Death by soybean?

[ms_ann_thrope]

I wasn't worried about WorldNutDaily's warning that eating soy "turns people gay" , but since I started consuming a lot more than usual, I thought it prudent to Google and I found all sorts of information warning me about other "dangers of soy."

Now, it's one thing to suggest that not all of the hype and hullaballoo around soy is entirely deserved (prevents cancer! lowers cholesterol! protects against heart disease!), but it's quite another to say that the stuff actually HARMS you (thyroid problems! infertility! the body robbed of minerals!).

Do any of our resident science experts have any insight into whether soy is dangerous? I'm not talking about taking crazy supplements or soy protein powders or anything like that... I have just replaced cow's milk with soy milk (about 1/2 gallon per week) and eat about a pound of tofu per week. Might increase that to one gallon and two pounds per week, respectively; I love the stuff and am trying to significantly decrease the amount of animal/saturated fats in my diet.

Am I asking for trouble?

[MooseIBe]

I can't imagine why it would be bad for you - it's just bean curd isn't it? THat said I am certainly not an expert. I loathe the stuff myself but I've always thought that it was actually healthy

[fragment]

No expert here, but I am deeply suspicious of claims made about the benefits or drawbacks of any particular foodstuffs. Many media stories are based on single studies, and it's really easy to cherry-pick results to support a pre-chosen preferred position. Often there's some industry or other with a strong interest in protecting and expanding its market involved. That's not to say there aren't possibly any problems with soy, I just recommend serious fact-checking. Also, consider that a lot of other foodstuffs have soy-derived ingredients.

Or you could do what I do and work on the assumption that if people in east Asia have been wolfing down the stuff for centuries without any major problems, it's probably not too evil.

[pescifish]

Don't they extract hormones and/or steroids from the soy to create compounds in similar enough chemical structure to act as hormone replacement therapy?

A "quick" web search provided too much conflicting information for me to think I know anything at this point, but I do get a sense that there are things in soybeans that act like hormones/steroids. If that's true, I'd wouldn't want to eat 'too much', whatever that amount might be!

[Shelli]

I drink soymilk and use soybutter myself along with tofu now and then. I've read up on soy extensively and from what I've read, the pros definitely outweigh the cons, unless of course, you find that you are allergic to soy.

[ms_ann_thrope]

Thanks, people.

I've done more Googling, and it seems that maybe the "bad" soy effects are related to consuming megadoses of soy isoflavones in the form of concentrated supplements. I feel better now having read this:

snippet from AHA paper

The efficacy and safety of soy isoflavones for preventing or treating cancer of the breast, endometrium, and prostate are not established; evidence from clinical trials is meager and cautionary with regard to a possible adverse effect. For this reason, use of isoflavone supplements in food or pills is not recommended. Thus, earlier research indicating that soy protein has clinically important favorable effects as compared with other proteins has not been confirmed. In contrast, soy products such as tofu, soy butter, soy nuts, or some soy burgers should be beneficial to cardiovascular and overall health because of their high content of polyunsaturated fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals and low content of saturated fat. Using these and other soy foods to replace foods high in animal protein that contain saturated fat and cholesterol may confer benefits to cardiovascular health."

Linky.

So... soy protein in food probably good; soy isoflavones as standalone dietary supplements probably not so good. Sounds like I am relatively safe.

[Shelli]

Here's a few sources I found on soy:

U.S. Soyfoods Directory

Soy Nutrition

Soy and Breast Cancer

Powerful Benefits of Soy

Medline Plus on Soy

U.S. Food & Drug Administration on Soy

[livius drusus]

Honestly, with all these sorts of scares and fads, it seems to me that a moderate approach -- and a kilo of tofu a week is most definitely moderate considering how many other things people eat -- is unlikely to cause harm (unless you're allergic).

And on that note, here's the best tofu recipe of all time. I mean it. There is no more delicious way to prepare tofu.

Pan-Seared Tofu

1 lb firm tofu
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
1/4 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 Tblsp sesame oil, preferably toasted sesame oil

Place the tofu on a towel and let dry for 1 hour. Cut into slices 3/8 inch thick, then place the slices on a dry towel to drain for another hour.

Combine the soy sauce, water and herbs. Submerge the tofu in the marinade and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. If the liquid doesn't completely cover the tofu slices, baste several times over the day.

Drain the tofu on paper towels. Place an iron skillet over high heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1/2 Tblsp oil and add half the tofu slices. Do not crowd the pan. Sear over high heat until the tofu is brown and crusty, about 2 minutes on each side. Repeat with the remaining slices and serve immediately.

[Shelli]

Concentrated supplements (of any kind) can be dangerous indeed, something that many people don't realize. You have to be careful of not just how much you ingest but what else you are taking that might interact with it.

[Shelli]

Ooh.. this looks like a good site with lots of helpful info.

Soy and Human Health

[The Lone Ranger]

Hmm. A quick search through PubMed found no articles suggesting that a diet containing tofu or other soy products was harmful in any way. I did find a study which found that in postmenopausal women who drank soy milk, the rate of bone turnover was lower than in women who drank cow's milk. But, the study found no evidence that women who drank soy milk had bones that were any less dense or any more brittle. (This would mean that the bones of postmenopausal women who avoid dairy products for soy products might heal from breaks more slowly than the bones of postmenopausal women who consume lots of dairy products.)

Other studies found that soy products were perfectly healthy, and one even recommended soy products as a good way to help maintain blood glucose levels in diabetics.

I certainly wouldn't worry about soy causing any adverse health effects.

Originally Posted by fragment

No expert here, but I am deeply suspicious of claims made about the benefits or drawbacks of any particular foodstuffs. Many media stories are based on single studies, and it's really easy to cherry-pick results to support a pre-chosen preferred position. Often there's some industry or other with a strong interest in protecting and expanding its market involved.

I can't emphasize this strongly enough. The media are simply terrible, terrible, terrible at accurately reporting scientific research. We can speculate on the reasons for this, but if the newspapers were to report tomorrow that "New Scientific Studies Conclude that Water is Wet," I wouldn't believe it until I'd seen it in more trustworthy sources.

We all remember how, a few years ago, some scientists reported that "We've found some evidence from a meteorite which suggests the remote possibility that maybe, possibly there might have been some sort of simple life forms (like bacteria) on Mars at one time (like about 3 billion years ago). Perhaps."

Was that the way it was reported in the media? Hardly! You'd think the Martian War Machines were practically landing in New Jersey from the way it was reported.

In my experience, very little of the science reporting in the newspapers or on television news can be considered reliable or accurate.

Cheers,

Michael

[viscousmemories]

Okay, I will get some more tofu!

I've never actually prepared it at home. I've only bought it once (relatively recently) and it sat in my fridge for like two years before I threw it away. It's not that I don't like it, I do. I just never think to make it.