Naysayers

Photo from * Abhi *'s photostream

I'm already hearing from acquaintances who strongly disagree with what I am posting about soy. And that's okay ... the First Amendment guarantees our Right to say what we think (and the Right to have poor nutrition if we so choose!). As my old pastor said, "I may not believe what you have to say... but I would give my life to defend your right to say it."

Nothing I have seen in this life is ever just black and white, and no person I've ever met or read about has all the answers. I merely write what I uncover and how it applies to my heath. If what I write also happens to be of interest or possible benefit to you, that's wonderful. If it offends you, please don't read it.

What disappoints me, though, is that these are intelligent people who have bought lock, stock and barrel* the long-running and expensive advertising myth about soy. There's a current ad running on TV that says soy has been in the diet of Asians and other ethnic groups for thousands of years, and that there is correlation to lower incidence of disease in that population. So it must be safe, right?

Technically, that TV advertising statement is correct. Soy has been consumed for thousands of years, but in it's fermented form (like soy sauce, tamari, tofu and tempeh which break down the antinutrients), and even then, they ate it more as a condiment or only in small quantities. You can be sure it wasn't Roundup Ready soy, either.

As far as disease, native cultures around the world had far better health and much less disease, thanks to the unprocessed foods in their diet. Since they also had no refrigerators, much of their food was fermented to keep over the winter, and historically, their grains were soaked before cooking.

The medical literature is full of case studies showing startling increases in disease with the introduction of 'western (i.e. processed) foods' . That initial observation was the foundation of the research by Dr. Weston Price: the comparison of disease including tooth decay in the western diet of processed foods vs. the health-building diet of unprocessed foods eaten by native cultures.

There is also a lot of controversy about soy milk in infant formula. I'm not going to wage a crusade against that issue (infant formula) because it's all been documented already. It's basically a battle of BigAg profits vs. health, and personally I question any medical research supported by grants from BigAg, right along with pay-offs via campaign contributions and 'gifts' to elected officials who "assure" our food quality.

*although a well-known phrase since the 1800's, I like how Rudyard Kipling used it: "The whole thing, lock, stock and barrel, isn't worth one big yellow sea-poppy." ~ The Light That Failed