Thursday, November 11, 2010

Saturated with Soy - Yuck!

I am not a fan of putting soy in everything.  Actually, I am not a fan of putting soy in anything except soy products.  If you are buying hamburger, you should get beef, if you are buying turkeyburger, you should get turkey.  You should not be getting added soy. 

Today, I was reading the back of a package of Food Lion Sandwich bread.  First of all, it contained too many ingredients for me,secondly, it contains soybean/cottonseed oil (aka vegetable oil - and by the way, who actually eats cottonseeds?? NO ONE!!  They are not a food, much less a vegetable!), soy lecithin, and soy flour.  SOY FLOUR!  REALLY! 

Soy is pretty cheap, and because of that, it has infiltrated our food supply disguised as health food.  I have heard countless 'experts' talk about the health of the Japanes and other Asian cultures, and 'it must be the soy' so they put it in everything.  Well, let's talk about the soy and the Asian cuisine.  Tofu and soy sauce.  Both fermented soy products - in fact, I have never seen any fresh soybeans or other soy products served to the Asians, and you also don't see it in their restaurants.  Why would that be?  Probably because they already know that fresh soy has chemicals in it that pull nutrients out of the body - when it is fermented however, those same chemicals become neutralized, so that you can get the good stuff out of it - like in tofu.

What does this have to do with saving money - well, when you buy your food, make sure you are getting what you pay for and not lots of unhealthy filler - that'll cost you in the long run.

By the way - the asian cultures are probably healthier than us because #1) they don't eat a lot of processed junk, #2) they eat plenty of fish, both raw and cooked, #3) they don't overeat like Americans, #4) they walk a lot more than Americans.  I bet if we as Americans did those 4 things more, we would be a lot healthier even without all of the soy and soy by products.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen, sister! The soy products we Americans eat are genetically modified, and they mess with the estrogen levels in our bodies. (Men included...)

The soy that Asians eat isn't genetically modified, so it's as nature intended. It does not wreck havoc on their hormones.

If you're going to eat tofu and soy products, look for non-GMO labeling. It does make a difference.

snippity1 said...

So, what are the thoughts on edamame?

Amy said...

I'm on the fence with the edamame. I don't see asians eating it, but I think they taste really good. I don't eat them often though. I guess if you compare them to McDonald's, you're doing okay though. I just don't like having soy by products in everything you buy.

I do occasionally eat organic frozen edamame, but we're talking 2-3 times per year. And organic means non-GMO which is a plus. But as far as soybean oil being disguised as 'vegetable' oil, and adding soy to so many things as filler - thats' what drives me nuts.