Dangers of Soy

1
Dangers of Soy

• Presented by Bruce Topping

2
History of Soy Foods

• Soybeans originate in the Orient.
• Soybeans were considered inedible until around
  2500 years ago sometime during the Chou Dynasty
  in China.
• Before that, soy was used in crop rotation as a
  nitrogen fixer

3
The Discovery of Fermentation

• Ancient Chinese made a fermented food called
  chiang made by mixing animals foods like fish
  or meat
• Sometime between 2nd century BC and 4th century
  AD this process was applied to soybeans and it
  became the precursor to miso.
• Soy sauce was originally the liquid poured off
  during chiang production.

4
Fermented Soy Foods The Traditional Way

• Miso paste made of fermented beans and grains -
  developed from primitive soupier version of
  chiang
• Miso began to play important role in Japanese
  diet in 1100s under Samurai control.
• Samurai popularized national cuisine of
  simplicity and frugality in which grains were the
  starring role.

5
Traditional Soy Foods

• Soy Sauce shoyu juices from a fermented
  mixture of wheat and soy.
• Long fermentation process made by adding mold
  spores from Aspergillus to mixture of roasted
  soybeans and cracked wheat.
• Ferments for 6 18 months. Some versions use
  much longer ferments.

6
Modern Soy Sauce?

• Most soy sauces sold in America are made in 2
  days or less. (Far from traditional method!)
• Modern versions use acid hydrolysis heating
  defatted protein with hydrochloric acid for 8
  12 hours, then neutralize acid with sodium
  carbonate. -chemical soy sauce.
• Rapid hydrolysis method creates large amounts of
  unnatural form of glutamic acid that is found in
  MSG.

7
Traditional Fermented Soy the good old soys

• Tempeh Appeared around the 1600s. Most popular
  fermented food in Indonesia. Solid, chunky,
  meaty texture.
• Indonesians had been making fermented coconut
  press for centuries
• This technique was applied to soy.
• Easy to digest, rich in B-vitamins, minerals,
  enzymes, and omega-3 fats, as well as molds,
  bacteria, and yeasts.

8
Tempeh Continued

• Traditional Process for making Tempeh
• -Boiled, drained, then hulled
• -soaked and pre-fermented for 24 hrs
• -boil again, then inoculate (Rhizopus
  oligosporus)
• -wrap in banana leaves and let ferment for 24
  48 hours at room temperature.
• Scientific study of traditional Tempeh finds
• 69 species of mold, 78 species of bacteria, 150
  species of yeast.

9
Natto

• Natto originated in Japan about 1,000 years
  ago. Fermented soy product with pungent odor,
  cheesy texture, slimy, sticky coat.
• Great source of vitamin K2
• Soaked, boiled, steamed, and then fermented.
  Traditionally inoculated with Bacillus and then
  incubated in straw.

10
A Word about Tofu

• Tofu was invented in China in 164 BC.
• Not fermented made by separating a puree of
  cooked soybeans into solids and liquid using
  magnesium chloride or epsom salts, then pressing
  the curds into solid cakes.
• Developed as a protein source for vegetarian
  Buddhist monks
• They found that it decreased libido and made
  their celibate lifestyle easier. (phytoestrogens
  can lower testosterone levels)

11
A Word about Tofu

• By 700 AD tofu was accepted as a meat substitute
  by the general public if meat or seafood was not
  available or not affordable.
• Otherwise, tofu was served as a condiment or in
  small amounts in fish broth.

12
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Protease Inhibitors / Trypsin Inhibitors
• Phytates
• Isoflavones
• Goitrogens
• Saponins
• Lectins
• Oxalates
• Manganese levels (for infants)
• Allergens (known and unknown)
• Oligosaccharides

13
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Trypsin Inhibitors and other Protease inhibitors
  interfere with digestive enzymes protease and
  trypsin. Leads to overworked pancreas, gastric
  distress, poor protein digestion.
• Most studies over the years by the USDA on
  protease inhibitors looked at soy, but they are
  found in many nuts, seeds, nightshade vegetables,
  etc.
• Protease Inhibitors in soy are not only more
  numerous, but harder to neutralize.
• Only Fermentation will come close to deactivating
  all of them. All other cooking methods will
  leave remaining trypsin inhibitors.

14
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Protease inhibitors / Trypsin Inhibitors
  continued
• Pancreas is in greatest danger. When inhibitors
  affect trypsin protease, body compensates by
  increasing number (hyperplasia) and size
  (hypertrophy) of pancreatic cells.
• Many people say protease inhibitors arent a
  problem. Probably true for those that dont eat
  soy excessively, are not infants, and dont have
  digestive problems like low stomach HCl, celiac,
  bowel disease, etc.

15
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Phytates bind to minerals like zinc, iron, and
  calcium and keep them from being absorbed.
• Phytates serve two functions in nature
• Prevent premature germination
• Store phosphorous plants need to grow
• Phytates are valuable to humans because they
  allow winter storage.

16
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Phytates thought to be one of leading causes of
  poor growth, immune challenge, anemia, and other
  health woes in 3rd world
• Phosphorous is plentiful in grains, but 50-75 of
  it is tied up in phytates and not readily
  bio-available. (Stunted growth can result if
  deficient)

17
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Isoflavones plant estrogens (phytoestrogens)
  that act like the hormone estrogen in our bodies,
  affecting the reproductive and nervous systems.
• Soy foods with highest levels of isoflavones are
  soy flours, grits, nuts, soy protein isolates and
  textured vegetable protein. TVP
• Phytoestrogens exert their estrogenic effects
  directly and indirectly.

18
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• One thing is clear Soy Estrogens are not weak.
• Isoflavones are potent endocrine disruptors when
  consumed in sufficient quantity.

19
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Goitrogens substances that block the synthesis
  of thyroid hormones. Can cause goiter which is
  swelling in the neck caused by enlarged thyroid
  gland.
• Principal goitrogen in soy foods are the
  isoflavones, and possibly also the saponins.
• Cooking and processing using heat, pressure, and
  alkaline solutions wont neutralize isoflavones
  or saponins. Only solvents can do that.

20
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• America is plagued by epidemic thyroid disorders.
  Many go un-detected.
• Thyroid cancer statistics are sobering
  incidences rose over 40 between 1975 1996.
• Thyroid cancer one of the most common cancers
  among U.S. children and adolescents.
• Thyroid disease is widespread in Japan, where soy
  consumption is the highest of any country in Asia.

21
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Saponins - Bitter compounds that foam up like
  suds in water.
• Saponins found in other beans, alfalfa, and many
  other plants.
• Greatest danger is from damage to mucosal lining.
• Cooking wont have much effect on Saponins.
  Takes alcohol extraction to remove them. Or
  Fermentation!
• Fermentation is the best way to deactivate
  saponins. Bacterial enzymes in our gut dont
  break down saponins until the colon.

22
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Lectins proteins with a sweet tooth help
  bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen into roots of
  plants. Also makes plants useful for fertilizer
  when they die. Lectins are also called
  hemaglutinins.
• Lectins bite into carbohydrates, especially
  sugars. Can cause leaky gut, immune system
  problems, blood clotting. -they agglutinate
  blood. 3 to 4 times more likely to move into
  bloodstream than other food proteins.
• However, Lectins that are not deactivated will
  persist, and are not easily broken down by
  enzymes in our gut and can remain in digestive
  tract, acting like a cumulative time-bomb.
• Research has shown lectins can cause shifts in
  gut flora favoring E. Coli

23
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Oxalates prevent proper calcium absorption and
  linked to kidneys stones and vulvodynia.
• Not Significantly neutralized by cooking.
  Highest sources are soy protein, spinach,
  rhubarb, pecans, carrots.
• Oxalates dont cause as much calcium binding as
  phytates, however some popular foods are high in
  both!

24
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Manganese (A vital trace mineral)
• Soy Formula very high in manganese, 75 to 80
  times higher than breast milk. Phytates actually
  do the infant a favor in this case, but not well
  enough. Can be problematic for adults, too.
• Manganese toxicity linked to impairment of
  neurotransmitters and implicated in ADD/ADHD.

25
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Allergen Soy is one of the top 8 allergens
• Allergies are an abnormal inflammatory reaction
  by the immune system. IgE and other
  immunoglobulins involved.
• Intolerances to soy are not always caused by the
  immune system reactions but by unkown metabolic
  mechanisms.
• Soybeans contain at least 16 allergenic proteins.
  Some researchers pinpoint as many as 30.
• Soy is hidden in hamburgers and other regular
  foods, people often miss the connection.

26
Naturally Occurring Antinutrients and Toxins in
Soy

• Oligosaccharides sugars that cause bloating and
  flatulence.
• Require enzymes (alpha-galactosidase) to be
  properly digested, which humans do not make.
• The result is that these sugar compounds get to
  the colon intact and are eaten up by colonic
  bacteria. Digestive fermentation takes place.

27
Reproductive Issues

• Many plants have contraceptive effects. (known
  since 1926)
• During 1940s sheep were diagnosed with clover
  disease caused from phytoestrogens in clover.
• In female sheep, eating clover causes endometrial
  damage and changes in cervical mucous.
  Infertility often results
• In 1980s female cheetahs were suffering liver
  damage caused by isoflavones in their soy feed.
• Diet rich in estrogens may well be one of the
  major factors in the decline of cheetah fertility
  in north american zoos. (experts reassured
  everyone that this was a cheetah problem, not a
  human problem. cheetahs lack certain liver
  enzymes)

28
Benefits of Soy Fermentation

• Almost completely deactivates protease
  inhibitors, Saponins, and Lectins.
• Deactivates a large portion of the phytates
• Gets rid of the oligosaccharides which cause gas
• Increased levels of certain B-vitamins and
  vitamin K2.

29
Benefits of Soy Fermentation

• Essential Fatty acids are not damaged during
  fermentation, and the Rhizopus strain of bacteria
  may produce GLA, an important omega-6 fatty acid.
  
• Digestive aid help facilitate the digestion of
  other foods eaten at the same time
• Contain beneficial microorganisms that help
  combat food poisoning, and dysentery.

30
Benefits of Soy Fermentation

• May help protect us from radiation poisoning
  including x-ray radiation according to research.
• During WWII, a Japanese physician in Nagasaki
  named Dr. Akizuki was out of town the day of the
  bombing, and the hospital where he worked was
  destroyed. He returned to Nagasaki to treat
  survivors of the bombing. He and his staff ate
  miso soup together every day and never
  experienced any radiation sickness, despite their
  proximity to the fallout.

31
Important Point to Remember

• Asians do not eat any soy foods in great
  quantity! (unless forced to do so by famine or
  poverty)
• They are used as condiments and flavoring agents
  (not meat replacements) and rarely more than once
  a day.
• The Japanese average 8.6 grams of soy protein per
  day. Well below the US government recommendation
  of 25 grams per day.

32
Soy in the West

• Soy was brought to western countries by
  missionaries, and other travelers to the orient.
• Soy foods were generally not popular with western
  palates with the exception of soy sauce.
• Soy was used in crop rotation, but not much else
  until about 1930

33
Soy in the West

• Around 1930 soy started to have some influential
  supporters.
• John Harvey Kellog, M.D. Ardent vegetarian,
  promoted soyfoods as meat substitutes.
• Henry Ford promoted soyfoods, soy plastics,
  soybean fiber cloth
• Adolf Hitler promoted soybeans, vegetarianism,
  and natural foods
• Mussolini wanted to add soy flour to polenta

34
Soy in the West

• Few soybeans sold as whole food products. Focus
  is on soy for industry and processed foods.
• Americans for the most part dont seem to mind
  that industry has slipped invisible soys into
  every supermarket food imaginable.
• Now perceived as healthful additive.

35
How Soy Became Health Food

• By 1962 soy oil had captured over 50 of U.S.
  cooking salad oil market.
• Manufacture of vegetable oil leaves a lot of
  leftover protein. Industry needed to create a use
  for this surplus of byproduct.

36
How Soy Became Health Food

• Soy protein makes an excellent fertilizer, but
  the petrochemicals had that market cornered
  already.
• Only so much can be fed to animals
• Soy industry wanted to get into human market, but
  soy had a terrible image problem.
• In a clever move, industry solved two problems at
  once while creating a revenue stream out of these
  surplus byproducts
• Soy Industry decided to make soy a health food
  and aimed for affluent people.
• Soybean Industry sponsored many studies, public
  relations efforts are superb. Made sure to
  publicize any study showing benefit.

37
Non-Fermented Soy FoodsNew Era of Soy

• Soy milk, soy cheese, soy ice-cream, soy flour
  and the more obvious products soy nuts, soynut
  butter.
• The problem with most of these products is that
  toxins and anti-nutrients are still present and
  most people dont care for the taste.
• None of these products were widely used in Asian
  countries.

38
Modern Soy Foods

• Modern soymilks use highly acidic solutions for
  speed, and cook the beans in a pressure cooker.
  To cover up beaniness, they add sugar.
• Soy yogurts and puddings usually contain
  carrageenan, a thickener from red seaweed. Many
  years assumed safe, but linked to ulcerations and
  malignancies in G.I. tract of animals. (taste
  tasters describe as awful
• Soy Cheese often will state cholesterol free
  but many are still loaded with hydrogenated fats.
  Taste reviews of casein-free versions are
  usually horrible
• Soy ice creams is basically water, sugar, corn
  oil, soy protein isolate or tofu, and then more
  sugar makes up the rest of the ingredients, often
  HFCS. (Some do taste good)
• Soy Flour added to Many, many foods and widely
  used in general today as an egg substitute and to
  moisten the final product retaining an illusion
  of freshness.

39
Modern Soy Foods

• Approximately 60 of all packaged food products
  will contain soy ingredients.
• Fast food is near 100 - will usually be found in
  the bun, the burger, the mayo, the fries,
  everything.
• Most commercial breads today contain small
  amounts of soy flour, not labeled as soy
  products.
• Soy often hiding in chopped meat mixes.

40
Highly Refined Soy Products

• Textured Soy Protein (TSP or TVP) Made by
  forcing defatted soy flour through an extruder.
  Has a long shelf-life and is used as a meat
  replacement or extender.
• Soy Protein Concentrate made from defatted soy
  flakes by precipitating the solids with aqueous
  acid, aqueous alcohol, moist heat and/or organic
  solvents.

41
Highly Refined Soy Products

• Soy Protein Isolate Used in almost all the
  processed foods seen in grocery stores, muscle
  man powders, and main ingredient in soy infant
  formulas.
• Made by mixing defatted soy meal with a caustic
  alkaline solution to remove the fiber, then
  washing with an acid solution to precipitate out
  protein. Protein curds are dipped in another
  alkaline solution and spray dried at extremely
  high temperatures.
• Used for binder sealer of cardboard boxes.

42
Highly Refined Soy Products

• High heat, pressure, acids and alkalis used in
  manufacture leave toxic residues, damage
  proteins, and form new toxic compounds
• Nitrosamines damage the liver and are mutagens
  and carcinogens.
• Lysinoalanine cross-linked amino acid produced
  when amino acid lysine is subjected to strong
  alkaline treatments. Linked to kidney damage.

43
Highly Refined Soy Products

• Excitotoxins Amino acids that damage
  neuroreceptors in the brain. Glutamate and
  aspartate are formed during manufacture of
  hydrolyzed vegetable protein and commercial soy
  sauce.
• Heterocyclic Amines mutagenic and carcinogenic
  compounds
• Cholorpropanols linked to liver cancer
• Hexane Organic solvent toxic to the lungs and
  nervous system, linked to Parkinsons disease.
  Residues remain in soyfoods after processing.

44
Soy Formula

• Never used traditionally as an infant food in
  Asia.
• Soy is just as common an allergen as milk
• High levels of soy isoflavones can disrupt the
  infants developing endocrine system, nervous
  system, and immune system.

45
Soy Formula

• Contains aluminum levels 10 times greater than
  milk-based formula and 100 times greater than
  breast milk.
• Contains toxins formed during processing as well
  as undesirable additives and preservatives.

46
Soy Formula

• Different fatty acid profile than breast milk no
  EPA and DHA important for proper brain
  development.
• Leads to lower immune system function and more
  infections.
• Use sucrose and corn syrup instead of lactose
  which is vital to nervous system development.
• Phytates in soy formula prevent good absorption
  of minerals like calcium, zinc, iron, and copper.
  

47
Soy Formula

• Soy formula contains high levels of manganese
  from the soybean itself. Infants cannot
  eliminate excess levels because of immature
  livers.
• Soy formula can lead to poor growth caused by low
  levels of methionine and protease inhibitors
  remaining after manufacture.
• Exclusive use of infant soy formula is the
  equivalent of consuming one or two birth control
  pills daily, on an estrogenic basis --
  environmental toxicologist Mike Fitzpatrick

48
Soy Oil

• Soy oil was sometimes extracted in Asian
  countries and used for lamp oil, soap, greasing
  axles, and lubricating machinery.
• Soy oil was very rarely used as a cooking oil
  because of unpleasant smell and taste.
• Traditional fats used for cooking in China
  include lard, sesame oil, peanut oil, and
  rapeseed oil.

49
Soy Oil

• Higher in Omega-3 fats than some oils (8 of the
  unsaturated fat is omega-3)
• Omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is 6.5 1 less than
  ideal
• Most of the omega-3 fats are lost or damaged in
  processing.
• Soy Oil Polyunsaturated 61 (very prone to
  rancidity), Monounsaturated 23, Saturated
  15.

50
Soy Oil

• Extracting soy oil involves grinding and crushing
  the beans then extracting using high temperature,
  intense pressure, and chemical solvents.
• The process causes exposure to light, heat, and
  oxygen
• Rancid oils taste and smell horrible, so the oil
  is then refined at high temperatures, deodorized,
  and lightly hydrogenated.

51
Soy Oil

• In the 1950s processors discovered that the
  rancid omega-3 fats were what caused soy oil to
  smell so bad during frying so they had to find a
  way to get rid of them.
• Most soy oil undergoes selective Hydrogenation of
  omega-3 fats 2.7-5.4 trans fatty acids in
  liquid oils. light hydrogenation
• They also have a genetically altered soybean that
  has fewer omega-3 fats.

52
Soy Oil

• Most Soy oil is further hydrogenated and colored
  to make margarine or bleached to make shortening.
• 77-79 of vegetable oils consumed in America come
  from soy
• -90 of salad dressings,
• -72 of baking and frying fats,
• -88 of margarines,
• -76 of salad/cooking oils.

53
Genetically Modified Soy

• In 1997, Argentina became on of the first
  countries to authorize GMO.
• Monsantos Roundup Ready soybeans promised
  increased productivity and decreased herbicide
  requirements.
• Problems with herbicide-resistant super weeds
  led GM soy producers to double herbicide
  application.

54
Genetically Modified Soy

• Bacteria died, leaving soil so inert that weeds
  would not rot.
• Farmers neighbors suffered health problems,
  many livestock died or gave birth to deformed
  offspring.
• 10,000 sq. miles of rainforest leveled for
  soybean production. 150,000 small farmers
  driven off their land.
• Monsanto called this an exemplary success

55
GMO Soy

• Soy allergies jumped 50 in the U.K. just after
  GM soy was introduced
• The level of one known allergen, (trypsin
  inhibitor), was 27 higher in raw GM soy
  varieties.
• Increased residue of Roundup herbicide in GM soy.
• Mice fed GM soy had reduced levels of pancreatic
  enzymes

56
Dangers of Soy

• Why is soy a problem?
• (from the scientific literature)
• Long list.
• -Malnourishment -Thyroid Problems
• -Reproductive problems -ADD/ADHD
• -Immune problems -Loss of Libido
• -Digestive Distress -Top 8 allergens
• -Linked to heart disease risk
• -Accelerate cancer (especially breast)
• Many countries warn about soy foods officially.
  (Switzerland, England, Australia and New Zealand)

57
Take Home Messages

• The only safe, traditional soy foods are
  fermented and eaten in small amounts
• Do not give infants soy formula!!!
• Avoid soy oil, shortening, and margarine entirely
  when possible.
• Use of solvents, alkalis, extruders, high-heat
  pressure is similar to MANY foods but rarely are
  these foods billed as Health Foods. Soy is
  different this way.

58

• Thank You!

59
References

• The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN
• www.westonaprice.org
• Politically Incorrect Nutrition by Michael Barbee
• Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz