The Dangers Of Soy

cowpie · **Posted:** Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:45 am

Hi everybody. I have a friend who threw out all of her soy products when she found out that soy foods may be dangerous. Could someone tell me Dr. McDougall's take on the "dangers" of soy food?

shell1226 · **Joined:** Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:47 am **Posts:** 765

I don't know about McD and the dangers of soy, other than it being a refined, high fat food to be eaten occasionally.

nordgirl · **Posted:** Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:48 am

When we talk about danger we're talking about processed soy foods right? Because there is a heck of a lot of tofu consumed around my house.

cowpie · **Posted:** Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:17 am

Here's a link if you want to wade through it. It's very long. The soy controversy has been going on for quite some time. I don't think Dr. McDougall recommends eating soy products with soy protein isolate.

http://www.karinya.com/soydangers.htm

VeggieSue · **Posted:** Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:13 pm

shell1226 wrote:

I don't know about McD and the dangers of soy, other than it being a refined, high fat food to be eaten occasionally.

Here's his newsletter article about soy:

http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/april/050400pusoy.htm

ETeSelle · **Joined:** Tue Jan 02, 2007 11:09 am **Posts:** 5005

nordgirl wrote:

When we talk about danger we're talking about processed soy foods right? Because there is a heck of a lot of tofu consumed around my house.

Dr. McDougall's take on tofu is that it should be consumed in small amounts. It is high in fat and highly processed.

[Ah--yes--just as the link VeggieSue provided says! Thanks Sue!]

cowpie · **Posted:** Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:34 pm

Thanks SO much for the link, Sue. That's what I wanted to see.

rijman · **Posted:** Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:05 pm

When I changed to a vegan diet I found fake meats right away and bought a couple boxes of Morningstar sausages to use in pasta dishes. Within 1 week of finding the fake meats I learned from Dr. McDougall that soy isolates and concentrates are bad for you, so I stopped buying them and haven't purchased a Morningstar product since, apx 3.5 years now.

cowpie · **Posted:** Thu Mar 29, 2012 6:58 pm

I used to love Morningstar Farms sausage patties. Their Chick Nuggets are good too.

nordgirl · **Posted:** Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:35 am

I'm not giving up on tofu scrambles, it's one of the few breakfasts that doesn't spike my husband's blood sugar! I do buy organic tofu, hope that helps.

TerriT · **Posted:** Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:39 am

I don't think soy is the extremely dangerous food its detractors make it out to be (at least in its unprocessed forms) but I don't think it's a wonder food either. Awhile back it seemed like soy was being added to lots of processed food products as yet another hyped-up nutritional bandwagon rolled through town. I really like tofu, but my family doesn't, so I don't eat it very often anymore.

I found this thread in Jeff's forum a few years back to be very useful:

viewtopic.php?t=5600

Here's an excerpt:

Quote:

Tofu/Soy first became popular based on the myth that vegetarians had to be careful about protein. Now, soy is popular because it is promoted as a rich source of phytochemicals and other nutrients. This may be true, but so are most other beans and other plant foods, so we have to look at the total package.

Soy if high in fat and higher in calorie density than any other bean other than the peanut (which is also technically a bean). So, while not as high in fat or calorie density as peanuts, I would still consider soy a rich food, which should be limited and thought of more as a condiment.

And, by the way, that is actually how it is used in China and Japan. One study that looked at the differences between low and high soy consumption in Japan found that in the high soy consumption group, they were consuming around 58 grams a day of soy, equating to about 7-9 grams of soy protein per day. 58 grams iis around 2 oz. The amounts in China are not much different.

ETeSelle · **Joined:** Tue Jan 02, 2007 11:09 am **Posts:** 5005

nordgirl wrote:

I'm not giving up on tofu scrambles, it's one of the few breakfasts that doesn't spike my husband's blood sugar! I do buy organic tofu, hope that helps.

I doubt that makes much difference.

Just try to cut down on it. Your post above made it sound as if it's a major part of your family's diet, and it shouldn't be. Dr. McDougall recommends that it be no more than 5% of your diet, and it's not a food that is supposed to be a staple on this plan.

TerriT · **Posted:** Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:15 am

nordgirl wrote:

I'm not giving up on tofu scrambles, it's one of the few breakfasts that doesn't spike my husband's blood sugar! I do buy organic tofu, hope that helps.

What is his blood sugar like on other kinds of beans?

cowpie · **Posted:** Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:56 am

TerriT wrote:

I don't think soy is the extremely dangerous food its detractors make it out to be (at least in its unprocessed forms) but I don't think it's a wonder food either. Awhile back it seemed like soy was being added to lots of processed food products as yet another hyped-up nutritional bandwagon rolled through town. I really like tofu, but my family doesn't, so I don't eat it very often anymore.

I found this thread in Jeff's forum a few years back to be very useful:

viewtopic.php?t=5600

Here's an excerpt:

Quote:

Tofu/Soy first became popular based on the myth that vegetarians had to be careful about protein. Now, soy is popular because it is promoted as a rich source of phytochemicals and other nutrients. This may be true, but so are most other beans and other plant foods, so we have to look at the total package.

Soy if high in fat and higher in calorie density than any other bean other than the peanut (which is also technically a bean). So, while not as high in fat or calorie density as peanuts, I would still consider soy a rich food, which should be limited and thought of more as a condiment.

And, by the way, that is actually how it is used in China and Japan. One study that looked at the differences between low and high soy consumption in Japan found that in the high soy consumption group, they were consuming around 58 grams a day of soy, equating to about 7-9 grams of soy protein per day. 58 grams iis around 2 oz. The amounts in China are not much different.

Thanks for the link, Terri. Very interesting reading.

ETeSelle · **Joined:** Tue Jan 02, 2007 11:09 am **Posts:** 5005

TerriT wrote:

Here's an excerpt:

Quote:

So, while not as high in fat or calorie density as peanuts, I would still consider soy a rich food, which should be limited and thought of more as a condiment.

And, by the way, that is actually how it is used in China and Japan. One study that looked at the differences between low and high soy consumption in Japan found that in the high soy consumption group, they were consuming around 58 grams a day of soy, equating to about 7-9 grams of soy protein per day. 58 grams iis around 2 oz. The amounts in China are not much different.

Interesting indeed! Leave it to Americans to turn EVERYTHING that should be used in small amounts into a main dish, huh? LOL!

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