

However, having said all of the above …

Soy can be incredibly healthy, but ONLY if it is Organic and properly fermented.

While unfermented soy should definitely be avoided …

… the fermentation process frees soy from the toxic anti-nutrients and, moreover, actually releases some amazing health benefits.

During the Ming Dynasty, the fermented soy food Natto actually found its way into Chinese Medicine’s Materia Medica as a nutritional remedy for many health conditions.

For this reason, Soy is classified as a medicine (in its fermented state) in some cultures, rather than a food, with Tempeh, Natto & Miso all being healthy fermented Soy products.

However, I must stress that fermentation is the only way to neutralise the dangerous anti-nutrients in soy – which is an extremely important fact you should not forget!

Therefore you can enjoy traditionally fermented Soy products such as Miso, Tempeh, Natto, and traditionally brewed Soy sauce…

BUT

…you should also make sure these products are Organic and non-GMO.

If you want long-lasting health though, Soy should NOT be your main source of protein and you should avoid Tofu, Soy pills, Soy milk, Soy cheese, and all other processed Soy foods and oils I mentioned above.

(If you love soy sauce, choose coconut aminos instead.)

While I certainly sympathise with those who choose to abstain from meat for ethical reasons, there isn’t a single meat-substitute on the market that I would recommend …

… and that includes Soy protein, which may even be worse than Quorn.

(I will be doing an article on this in due course.)

𝗜𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆

To sum up the dangers of consuming unfermented Soy I have compiled a list of bullet points below …

* 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑖𝑢𝑚, 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑢𝑚, 𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑐. 𝑃ℎ𝑦𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑢𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ-𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛.

* 𝑇𝑟𝑦𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑛ℎ𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝐼𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑠, 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑛ℎ𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ.

* 𝑆𝑜𝑦 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑡𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛.

* 𝑆𝑜𝑦 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑡𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖-𝑡ℎ𝑦𝑟𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑦𝑟𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑦𝑟𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟. 𝐼𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑦𝑟𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒.

* 𝑉𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝐵12 𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦’𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐵12.

* 𝑆𝑜𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦’𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑉𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝐷. 𝑇𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑦𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑉𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝐷2 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑘.

* 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟-𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ-𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛.

* 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑐 𝑙𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠.

* 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑀𝑆𝐺, 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑛, 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑠𝑜𝑦’𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒.

* 𝑆𝑜𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑢𝑚, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑐 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑦𝑠.

Unfortunately, as you can see from the information above, many of us in the Western world who are committed to healthy lifestyles have been misled and grossly manipulated into believing that unfermented and processed Soy products like Soy milk, Soy cheese, Soy burgers, Tofu, Edamame, and Soy ice cream are health foods …

And, this is simply not the case.

Health & Happiness

Ryan Martin

P.S. If you have been struggling with your own health issues and would like to see if or how we could help you then click the link here, fill out the form and Ryan or one of the team will be in touch as soon as possible.