Soy Good or Evil?

[Jeremy]

Okay, this is a debate with a friend of mine that has simply been driving me crazy. She insists that soy is toxic and very bad for us. It's some mischievous plot to make us sick heh... Basically the propaganda provided claims that soy causes cancers, has nasty inhibitors that block protein, vitamins, and such.. etc etc... the list of supposedly ill effects go on and on.

The propaganda seems to come from some wacko doctors trying to sell their books, body building sites, and sites dedicated specifically to smear soy...

Interestingly some of the sites dedicated to smearing soy, originate from New Zealand.... I think most of us know what the economy of New Zealand revolves around :)

Come all, share your thoughts on such claims

[Tweety]

My thoughts are everything in moderation. I look to the longest lived people in the industrialized world - the people of Okanawa and they are daily soy eaters.

[MrFalafel]

My thoughts are everything in moderation. I look to the longest lived people in the industrialized world - the people of Okanawa and they are daily soy eaters.

The people of Taiwan eat an average of 42 lbs of tofu (on top of other soy products) per year. When the people of Taiwan start dropping dead on the street then I'll maybe get a little worried but until then, its' tofu time for me.

[Jeremy]

Propaganda.... lots of it everywhere... about pretty much... everything :lol:

Thought some might get a kick out of it :)

[freznow]

My two thoughts on when anything about a similar subject (ie someone's heard that this food [soy, in this case] can cause both long life and cancer) are

a)moderation is key!
and
b) everyone is different

Depending on what you eat, your own body, etc, it could mean that you'd be healthiest with a ton of soy, a little, or none. Somethings can apply to everyone -like veg*nism typically being healthier than an omnivorous diet- but taking on a specific food is highly individual. You can't say that everyone should/shouldn't eat a specific food, because what if they're allergic? What if they have a specific dietary need? What if what if what if. So the key to the average person is moderation, and in some cases specific limits apply.

[hollywoodveg]

I do think it's important to not eat more than 100 mg of isoflavones a day, but that in and of itself would be a hard thing to do unless you take supplements or drink soy protein shakes.

[IamJen]

Please continue this discussion in this (older, but very lively) thread.

http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=76542

Thanks!