While Dr. John was fair in his article to say we shouldn’t consume outrageous amounts of the stuff, I have to point out that the sources refuting the evidence against soy are all based on vegetarian agendas. John Robbins, whose compassion toward animals in factory farms I admire, freely makes irresponsible statements about nutrition, most of which went out the window decades ago. By now we all know that cholesterol has ‘made a comeback’ as a vital nutrient as has Vitamin D and even saturated fat is returning. They’ve only been gone for a hundred years or less as soy industrial oils have tried to convince the world that artificial margarine was safer than animal fats. Dr. McDougall is an advisory member of a responsible sounding Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine- but they are anything but responsible. Their ties to terrorist animal liberation groups are easy to unearth and make me uneasy that they would say anything about nutrition whether founded or not. Compassion groups are one thing, but extremist organizations that bomb medical research labs who use animals or who believe seeing eye dogs are slaves are another. I admit it’s very difficult to extricate one agenda from another- the dairy board from Big Soy from PETA from McDonalds etc. So the only place that’s reliable to seek nutritional information would be history- the traditional foods around the world that have been eaten since the dawn of our kind. Those foods include meat, fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables, tubers. Starches and grains and legumes came a bit later, and all of them require soaking or fermenting to remove nature’s toxins. Dairy came around here, too. As for hot dogs- whether meat byproducts or soy sludge- are new kids on the block. It is this unfood that is killing us.

Thanks again for writing.

http://NaturallyGoodMagazine.com/blog

I have great interest in alternative medicine, and I think that the old label of soy as a health food really has to go. In fact, there are a lot of things that are currently recommended that really should go. = )

http://westonaprice.org/soy/index.html

With regard to GRAS status, soy protein must be subject to premarket approval procedures each time manufacturers intend to use it as a food or add it to a food. FDA officials have called for a safety specifications and monitoring procedure for soy protein isolate, but they have never done it! Thus, he key ingredient of soy infant formula is not recognized as safe!

Soy is new the new asbestos. I’m frankly amazed that food processors are pushing it so hard when it’s just going to come back on them. The potential legal liability is huge.

Also, the media has been perpetuating misconceptions about the Japanese diet for years now. While it’s certainly true that the Japanese eat lots of fish (it is their primary protein source), they also eat a great deal of beef, pork and chicken. And their beef and pork is very fatty. Nothing like what is available in the US. They eat a high percentage of fat from animals in the form of meat, butter and lard. The Okinawans in particular fry everything in lard.

Here is a link with more details.
http://www.westonaprice.org/traditional_diets/japan.html

-Raine
http://www.agriculturesociety.com

Thanks so much for your comments!

How crazy is it to have our pediatricians are so misinformed that they quickly put our babies on soy – when in some countries soy formula is actually outlawed? And stranger still – usually the reason is suspected allergies or colic — yet…soy is KNOWN to cause digestion problems. Often times these babies are premies with a underdeveloped systems. Imagine the effect of this on their little systems. AND Take a look at where these babies are now? Twenty years later? What problems they have – PCOS, reduced immunities, weight control problems, to name a few.

SOMEbody needs to do SOMETHING!