Natural Healing Information - Is Soy Really Good For Us?

For a few years now soy and soy based products have become very popular. Many people who are vegetarian use soy as a replacement for meat, and people who are lactose intolerant drink soy milk as a substitute for cow's milk. Soy has been so deeply ingrained into our way of life, but is it really good for us? Recent reports seem to say that soy is not.

Not too long ago, several centuries, soy was not considered as a food source, and it is amazing how modern propaganda could push this product into the spotlight. It wasn't until the 2nd Century in China's Chou Dynasty that the fermentation of soy made it a viable option for human consumption. Up until that point it had been mainly used in crop rotation to moderate the nitrogen levels in the soil. The unfermented soybeans were never eaten, as they contained large levels of natural toxins that blocked digestion. Many of these toxins cannot be gotten rid of even through cooking. Soy has been shown to produce serious gastric distress and reduce the proteins needed for proper digestion, and, can also cause cancer.

According to some sources, 99% of soy is genetically altered and contain more pesticides than any food produced in the world today. Studies have shown that vegetarians who consume soy products such as tofu as a substitute for meat run the risk of severe deficiencies in calcium, magnesium and iron.

Producers of soy are still trying to figure out how to get these "anti nutrients" out of soy and make it more "user friendly". One process involves mixing the soy with an alkaline solution to remove the fiber. The process takes place in large aluminum tanks where the aluminum has a chance to seep into the soy as well. After this process, the curds are spray-dried under high temperatures to produce textured vegetable protein (TVP).

Although numerous studies have shown soy to have caused poor results in animals who were fed the product, the soy industry has not let up in its push to market it to the public. School lunches, commercial baked goods and fast food all have soy in them and are consumed in large quantities every day. You have to know that something is seriously wrong when in 1913, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) listed soy as an industrial product and not as food. There was a time when soy wasn't selling quite as much as the soy industry would have hoped, so they changed their marketing tactics. Instead of targeting people who might live in impoverished areas, they shifted their sights to the mainstream and the people with money. Soy became the next fad in a long line of 'miracle foods' and the public literally ate it up. Apparently, this is working and it is scary.