Spilling the Beans on Soy

Rosita, right back to you re beautiful heart and passionate voice!

I am very inspired by you and many other concerned, informed, activist readers at this site. I loved Paul Hawken's piece on the hundreds of thousands of grassroots movements around the world. I think we see part of it here.

I add to these discussions because I believe in the power of truth (satya in Hindi :)) and the power of the word. Ancient Japanese have the concept of kotodama. Like the power of the AIAIA that one yells in aikido. The word releases a power into the world, for good or not. Judeo-Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains all also believe in the power of the true word -- it will set you free. And I think many Indigenous Peoples see the potency of the word -- used shamanistically.

I learned a lot in the truth in these comments, if not in the deceptions (intentional or not -- I think they were unintentional, and the result of sloppy research) in the profiled hippie-bashing story. Maybe her next piece will blame the cows and pets forced to eat the pesticide-filled GMO soy.

Well I'm off now -- just had to see if you read my thanks! Hope you see this! Take Care!

Satya, thank you for your moderate voice and beautiful heart!

Rosita,

Thank you also for your information on soy. I do plan to use ORGANIC soy for estrogen effects during menopause.

But I'm glad to learn about phylates, not only in soy but also legumes and grains, as I don't want them to interfere with my calcium, zinc, etc. absorption.

There's a movement in Japan, back to organic, with organic farmers teaming up with farmers in other parts of Asia and the world, to share info and support each other. The Japanese movement overlaps with the SLOW food movement.

I'm also from a farming family (we still have a 200-year-old farm, down to 40 acres, from hundreds, that we keep in grass, rather than farm) and I think that it was also organic until around the Second World War. That's when many of the old traditions started breaking down.

JConrad, a family friend who still ran a large family farm (potatoes) died an early death because of pesticides. He developed emphysema, and had inflamed skin. That's another reason I try to buy organic, to support the health of those who farm, and the health of farmworkers, not just my own. I just can't handle the thought of what I am eating contributing to the illness of another human being. Thank you for your information and insights, as well.

One of the most horrendous things I have seen is a bird dying of pesticide poisoning -- I volunteered at a wild bird rehabilitation facility -- It was a privilege and blessing to nurse the baby jays and mockingbirds who had fallen out of their nests -- to set them free where they originated. But very disturbing to see how the spread of pesticide affects our wild friends. The rehabilitator told me that she would like everyone to let their weeds grow in their lawns -- they provide seeds for little birds and the flowers provide food for butterflies.

I am hoping that, little by little, we can turn the clock backwards, and save this beautiful planet for the generations who follow us, and am going to do all I can to move our world constructively in that direction.

Dear George,

No one wants to take meat out of your mouth. Only you can do that!

If I wasn't an omnivore, I'd either be dead or a cripple. Due to a metabolic disorder, my body cannot process certain amino acids found in most vegetables. Somtimes I don't know who's worse - the convertibullies who want to cram religion down everyone's throats or the vegenazis who want to take meat out of everyone's mouths.

Opps, that was " commercial non-organic "

Nothing quite like an organic garden in the back yard. Wild venison and elk are a safe red meat if you are so inclined. Commercial red meat is high on the pollution food chain. Organic eggs are a safe and affordable complete protein source and a diverse vegetarian diet will cover our protein needs.

Some people in the farming business have gotten out just because of the cancer risk. The national statistics are not extreme but alarming and there are strange hot-spots of cancer in some farming regions. Often those who can afford it move off the farm and a manager runs the place which is what happens with large corporate farms.

Organic soybean products are highly recommended for those who indulge.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_5_12/ai_77749305

Genetically modified Roundup Ready soybeans were created to cut down on the amount of herbicides used on farms, but herbicide-resistant weeds are cropping up even more among U.S. biotech-grown vegetables (see "The Biotech Century," feature, May/June 1998). The unintended phenomenon has resulted in increased use of herbicides, particularly on soybeans. According to Dr. Charles Benbrook, director of the Northwest Science and Environmental Policy Center, farmers spray an average of 11.4 percent more herbicides on Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans than on conventional soy. Biotech soybeans, which are cheaper to grow, made up more than 55 percent of the total U.S. soy acreage in 2000.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEFDA1538F93AA1575AC0A...

" He said pesticides were a likely cause of some of the other cancers; other possible causes are fertilizer in drinking water; fuels and oils; fumigants, and animal cancer viruses. Pesticides may be interfering with the farmers' immune systems, allowing tumors to gain a foothold, he suggested. "Pesticides affect the immune system in a number of animals," he said.

Note: damaged immune systems is a popular theory on the bee die-offs.

http://www.ejnet.org/rachel/rhwn375.htm

However, despite their generally good health, farmers have higher-than-general-population risks for certain cancers: non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, skin melanomas, multiple myeloma, leukemia [cancer of the blood-forming organs], and cancers of the lip, stomach, prostate, and brain.

These high rates of a few select cancers among farmers, against a background of low risks for most cancers and for non-cancer diseases, suggests that work-related exposures may be causing specific cancers among farmers.

These patterns may have broad public health implications since several of the high-rate tumors among farmers are the same cancers that appear to be increasing in the general population of many developed countries: multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, melanoma of the skin, and cancers of the prostate and brain.

But there is also another possibility. Perhaps something in the environment damages the immune systems of farmers, who then fall prey to cancers that healthy immune systems would have been able to ward off.

This similarity between cancers associated with immunosuppression and cancers among farmers suggests that farmers' cancers may be caused by environmental factors that damage the immune system.

Increasingly, the general public is exposed to the same chemicals that farmers are exposed to. And, as we saw last week, there is evidence that immune disorders are increasing in the general population. The hypothesis of Davis and her colleagues, that chemicals (or other factors) on farms are increasing the cancer rates among farmers, could have important consequences for us all. It represents a new kind of tough, creative thinking that has been missing from the war on cancer up until now.
--Peter Montague, Ph.D.

I'm a Caucasian, born and raised in Pontiac, Michigan, and have never had any problems digesting soy. In my twenties I became lactose intolerant.

I saw two programs about CCD (colony collapse disorder) last night. One was on 60 minutes and the other (and much more informative) was on PBS. If the bees are in trouble and stressed, we are all in trouble. Can you imagine hand pollinating all the cantaloupes and almonds in California? I agree that organic agriculture is the only way out of the mess that has been created in the last 60 years or so.

When my husband was a kid in Japan all the agriculture was organic. But during the American occupation DDT was introduced and suddenly all the fireflies and crawdads in the rice fields disappeared.

What really gets me worked up is the lies around soy when meat eating is what's really dangerous! If 80% or more of soy is grown to make cattle feed, isn't that the real rainforest problem? If people stopped eating so much meat, think of the forests that wouldn't be destroyed to feed and pasture those poor abused creatures.

Then there's how meat cattle are raised. Hormones are injected into them even just a few days before slaughter. Those hormones get into people--I have first hand experience because in a moment of weakness I ate beef at a friend's place and had a very strange reaction which told me that female hormones were in the meat. Remember, I'm 10 years into menopause and eat soy everyday. I went to see my doctor pretty quick and she said that some kind of hormonal effect had taken place!! I eat soy all the time and have for 37 years, so that's not what did it--it's an artificial female hormone that was in the meat that must have done it. This irresponsible meat production makes money for the meat industry and cancer for human females.

Now I have a huge veggie garden and double-dig the beds myself. This year I grew all our dried beans except for soy beans which need a longer, hotter growing season than we have here in the Pacific Northwest. I'll be trying to raise orchard mason bees next year because I can't rely on honey bees anymore.

Sorry about the typo: " understands chem-ag "

I also forgot to mention the issue of soy intolerance. Again, my source is another retired farming friend, in this case a Norwegian who's family has been raising wheat in North Dakota for as long as the land has been turned green side down with the Indians dead or confined to reservations.

Eating any kind of soy product makes him ill in a variety of ways. Very much like Native Americans who are lactose intolerant, some people simply do not handle soy well. For me, even extremely well-cooked soybean soup is a gut bomb of indigestion and anti-social flatulence. Fermented tempeh and miso do not have the same effect. One theory is that Asians have actually evolved to be more able to digest soy than Europeans and others since they have been eating it for so long.

The Norwegian friend will also not eat commercial inorganic wheat products as he knows what chemicals are used to raise that crop. And of course, some people react to the gluten in wheat. Nothing quite like organic brown rice for a complex carb.

Actaully, I would not feed my dog high-gluten or soy food.

And should we not mention the problems with hydrogenated soybean oil used in all sorts of products. My father switched to hydrogenated margarine when diagnosed with high blood pressure. Big mistake. You might as well be eating a toxic liquid plastic as ingesting hydrogenated soy oil.

And not to create new "Silent Spring" type rumors, but a PBS documentary on disappearing and or dying pollinating bees found up to 40 industrial chemicals in bee honey. It will be a huge ag problem if the bees continue to die off as they pollinate all sorts of crops. One theory is that the neurotoxins retard the bee's learning process and they leave the hive and get lost never to return. They also have very weak immune systems. Some neurologists say that the rise in Alzheimer's is due to neurotoxins in foods, or possibly an American variant of mad-cow disease type prions.

But, in China they have attributed the bee die-off to pesticides and now hand-pollinate fruit trees which requires very cheap labor. They made the mistake of trusting their friendly chem-ag salesman from America pushing pesticides. We are all in big trouble if the bee problem is not solved.

Time for the feds to start subsidizing organic farming rather than toxic petro-chemical farming methods. This would help farmers get through the lean income years of converting from chem-ag to organic. It would also be a good idea to break up the big corporate farms and get back to small family operations that are organic.

And of course we all know that petro-chemical addiction and OIL LEADS TO POLLUTION, CLIMATE CHANGE AND WAR!

Thanks so much, Clo, for collecting all the information it would take me too long to find.

I feel so sorry for people who cannot afford organic food, and for the animals being fed this toxic stuff, including pets who eat supermarket petfood.

There are many dimensions to this issue, and all this reinforces my attempt to buy locally grown organic produce and to try to grow what I can, despite the time it takes.

I'm going to try to find organic birdseed for the wild birds I feed. I already give them organic sunflower seeds for human consumption, because the non-organic seeds smell toxic to me.

Maybe the organic and heirloom movement, as well as neighborhood gardening movement, will result in some small changes that will create ripple effects.

I'm also going to support rainforest activist organizations even more than I do now.

I still haven't figured out what the issue is with hippies though (S)! That was really weird, especially on this website, which attracts progressives who might have been "hippies" in the 1960's. Many of my professors were, and I credit them with much of the best of my development -- especially critical, holistic, open-minded, and progressive thinking. I have given up sugar (it creates general inflammation throughout the body and is not healthful at all, correlated with many diseases, not to mention diabetes 2 and obesity ) but 2 hippies, Ben and Jerry, made me really happy during the days I ate their ice cream. And I do indulge from time to time.

All interesting information, but what about the concentration of herbicides and pesticides in American grown soy products...as such toxins have not been part of the soy growing process until recently ?

And let's not romanticize ag and food practices in Asian places like China as they now have serious pollution problems and a rising national cancer rate.

Soy is one of the most heavily sprayed crops in America...very toxic situation. And as the disease or parasite elements become more resistant to the chemicals, the amount of chemical use is increased.

No one is doing the real research necessary on the effects of MULTIPLE chemical pollution typical in American chem-ag as this would implicate the industry. We are talking about neurotoxins and carcinogens and other toxins saturating the soils and water and plants and their products !

Synthetic fertilizers also deplete the soils. The average Midwestern farm soil is a toxic and nearly lifeless chemical sponge.

The American food chain is very polluted and soy crops rank very high in the toxic department ! I would assume this is why the author suggested a moderate consumption of ORGANIC soy products.

I have a very scientific and "holistic" health food farmer friend and the only soy product he will eat is organic tempeh. He understnad chem-ag as he made a living at it for decades before giving it up !

Just opinion from an old farm family.

commondreams, I'm surprised that you printed this. The author did not do her research!

To address the issues:
(And you can find a compilation of information on other so-called soy issues at:
http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/3476771.htm )

Re: Re: A recent article in The Daily Telegraph uncovered that land-rights activists are risking death, while vast swaths of rainforest are being felled to provide land for the booming soy industry in Brazil (now surpassing the United States as the top soy exporter in the world).
and
27,200
Amount in square kilometres (an area about the size of Belgium) of Amazon rainforest cleared for monoculture soybean farming between August, 2003, and August, 2004. Three-quarters of this destruction was illegal.
REBUTTAL:
Those "vast swaths of rainforest" are being cleared to grow soybeans for CATTLE FEED!

From ourfood.com, a German database of food and related sciences:
"Soy and feed: According to Jörg Michael Greef from the German from the Bundesforschungsanstalt für Landwirtscaft. The world production of soy is 220 million tons. Germany imports 40 million tons. Three million tons are used for the production of edible oil and other applications. The main core of 37 millions tons are transformed in animal feed.

Soy farms built monocultures in USA, Argentina and Brazil, where they invade the tropical forest and savannahs. Centralised animal breeding, depending on soy are an environmental false step.

Palm oil: According to the Environmental Program of the United Nations UNEP, 83% of palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaisia. The consumption of Palm oil increases deforestation of these countries."

(Note from Clo— palm oil is going to be used bigtime when all the no-trans-fat rules come into effect, because hydrogenated oils will not be allowed)

RE: 75 to 89
Percentage of soybeans grown in North America that are genetically modified. Even if you are actively avoiding GM foods, GM soy is present in approximately 60 per cent of processed foods - usually as filler or oil. Neither Canada nor the United States requires any safety testing on GM food products, despite findings of toxicity and cancer-promoting properties.
REBUTTAL:
If you look on the packages of most vegetarian and soy-based food products, they are organic and non-GMO. The percentage above reflects the fact that most soybeans are used for animal feed, oil, and non-food products. Here is a quote from the North Carolina Soybean Producers Association:
"When the farmer sells soybeans to a grain dealer, they may go to any number of destinations. Soybeans have a lot of oil and protein in them, so most soybeans are processed for their oil and protein for the food and animal feed industries. Soybeans are also used in many non-food products." http://www.ncsoy.org/How_are_Soybeans_Used_/how_are_soybeans_used_.htm

RE: 115
Celsius temperature to which soy beans are heated in the production of commercial soy milk in an attempt to remove trypsin inhibitors (they interfere with protein digestion and have been linked to pancreatic disorders), but the phytate content remains largely intact. (Phytates block the absorption of essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract.)
REBUTTAL:
Karl Weingartner, a soy specialist at the University of Illinois, found that soy contains just enough phytates to bind the few minerals present in the soy itself and no more. We still absorb all the minerals present in other foods we eat, even foods eaten with soy. Besides, phytates are antioxidants and have numerous healthy effects, from cancer prevention to boosting immunity. Susan Havala, MS, RD, writes "… many foods also contain iron absorption inhibitors such as the tannins found in tea, coffee, cola drinks, and some spices, as well as the phytates found in whole grains and even the calcium in dairy products. In the context of the total diet these enhancers and inhibitors generally offset each other….Recently, some researchers have speculated that there are inherent advantages in getting the bulk of dietary iron from nonheme [plant-based], rather than heme [animal-based], sources… because iron is a potent oxidant, some researchers speculate that the generation of free radicals and the oxidation of cholesterol into a form more readily absorbed by the arteries may increase the risks of coronary artery disease and cancer."

RE 5:
The equivalent number of birth-control pills a day that babies fed exclusively on soy formula would be consuming, according to a British toxicologist's calculations. (Components of soy called isoflavones produce estrogen-like effects in the body, and as a result are sometimes called phytoestrogens.) Thirty to 40 per cent of babies in the United States are fed soy formula.
REBUTTAL:
Absolute nonsense! Soy estrogens are "plant estrogens" or "phytoestrogens" (phyto is Greek for plant). They are found in many plant foods besides soy.

http://www.ifst.org/uploadedfiles/cms/store/ATTACHMENTS/phytoestrogens.p...
This is an article about phytoestrogens from the Institiute of Food, Science and Technology of the UK. It is worth reading. Here is the beginning of it:

"Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring phenolic plant compounds, present in foods such as beans, cabbage, soyabean, grains and hops, and are part of a wider class of polyphenols found in all plants. They are structurally similar to the mammalian oestrogen, oestradiol, and have oestrogenic properties. However, their oestrogenic activity is generally much less than that of human oestrogens (oestrogenic activity ranges from 1/500 to 1/1000 of the activity of oestradiol). Hence phytoestrogens can act as anti-oestrogenic agents by blocking the oestrogen receptors and exerting a much weaker oestrogenic effect compared with the hormone. As a consequence it has been suggested that they might partly suppress or inhibit normal oestrogenic activity in oestrogen-responsive tissues such as breast tissue and may reduce the risk of breast cancer. They may, in addition to their endocrine effects, have action on cellular targets which are independent of oestrogen, thereby complicating the prediction of their properties in humans.

Dietary intake of phytoestrogens
Phytoestrogens are found in the seeds, stems, roots or flowers of plants, serving as natural fungicides and acting as part of the plant's defence mechanism against microorganisms. They also are the molecular signals that emanate from the root of leguminous plants that attract specific nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria. The main classes of phytoestrogens are the isoflavones, coumestans and lignans. Isoflavones are receiving a great deal of commercial interest at present; they are found almost exclusively in legumes, the soya bean being the most abundant source. The most important soya isoflavones are genistein and daidzein. Lignans, however, are also an important source of phytoestrogens in the UK diet as they are present in most fibre-rich foods."

So, as you can see, phytoestrogens are not only found in many, many plants besides soy, but they are many, many times weaker than human or artificial estrogens.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/isoflav/isoflav.html is the USDA-Iowa State University Database on the Isoflavone Content of Foods

There is good material about this subject in an excellent book called The Okinawa Program, pps. 123- 129, including a chart of the "Top 50" foods containing healthful phytoestrogens (see also the sister book The Okinawa Diet Plan). Besides soy, flaxseed, kudzu, carrot leaves, onions, cranberry juice, kale, celery, snow peas, broccoli, turnip greens, black tea, green tea, jasmine tea, green beans, fava beans, applesauce, strawberries, pintos, lentils all have 2mg or more phytoestrogens per serving.

Here are some values per serving of a small sampling from the chart:
soybeans, cooked, 38.2 mg/ 1/2 cup
onion, 35.8
applesauce, 3.0 mg/1/2 cup
kale, 11.2 mg/1 cup
pinto beans, cooked, 1.9 mg/1/2 cup
garbanzos, cooked, 3.6 mg/1/2 cup
flaxseed, 28.9 mg/ 1 Tbsp
cranberry juice, 44.3 mg / 3/4 cup

What many people don't take into consideration when worrying needlessly about soy estrogens (consumed in soy foods, NOT soy supplements), is that there is good evidence of estrogen contamination in meat and dairy products. If you still eat dairy and/or meat, it would behoove you to read some of the following articles:

Articles about estrogen in dairy products

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dop...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dop...

Articles about estrogen in meat:

http://www.preventcancer.com/press/editorials/march24_97.htm
http://www.healthcoalition.ca/hormones.html
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_2001_Oct/ai_78900860

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&lis...

http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/23/89.cfm

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/vet/issues-enjeux/hormon/seventeen_studie...
http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1989/05/epstein.html

REBUTTAL RE SOY FORMULA:
(By the way, I am a firm believer in "breast is best", and am a former La Leche League leader.) Formula is definitely second-best for babies, whether cow's or goat's milk, or soy. But, if for some reason the baby can't be breastfed and is allergic to dairy (a common occurrence), soy formula is essential (and organic soy formula is available for toddlers-- http://www.babyorganic.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16137&cate...).

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine did a study on soy-based infant formula begun over thirty years ago. Their results, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reaffirm the safety of soy infant formula and offer evidence against the harmful effects of soy that have been presented in the popular media.

According to their findings, soy formula does not appear to lead to any more health or reproductive problems than cow milk formula. This study follows up a landmark 13-year study at the University of Iowa. Strom and his colleagues tracked down and interviewed 811 adults – some from almost 30 years after the Iowa study began – and compared those that had been fed soy formula with those fed cow's milk formula.

"We have found that, in terms of sexual development, there is very little difference between children who, as infants, were fed cow milk formula and those fed soy formula," said Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH, director of the Penn Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. Read more of this article: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-08/uopm-cia081301.php

RE: Bottom Line
From fast food to pet food, soy is wall-to-wall in our edible products.
And while organic fermented soy can be good in moderation, eating a tofu burger and washing it down with a glass of soy milk on a daily basis could prove hazardous to your health.
REBUTTAL:
(See the passage about phytates and soy above UNDER "115"— Also: Anti-soy writers put forth the theory that "non-fermented soy products contain phytic acid [phytates] which essentially acts as an anti-nutritive food because of its ability to bind with certain nutrients, including iron, zinc, copper and magnesium, thereby inhibiting their absorption." This is a gross over-simplification and misinterpretation of the facts, frankly. However, not only fermenting, but also cooking, sprouting and soaking all destroy some of the phytates! (And soy is not the only food that contains phytates. Wheat bran has higher levels, and all whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and some vegetables, contain them.) Soyfoods are ALWAYS eaten cooked. Even soy sprouts are eaten stir-fried or lightly steamed or in soups in China. Green soybeans are also lightly cooked before eating. Soymilk and tofu are both made from ground, cooked soybeans. Soybeans and soy flour are virtually inedible raw, anyway.

RE: Although the lauded Asian diet has incorporated soy for centuries, it has never included the large amounts of unfermented and heavily processed soy products consumed in North America that have toxicologists worried.
REBUTTAL:
This is untrue. The average Taiwanese eats 64 lbs. of tofu a year! As of 1991, there were thirty-eight-thousand tofu shops in Japan.

According to Chinese tradition, soybeans were one of the five sacred crops named by Chinese emperor Sheng-Nung, who reigned five thousand years ago! Sheng-Nung mentioned soybeans in his Ben Tsao Gang Mu, written in 2838 BC! By 300 BC, soybeans and millet were always mentioned in the ancient texts as the two major food crops in Northern China. There is archaeological evidence in the form of a kitchen scene in a Han tomb in Northern China, clearly depicting the preparation of soymilk and tofu. This would be AD 25-100. Tofu is first mentioned in a document in 965 AD: the Ch'ing I Lu by T'ao Ku. The story implies that tofu was widely consumed in China in those days.
In Japan, even today, the words tofu, miso and shoyu (soy sauce) are commonly preceded in everyday speech by the honorific prefix o—most people saying "o-tofu", or "honorable tofu", showing the reverence for the noble soybean in their culture.

According to Dr. T. Colin Campbell's data from long-running The Oxford-Cornell China Project, the percentage of foods of animal origin in the Chinese diet was found to be 0-20 percent of calories, compared to 60-80% in North America. The Project found that much of the protein eaten in rural China is from soyfoods and that 80-90% of legume intake was from soyfoods. William Shurtleff (world-recognized expert and researcher on TRADITIONAL Asian soyfoods) writes in "History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in China (1949 to 1980s)": "Prior to 1949 and up until about the mid-1960s, most Chinese, especially peasants, ate meat only three times a year, on their great festivals: New Year's, Autumn Festival, and Dragon Festival…Chinese derived 2.60 kg of protein per person per year from these animal products. By comparison, the average Chinese consumed 8.3 kg of soybeans containing 38% protein. Assuming that 95% were consumed directly with 90% protein recovery, these soyfoods provided the average Chinese with about 2.69 kg of protein per year, slightly more than was derived from animal products."

SOY IN OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES:
Tempeh is the fermented soy product that originated in Indonesia. Little is known of how soybeans and soyfoods were introduced to Indonesia, where Buddhism was only of temporary importance, in about the eighth century. The soybeans may have been introduced by Chinese immigrants; in some way tempeh was developed and became the most popular soyfood, followed by tofu, miso (taucho), and soy sauce (kechap). Here is a quote from a website on Indonesian food: "Tofu and Tempeh - Both made from soy beans, tofu and tempeh are common foods in Indonesia. While tofu has a smooth texture, tempeh is rougher because the soy beans remain whole. Tempeh is more of a specialty, but both must be tried to get the authentic Indonesian experience." http://www.goshen.edu/sst/indonesia/cuisine.php

Here is some interesting information from this article: http://www.pacific.net.id/pakar/myra/myra_37.html

"Tofu has a long history in China, where it originated about 3 millennia ago. The technology of soybean processing spread quickly to Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. While tofu is but one of the soybean products of these countries, it is perhaps the most for general consumption.

In Indonesia, tofu is considered an important element in the daily diet. It is found throughout the nation's archipelago, prepared everywhere in the style of the local cuisine and reflecting its great ethnic diversity. It may be mixed with dog meat, in those regions where dog is considered a delicacy; in other places, tofu may be mixed with salted fish.

Tofu feeds the rich as well as the poor. Five-star hotels and roadside stalls serve a variety of tofu dishes and types, from the soft custard style to the crisply fried. Judging from the processing technology, tofu seems to have been brought to the archipelago by the Chinese, but the exact date is difficult to establish. People in Kediri claim that tofu came to their city first, brought by the troops of Kublai Khan in 1292. The story begins, according to historical records, when Kublai Khan demanded tribute from the Javanese king Kertanegara of Singosari; but the king refused to fulfil the Khan's request. The Khan's special envoy, sent to Java in 1289, suffered the injury and indignity of having his face disfigured by the Javanese court. Kublai Khan sent an expedition consisting of 20,000 soldiers to punish the king. Meanwhile, however, Jayakatawang, king of the east Javanese realm of Kediri, had conquered Singosari and killed Kertanegara. Raden Wijaya, Kertanegara's son-in-law, vowed revenge. Fortuitously for him, the Mongol expedition landed in Surabaya. He directed the ships through the Brantas river to Kediri, and led a heavy battle. Raden Wijaya, the victor, then established the illustrious Majapahit kingdom, whose imperial reign endured into the 15th century. The place where the Chinese junks anchored is now called Jung Biru ("blue junks"). Kublai Khan's ships had complete cooking galleys, of course; and some were equipped for making tofu.

Today many tofu shops can be found in Kediri, offering tofu in a great variety of consistency, from soft custard-like cakes to the more solid takua. The process of making tofu is similar to the production of cheese. First, soybean milk is obtained by grinding the beans mixed with water between two heavy stones. In Kediri, this grinding is done the old-fashioned way, by two men who turn the heavy stones by hand. From this liquid, different products may be produced at successive stages of processing: soy milk and whey in the early stages, and tofu at a secondary stage. Nothing is wasted. The leftover skins are used for cattle feed, but sometimes are also sold to local villagers, who ferment it to make oncom, an orange-colored substance, that smells aomewhat stale, kije bkue cheese, but (like blue cheese) is delicious.

Kediri is so proud of its tofu history that, as part of the celebrations of the 1123rd anniversary of the city, a 500 kilogram tofu was made and submitted to the Indonesian Museum of Records in Semarang. Understandably, this highly perishable half-ton tofu cake is on display only in the form of a replica. The original was donated to the poor. "
SOURCES:
Hsiang Ju Lin and Tsuifeng Lin, Chinese Gastronomy (Hastings house, NY, 1969)
"The Prodigious Soybean" by Fred Hapgood, National Geographic, Vol. 172, No. 1 (1987), p. 66-91.

"Soy…The Rest of the Story" http://chinastudy.nutritionadvocate.com/story/soy.html
and "The Crucial Soy Link"
http://www.nutritionadvocate.com/story/crucialsoy.html

by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, PhD, MD (regarded by many as the greatest nutritionist of our time), (Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry Cornell University, On Leave; Project Director China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project Division of Nutritional Sciences Cornell University Ithaca, NY )

NOTE: The Cornell-Oxford "China Study" is the most comprehensive project on diet and disease ever undertaken. Two major surveys were undertaken, 1983 and 1989-90. These surveys were undertaken in China because cancers and various other diseases exhibit exceptional geographic localization. Thus, it made sense to examine these local regions to determine the responsible dietary and lifestyle factors. There are some "snippets" here:
http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/campbell_china1.html

Dr. Campbell's website is here and has lots of articles:
http://newcentury.vegsource.com/index.html

There is a 900 page book of data called Diet, Lifestyle and Mortality in China (1990), but the data has now been analyzed and you can get Dr. Campbell's new book The China Study. Check out http://www.thechinastudy.com/about.html
or ask you bookseller or try amazon.com or .ca
You can read an interesting excerpt here: http://www.thechinastudy.com/PDFs/ChinaStudy_Excerpt.pdf

The following two sources used to be available online, but now you must contact the Soyfoods Center, Lafayette, California, on this page to access these documents:

http://www.thesoydailyclub.com/Shurtleff.cfm
"Chronology of Soymilk Worldwide; Part I 220 A.D. to 1949"
by William Shurtleff ©2001 (co-author of "The Book of Tofu", "The Book of Miso", and "The Book of Tempeh")

"History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in China (1949 to 1980s): A Special Report on The History of Soybeans and Soyfoods Around the World"; A Chapter from the Unpublished Manuscript, History of Soybeans and Soyfoods: 1100 B.C. to the 1980s by William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi, authors of "The Book of Tofu", "The Book of Miso", and "The Book of Tempeh".

Brianct,I'm married to a Japanese immigrant and have spent lots of time in that country. He grew up on tofu and other soy products. I know what I'm talking about. You can call me a liar if you want to but the truth about soy in Japan is that they've been eating it for over 1,000 years. The Chinese invented it maybe 2,000 years ago. Brianct" do you have any East Asian immigrant friends? Are you an apologist for the meat and dairy industries by any chance? The agrichemical industry? If so the headlines at Environmental Health News will make you go ballistic:

TROUBLING MEATY ESTROGEN

http://environmentalhealthnews.org/

I know a Japanese woman (who lives in Japan) who has Hashimoto's disease. She's an over-weight chain smoker who loves European culture and food and isn't all that crazy about tofu except in the summer when chilled tofu is the traditional relief from the heat and humidity. Shall we blame tobacco or Euro food or over eating?

Folks there's a Bush-league BIG LIE smear campaign against soy going on. It originates with the Weston-Price Foundation in New Zealand but that's just a front for the funders which are--the meat and dairy industry. Don't get fooled--get the facts! Ask your local old hippie moms and dads.

True story.

My mother was raised in Iowa as the last generation that made a living from honest non-subsidized farming without chemicals.

As a child I visited the farm and caught catfish from the creek that ran through the land. The well water tasted clear and pure.

When my grandmother retired from the farm and moved to town the property was rented to chem-ag capitalists.

They used ample amounts of synthetic fertilizers and sprays of sorts.

Everything in the creek then died, and that was around 1972 ! It only took a few years to destroy agricultural land formed over many thousands of years.

Iowa is a huge soy state and the deadly pollution has found it's way into the underground water supply as well as surface water and SUCH CHEMICALS ARE RETAINED BY THE SOY PRODUCT AND PASSED ON TO ANIMALS THAT ARE FED THIS SOY THUS CONCENTRATING THE POLLUTANTS IN FLESH FOOD PRODUCTS....ETC.

And we are now engaged if global war crimes to acquire more oil for the petro-chemical agricultural cycle of death!

The author definitely misrepresented the use of soy foods for human consumption as a major cause of deforestation in the Amazon.

There are many reasons, with logging and clearing land for cattle ranches (for beef consumption) at the top of the list: http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/background/causes.htm Palm oil is another cash crop which rainforest activists point to as a reason for more deforestation: http://ran.org/what_we_do/rainforest_agribusiness/spotlight/launch/ And, as many of the commenters have pointed out, the soy that is being grown in former rainforests is being used as feed for cattle, according to CorpWatch: http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11756

"The landscape, however, is rapidly being altered as vast fields of soybeans and cattle ranches replace grasslands and forests. Soy rules Mato Grosso and it's not the soy that much of the world associates with the ostensibly eco-friendly, vegetarian diet, either.

"In the wake of the Mad Cow disease scare, soy producers have benefited from increased demand in affluent countries for meat from cows that are fed soy meal, rather than animal-based feed. This is only the latest in a series of factors that have allowed a company named the André Maggi Group to spearhead, along with the Brazilian government, the expansion of soy in Mato Grosso and adjacent states over the last two decades, with disturbing consequences.

"Soy -- at this moment -- is the most important driver for deforestation, directly and indirectly," says environmental analyst Jan Maarten Dros. "Directly because the cerrado is being converted from natural vegetation into soy fields. But indirectly, because in this region a lot of cattle farms are being replaced by soy farmers buying or renting land from cattle farmers." This means, according to Dros' 2003 WWF study on the impacts of soybean cultivation in Brazil, that the "cattle farmers tend to advance into new forest area, causing more deforestation."

"The governor of the state of Matos Grosso is Blairo Maggi, the owner of the Maggi group, who is also known as the rei da soja -- the Soybean King. In fact, the Maggi Group is the largest private soy producer in the world. The company grossed $600 million in sales this year, primarily managing the production, trade and processing of over 2 million tons of soy, most of it destined for livestock in Europe and Asia. Maggi has also been key in establishing transportation infrastructure that further opens the Amazon to development and deforestation."

After some research, I learned that phylates are not just a soybean issue. Grains and legumes all have phylates. So does the author also mean we should stop eating grains and legumes as well?

I think many various "experts" recommend different foods depending on the industry that is supporting their research. I had a nutrition professor who said "beer" was a good carbohydrate, who also shilled for other foods, because of "research" grant monies. Some experts do evidence a sense of integrity, in contrast. Most of them recommend various "balanced" diets.

There might be some danger in an overconsumption of soybeans, especially with its estrogen effects, but this article did not flesh out enough details to fully address or distinguish issues. Extra estrogen effects may be indicated for menopausal women, but not for babies?

I don't think this author is an expert, but instead sloppily cobbled together a bunch of information into an article with flagrant misinformation and many important gaps, from not being specific about the use (human or animal food?) of soy being grown in the Amazon region, and the problem with phylates, which is not specific to soybeans.

She did not do careful and clear research for her article, and her odd blaming of "hippies" makes me wonder if she has a personal axe to grind towards people who choose to live outside the mainstream, or if she is shilling for interests which want to undermine countercultural change, or if she simply makes use of ignorant stereotypes, as a matter of course.

Everything you eat will kill you, according to "experts", so we should all stop eating entirely. It's the only way to stay healthy.

Oh wait...

Tofu is a mainstay of traditional Buddhist vegetarian cuisine in Japan (and was brought to Japan from China). When one visits Buddhist temples, this is the kind of food that is served. Taiwan still has many tofu-based Buddhist vegetarian restaurants. But I noticed many other foods as well as tofu in these venues. And people don't eat the larger servings that some people do in the U.S. I also did not notice soymilk sold. Miso is eaten frequently by many people.

I wish the author had kept her focus upon the possible issues with soy products, and expanded upon them, instead of blaming "hippies" for this possible problems. That gratuitous jab, and the lack of comparative stats regarding rainforest destruction distracted me from points pointed out by later commenters.

Thanks for the comments that added contrasting sides to this issue. I would like to learn the amount of phylates it takes to prevent absorption of minerals. I know that calcium prevents the absorption of iron, as well.

Oops, not specialtyfood.com. It's www.manitobaharvest.com. Sorry about that.

Ken Nuti
Medford, MA

Logically, the answer to whether or not soy products are to be enjoyed with a clear conscience can be found if we verify Ms. Sopinka's position that soy cultivation significantly erodes rainforests and other stressed land in order to satisfy demand. The sudden, widespread proliferation of hempmilk seems to be, at least in part, the market's response; often an accurate indicator.

Here are two companies that make some fine hempmilk: www.livingharvest.com , www.manitobaharvest.com

They both carry chocolate and vanilla varieties, too. Very delicious.

Ken Nuti
Medford, MA

Rmouse:
soy has NOT been a mainsaty of asian food...only a condiment:

The Dangers of Soy Advocacy - Letters to the Editor - Letter to the Editor
Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Jan, 2002
Editor,

I would like to address some issues raised in two pieces about soy in the October issue of the Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients. One is an article by Tori Hudson -- "Soy Isoflavones in the Management of Breast Cancer Survivors." The second is a letter by Nancy Beckham -- "Soy Controversy Fueled by Author Inaccuracies."

According to Hudson: "In countries like China, Thailand and Japan, soy foods have been a significant part of traditional diet."

Thailand

I would like to first correct the misconception that soy foods were ever a significant part of the diet in Thailand. They use a small amount of light soy and black soy sauce in cooking a few dishes -- that is basically it. The only people who eat tofu in any amount whatsoever are some of the Chinese Thais and certainly not all of them: my wife's grandparents were Chinese who emigrated to Thailand and her family eats almost no soy. My wife is Kasma Loha-unchit, who was born and raised in Thailand, has taught Thai cooking for nearly two decades, and is the author of two books on Thai cooking. She emphatically denies that soy has or ever had a significant role in Thai cuisine. On occasion she has had difficulty feeding vegans who came on trips to Thailand because tofu and soy dishes are not available in many restaurants.

Japanese & Chinese Consumption of Soy

The notion that soy foods have been a significant part of the traditional diet in Japan and China never seems to be backed up by references or evidence. The only studies I have seen mentioned indicate that soy was not a significant part of the diet in China or Japan.

etc
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_2002_Jan/ai_81138256/pg_1

ah Rosita...you wouldnt be lying now would you?
Here are other testimonies against Soy:

'Soy Testimonies

"Yes, I was fed on soy formulas as an infant, and I have been a vegetarian for 40 years. For 30 years, I have had soy products as a source of protein, thinking that I was doing the right thing. Now I have severe hypothyroidism, and the clinical picuture is not yet complete. I have more tests to take. I have battled a weight problem for ten years, and I now know why. I am angry about this soy deception!"

"I was recently diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. I was otherwise very healthy and live healthy (never smoked, no alcohol, excercise frequently, low stress). I'm 35 and have been a vegetarian for 25 years. I always eaten lots of soy, but increased my intake significanlty in the last 2 years because of incresed physical activity (to ensure I received adequate protien). 5 years ago, my doctor noticed that my thyroid was enlarged, but functioning normally. Now it has grown larger and a cancerous tumor was found. My preliminary research leads me to believe that soy was the cause of the thyroid enlargement and the subsequent cancer."

"Hi, I am 34 years old and have been eating soy every day several times a day for 8 months. My periods are extreamly [sic] messed up now and I am in a 54 day cycle. I would like more info and the connections of soy and my cycle as well as symptoms of a thyroid condition. Thank you."

"I have always been a relatively healthy woman. Now 48, I've been taking "Revival" products for about 3 years and recently began eating soynuts. Although my TSH levels were normal, my sonogram found multiple goiters which I need to see an endocrinologist about. After reading many testimonials about soy effects, I've decided to completely stop consuming products with soy. I hope I will not need surgery."

"My son recently had his thyroid removed at the age of 33 with a diagnosis of Follicular Cancer. He was fed soy formula as an infant and still uses soy milk on his cereal. He recently had a head CT scan for a medical reason and an incidental finding was that his brain is undersized. He has normal to above normal intelligence. I read on your website that this is related to soy as well. I was a very nutritionally aware mother and I am shocked to find that he may have been harmed by soy formula. I thought I was doing what was best because he cried and had intestinal discomfort on milk."

etc
http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/02testimonies.htm#soy

Yes soy is deadly in more ways than one. It is no health food, but rose to fame as a meat substitute. For a lot of info on its dangers to human health:
http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/
A must see site.

Readers testimonies to the hazarsd of soy:
http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/02testimonies.htm

The only good soy is fermented soy as in Miso, which also is good to protect against radiation poisoning.

Thanks to all those whose comments clarified this op-ed for me.

The story's conclusion made no sense to me: blaming "hippies" for the loss of rainforests because of soy production. It was a weird meta-message.

I would like to see good comparative stats on the loss of rainforests because of clearance to raise cattle versus soybeans. And, commenters linked the use of soy in animal and pet foods as well as for many other reasons.

I am wondering where organic soy is being raised. I am concerned about the loss of rainforest and that is an important issue that would affect my choice of products, but the author does not address that important detail.

There are many vegans and vegetarians who eat soy who are not "hippies." Seventh Day Adventists and many others choose a vegetarian lifestyle, and eat soy-based products. Shouldn't the author point her finger at them as well?

While "hippies" such as Ben & Jerry are definitely not vegan, and are not putting soy into their ice cream that I know of.

I don't consider myself a "hippy," but am grateful for many of the contributions from the 1960's counterculture period, which are being mainstreamed now, forty years later.

This story was odd, with a fallacious conclusion. But the comments were informative, upbeat, and fun.

I had been wondering about how much (organic) soy I should be eating. And I can't figure out why we can buy hemp seeds (great on hummus, my favorite source of protein) but why Lakota Sioux are not allowed to grow hemp on their property.

This discussion showed me again that I often like many of the discussion threads and learn more facts from them than I do the posted stories.

Heidi's research is totally--no--99% out to lunch! I've fed my boys on soy and they are both brilliant and hung. I breezed through menopause because of TOFU. The very macho Japanese samurai never ate steak but they had tofu all the time. The grain of truth in her BIG LIE is that the production and use of industrial soy IS a huge problem. The biofuels scam is already leading to high food prices and more clear-cut rainforests. Never eat any soy that isn't organically grown--that way you can avoid GMO soy.

It is too easy for trash-talking like Heidi to slam us hippies but we got so many things right before the rest of you pulled your heads out of the TV and woke up. Heidi, I'm not ashamed to be a hippie and I'm having tofu fried in Red Star nutritional yeast for dinner tonight. You should try it sometime.

Rosita

Damn, I'm just dying for a piece of soybean spiced hemp rope! Maybe with a little Louisiana hot sauce.

Hemp is certainly edible and highly nutritious in the form of seeds, oil and flour.

All that said, let's turn the bread belt into the hemp belt.

No doubt that would help bring back the family farm. ;)

To Buckycat: A few years ago I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disorder. Some believe there is, in many cases, a strong link to mercury amalgam dental fillings. Another cause might be heredity. I have recently read that soy tends to suppress thyroid output, but nothing about it actually causing thyroid disease.

You can't eat hemp - unless you are desperately hungry.

Soy has sustained all of Asia for thousands upon thousands of years. Aside from the GM part, I am unafraid of soy.

Agreed. But the article doesn't overtly cite what kelmer has:

80

Percentage of soy (and a similarly high percentage of corn) used for livestock consumption.

Tofu & tempeh addicts--keep doing your thing. This is like when I heard something gripe about the emissions from rice paddies to dispel any consideration from eating less meat or going vegetarian.

All that said, let's turn the bread belt into the hemp belt.

Thank you for airing this issue, Heidi. My sweetie has been battling a hypothyroid problem for years that she believes has been caused, at least in part, by too much soy in her diet as a meat replacement. She had that soy burger w/ soy milk diet for many years, now she rarely touches it, except sometimes in Asian food, where it is often combined with meat. Isn't that how it's been used in Asia traditionally, as a way to add more protein to a meal, instead of an outright replacement to meat? I don't know...

Anyway, now she eats a seaweed called Fuchus each day to rebalance iodine levels(?).

If anyone on this page has any more info about soy/thyroid issues, I'd greaatly appreciate hearing about it. All things in moderation, I guess... even "health food".

Bon Appetit

Soy is being grown mostly for cattle in Europe to feed meateaters.
Get rid of meat and you reduce the soy crop by something like %80.

Also-if I had a choice between soy drinks(which i dont like) and dairly--soy still wins in the health depoartment.
You want growth hormones and bacteria?

Soy is still better.

The reason soy is dominant is the 70 year BAN on hemp. Here are the real facts about soy vs hemp:

http://www.hempfood.ca/hemp-vs-soy.ihtml

As others have said, it is unfair and unfortunate that leaving out the most important part of the equation is that the majority of soya goes to feed livestock for MEAT. The implication in the article is that veg*ns are to blame. Not true, and not fair at all.