The Truth About Soy

I would like to know if there are any advantages or disadvantages of taking Dark Soya Sauce in meals? Also, is it true that Sodium bicarbonate depletes Vit. B complex from the body? Thanks

Hi, My question is for the Moderator. Once I read on this site Ted's comments about Dark Soya Sauce, I would like to read it again so how to get to that post. Thanks, Baldev

I have been reading a lot about unfermented soy products lately and all the problems they create. My children were born in Holland. They all three had lactose intolerance. The oldest was given formula without lactose but at the time the youngest two were born soy was already in fashion and they were prescribed soy formula by the doctor. Back then one didn't think twice about what the doctor prescribed so we had no problem with it. As I understand now it can cause them problems for the rest of their lives. Soy formula is now only prescribed in cases the baby is watched closely by the doctor. But I ask myself... why still prescribe it at all? They say that it is the same as giving a new born one to two anticonception pills....... Who on earth would do that? I don't know whether to tell the news to my daughters but I think that I ought too. Their doctor should know because in case they indeed have a problem it might be easier to solve if the doctor knows they have had this terrible formula when they were babies.

yes i think you should definitely tell your daughters...im so glad my mum told me about what she had read about soy milk...i saw alot of doctors and none of them seemed too interested in my lack of periods...i kept hearing "just go on the pill to regulate"

One man even sat back in his chair and put his hands behind his head and told me that..."can i ask you how much you weigh" when i told him i have always been a petite 45kgs no matter how much i eat and my parents and friends aren't concerned about my weight because they know my eating habbits, he then said in a patronising way..."well you do relies your the weight of alot of anorexic girls and when you starve you body you most likely stop menstruating" i couldn't believe it....that was the last time i saw him...it was probably easier for him to put me in a box with his conclusion.

i feel that alot of western trained doctors really don't want to believe there is any relation between herbal/natural remedies and health...its too easy to just prescribe a pill.

My youngest brother was bought up on soy milk as he was severely allergic to dairy...he had lots of issues with his health in his early years....he is now 18yrs and as my mum tells me he has confided in her that he has a very small "little friend" (& he just ended up in hospital with enlarged cysts on his testicles) he also has a strange voice which sounds high and blocked...too much oestrogen? i have 2 other brothers that were fine with dairy that have no problems like he has...a coincidence or fluke?

i still eat tofu and temphe as im sure these are good for you...

since i stopped soy milk everything is back to normal im happy to say..

Ted, hi and thanx for your always amazing bank of knowledge. I personally love soy products, from the taste to the known benefits. My mom is now suffering from severe osteoporois; it's awful and sad to watch her suffer. On a personal note, I used to eat a lot of soy for the obvious reasons - found I could not digest it. My Naturopath told me I was allergic (due to the symptoms I was having) - he also mentioned that so much of the soy we now have is GMO so the that in itself kind of negates the benefits. Am wondering :

A. Do you know of a way to ensure one is not getting GMO product?
B. What can someone like myself do who has allergic reactions to soy (gastric distress, etc).

Thanx so much for all your help!

regards,
Claudia

Why do you recommend soy as it is very clear in literature that soy is not a healthy food source.

While I agree that the commercial industry of food is trying to force us to think that soy is bad, I do have to disagree on one part. I do think Soy effects estrogen, but may not necessarily be in a bad way. Women who are diagnosed with infertility are constantly using soy (in replacement of infertility drugs, like Clomid) to build their uterine lining and ovulate. Estrogen is the KEY horomone in Clomid, related with soy? I think the success of Soy proves this.

http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/avoid_soy.htm

Make up your own mind and please do pass along information to others.

Soy no way!!

I ate soy for about a month and experienced the WORST possible pms imagineable... good thing I quit and was able t osave my marriage cause trust me it was ugly...

I will never touch soy again and really think it is much more harmfull than earlier thought. I resent Teds information page and hope that those who are ill don't read it with out reading the comments below. I really think it should be removed and that a short description on soy is more suitable.

Peace and prosperity to all

Beth

For those who think they are buying organic soymilk, this article may interest you. It was quoted in a recent newsletter from an organic consumers website.

"I was very involved in the creation of Silk Organic Soymilk when it was first designed and manufactured. Steve Demos was very committed to Silk being Non-GMO, Organic and Vegan. Suddenly, when buying Silk at Whole Foods, I discovered that none of the Silk flavors in half gallon containers were certified organic. The cartons look exactly the same as before with the exception/removal of the USDA Organic Seal and the word "organic" before soybeans in the nutritional panel. This is a very sneaky way for a manufacturer to discontinue Non-GMO Organic soybeans in the manufacture of thier product. I also wonder why Whole Foods continues to sell this product without a "warning sign". Sincerely, Tedelan"

http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?autocom=blog&blogid=78&showentry=96#comments

I am very allergic to soy. If I consume any it causes my heart to race. Until a chiropractor had me check my pulse with each food I put in my mouth, my life was very uncomfortable. any food that affected me negatively would immediately cause my pulse to jump 15 or more points.

Regarding the "NAY" on soy products, I would like to suggest that most adverse effects are due to allergic reaction. Over a 6 month period I took in large portions of Soy products from Milk to Edamame all in the name of good health. I too experienced irregular heartbeat, hair loss on my head, but more facial hair growth, extreme bloating, a bulge in my throat and my fingernails became brittle and had lumps. For an otherwise healthy, late 20's female, I was in shock at the changes to my body. I began to do some research on the symptoms and found that indeed these changes could be a result of the effects of soy on the thyroid. I immediately ceased my use of the products. After one year, I felt I had returned to "normal". It was then another year, after some allergy tests, that I was advised to refrain from eating anything containing soy products.

For those living in the far east, I believe a combination of the Asian diet along with the local production of soy is what allows for their tolerance of this substance.

hi, just wanted to share my story which developed a year ago. i went to fla for the winter to help my aunt and uncle . they eat tons of soy products and i began to eat with them. after two months my heart began to race , my skin became dry, i was constipated for the first time in my life, my hair stated to fall out, i felt like i had a lump in my throat and i had to cough every once in a while to clear it and i had pain in my neck area off and on all the time. in the summer i return to michigan because my father was ill. i went through two months of racing heart beats one day the next day feeling like a mack truck ran me over and than about a week later my heart would skip beats for 48 hours. i would feel better for a few days and than another attack of racing heart beats....etc.. this went on back and forth. when my heart was racing i felt hyper my basal temperature was 98.6. on the days my heart was skipping beats my basal temperature was 97 and i could not get warm. i became very scared and went to a doctor because i thought i had heart problems. i had a blood test done everything was normal but it showed i had both antibodies and the doctor diagnosed me with hashimoto's and said i should begin thyroid immediately. i told her i was going to try alternative first. i asked her what would happen on the days my immune system attack my thyroid if on that morning i also took thyroid med. i pictured my heart exploding. she couldn't answer that so i waited and began my own research.

first i stopped all soy products. i had to be real careful with this because i quickly realized that to ingest even a little soy that may be hidden in bread etc gave me a violent reaction.i began to read labels very carefully. by the way our food is invaded by soy. after stopping soy my thyroglobulin ab antibody became normal in two months and is stiil normal 8 months later. i decided to stopped eating all foods that decrease thyroid production know as goitrogens , to go on a gluten free diet and i also stopped dairy products because of the caseins. every day i take selenium, and because i drank reverse osmosis water all my life and wanted to get more minerals i bought a water filter from aquasana that does not remove the minerals. i had questioned hauling and storing the reverse osmosis water in plastic containers that i was filling at the heath food store. pcbs can leach into the water and pcbs damage the thyroid gland. i got rid of all my plastic containers in my house and replaced then with healthy glass containers.i also made sure i got 150 mcg of iodine a day and if i took more than that i felt heper that day. i don't have heart racing but it made me nervous, so i am careful with the iodine. i know people in japan get about 12.5 mg iodine a day .... but think about this...... hashimoto's disease was discovered in japan and japanese people eat lots of goitrogens in their diet including soy which cause the thyroid not to absorb iodine so that is why they can get away with the amount of iodine they get from eating lots of seaweed.

in any case when i stopped all goitrogens and began iodine the pain in my neck area completely stopped within 24 hours and has not returned.i had also began to feel pain in my breast which also disappeared. i felt great on 150/mcg a day. during this transition since i made all these changes my test results are all normal except my tpo ab is still a little high but every two months it drops 20 points. it was 141 and now it is 120. i am sure it will continue to drop until it is normal. i am feeling sooo much better. my basal temperature is 98.2 every morning.

finally after 10 months of this whole progress and changes i found an alternative healer in my area. he was amazed by my progress and the decisions i had taken. he suggested i add a homeopathic remedy called thyroidinum 30x 2 pills 3 times a day. i am doing this and really feel i am almost 100% healed. when i think back to those times my heart was acting up so badly i know my metabolism was really in bad shape. i feel the major cause was the soy. it turns out i am allergic to soy, but even so 1/4 cup of soy milk will cause the thyroid in an non-allergic individual to work 50% less for 24 hours. i also think if you eat a goteiren type food on those days and maybe a few days afterwards it would be wise to increase iodine but than go back to a standard dosage. every night before i retire i take 1/2 teaspoon of magnesium citrate in a glass of water this heals me sleep like a baby. i hope my experience can help someone out there. if you want more information on any change i made in my diet just go on line and look..soy and thyroid ,gluten etc.... this is a great sight to read all about it as well.

god bless you all .....jeanine.

Dangerous side effects of soy products: I have been a Vegetarian for twenty years and using soy products for the same time period, i had high thyroid flow which lead to Pancreatic complications which i almost died from. Also low sperm count is a reality, I have definately stopped the use of all soy products..

My husband and I started to make smoothies about 2 weeks ago every day, adding soy/green protein powder to the fruit smoothie. Well, this month I had the worst PMS symptoms ever! My breast size increased by one cup size (at least), I was terribly bloated and the bottom left side of my left breast had a constant shooting pain. As the symptoms got worse as my period approached, I realized the soy powder was probably causing the side effects. I continued to have my daily smoothies, but stopped substituted rice protein in place of the soy powder. 2 days later (but 4 days before my period) all the symptoms disappeared. I think women should be very careful with soy as there is clearly a hormonal response. The soy powder I used was Alive by Nature's Way with non GMO soy. If I kept it up, who knows about truly serious side effects like breast cancer? Perhaps organic soy wouldn't have produced the same side effects.

WARNING!

Soy protein powder made my temples go bald in two months!! And I had the fullest head of hair and zero family history. It was insane. I'm trashing the rest of it.

Hello, Having spent years researching soy and it's benefits and dangers, I was offended by Ted's page on soy. Properly fermented organic soy in small amounts is very good for humans. Chemical extracted soy with residue of each chemical in your food is NOT good for humans! Considering that soy is in almost every food you put in your mouth off of the grocery store shelf..... if it did all Ted said it does.... logic states that America would be one of the healthiest places on earth. Which it isn't! After removing all non-fermented soy from our diet, our family is the healthiest it has ever been. Ted needs to do more research!

I enjoy most soy products with no adverse effects, but find that textured soy and soy isolate affects my thinking. When I stop using products that have textured soy in them my thinking improves. This happened numerous times when I did not know there was textured soy/soy isolate in them until I read the labels.

1)What I find interesting about Ted's soy claims is that the 'research' he points to is not 'full- proof', though he offers the links and info as though it is God's word. In fact,much of the debate about soy is that the research has been skewed in favor of soy,by major medical research teams. Ted did not address this, that I was able to see/read.

2)Second major point: The amounts of soy being consumed by many Americans far exceeds those of Asian cultures. Fermented or not,Americans have tended toward excess consumption of anything they are told is 'good for them'. Cow milk=case in point! As well,one cannot take one food in isolation without looking at a complete diet,on a culture by culture basis. I do not see Asians consuming gallons of soy milk per day,along with tons of dairy and huge steaks.

3)In asian medicine,it is well known that soy is 'damp',in energetic quality-people with excess mucous or any form of deficiency are often depleted,spleen deficiency,as a result of eating too much soy.This particular affects digestion and can be particularly true in women.

4)Extremely important: the soy quality being consumed is of utmost importance here. GMO's,pesticides and the like make a HUGE difference. Asian countries are only recently beginning to reap the 'not so great' benefits of high pesticide rates,high smoking/tobbaco use,high refined oil and trans fat consumption,etc. Watch as their cancer,diabetes and degenerative diseases rise.

This at a time when Americans are beginning to become informed about their dangers. Give it another decade,and you will suddenly find back to the land and organic/non refined movements throughout asia.

There is no point in debating-but I hardly think milk sales are down enough to be the 'cause' of senseless soy bashing. Especially when many of these refutes of soy's benefits,are submitted by citizens and consumer groups,not large dairy corporations. Please consider the sources of funding for research on either side. And consider the types of evidence-ie,'medical research' claims vs. evidence based approaches. Statistics can be manipulated.

If anything,milk companies would be trying to refute claims that 'organic' milk is better-as organic requires more space and money to produce. And certainly organic milk sales are on the rise. Besides,most of the major milk companies I know of are now producing SOY MILK,as well as COW MILK-so they make a buck either way.

NOONE needs to consume gallons or even quarts of any kind of milk in a daily basis. Everything in moderation should take care of the situation. And I myself do not digest soy products well,so I do not eat them.

I will also say that 'TRUE FERMENTATION' is very different than what passes as fermented on most American store shelves. Tofu and Tempeh are produced en masse with chemicals,hardly the traditional asian way-and hardly a stretch to think that this method might produce less than positive health effects.

I'm all for considering both sides-I just look for logic and reason in thinking things through.

Irm,

you may or maybe right about soy, but my own personal experience with it is that it is not for me. I am 45 and last year I decided to use soy instead of milk. I used only organic non-sweetened soy and shortly thereafter began to have hot flashes. I did not put 2 + 2 together and used soy for many months. Stopped using soy and flashes went, used it again recently and within 10 minutes had a hot flash. I was also buying supplements with soy in them to counteract peri or menopause, so there I was consuming more and more soy to help the flashes. Too much estrogen (soy) which is a hormone or it was at least mimicking it in my body.

Peace
thanks for this great site!

Do a google search for "soy toxins" and you will find info that contradicts the drumbeat in favor of soy. The true fact is that many people including me have a strong negative reaction to soy - it destroys your immune system and makes you susceptible to any germ you come into contact with - an AIDS like reaction to germs. You have an excellent website, but you have duped about soy as I was until my father discovered the problems others have had with soy - I cut soy out of my diet and got off my deathbed and started living again.