Thursday, November 30, 2006

Organic, Inc. and soy discussion

I finished the book "Organic, Inc." by Samuel Fromartz. It was very interesting to read about the explosion of 'big organics' and how different big business organics are from what was considered organic food 20 or 30 years ago.

I'm not going to go into detail on the book here but one part that really stood out to me was about soy products and the processing that goes into extracting soy oils and soy protein isolate. This really reinforced my recommendations to stick with whole foods type of soy products and stay away from soy oil and protein isolates.

I am often asked what my stance is on soy with all the controversy surrounding this bean. First soy was supposed to be this miracle food - then the Westin A. Price Foundation and others have made it out to be this totally evil food. After extensive research, I have come to the conclusion that soy is just another food - it is an excellent source of protein and a good source of minerals but, like any food, it should be eaten as part of a varied diet. Like any food, I also recommended eating it in a less processed state - tofu, tempeh, or soy milk.

I do not recommend eating any product containing 'soy protein isolate'. Fake meats, protein bars and drinks usually contain that. First of all, the soy is most likely from animal-grade, genetically engineered soybeans (unless organic soy is use which it usually isn't in those products). Also, the soy is processed using hexane (a known carcinagen) and then chemically treated with acid and alkaline washes. There is nothing healthly about soy in that form. Check out chaper 5. Mythic Manufacturing in "Organic, Inc." for more details about the history of soy products.

1 comment:

melloman said...
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