SOYA BEANS

Soybeans have been heralded as a wonder food. Imagine a food, grown easily on most soils and in
most climates, which contains more first-class protein than meat, will keep for years without spoiling,
is easily and quickly prepared and can be made into almost any kind of dish for any course of a meal.

Imagine such a food (inexpensive, too) endowed with large amounts of calcium, iron and other
important minerals as well as the precious B vitamins and vitamin E. Finally, imagine a food rich in
unspoiled unsaturated fatty acids which keep cholesterol in its place, so that it will not be found in
harmful deposits in the gall bladder, kidneys and blood vessels. Such a food is the soy bean, used for
thousands of years as a staple in the diet of Far Eastern countries where food is so much less plentiful
that not a mouthful can be wasted.

We know about soy sauce, which appears on the table of every Chinese restaurant. But what do we
know about the other ways in which this wonder food can be prepared?

During World War II, when protein foods were rationed, a determined effort was made to interest
American housewives in eating soybeans. Dr. Clive M. McCay of the Department of Animal Nutrition
at Cornell University took on the job of popularizing the soybean. In laboratories and cafeterias at
Cornell, Dr. McCay and his associates sprouted soybeans, then experimented with methods of
preserving, cooking and serving them.

In addition to the beans themselves, there are many excellent products made from them. Soy bean flour
is a highly nutritious food, rich in complete proteins, vitamins and minerals. It enriches any food to
which it is added. It cannot be used for baking as wheat flour is because it lacks the gluten which is
involved in the process of raising wheat bread. However it can be added to any recipe in which flour is
used. It can successfully replace up to 10 – 12 percent of wheat flour in recipes.

McLester in his book, “Nutrition and Diet in Health and Disease” (Saunders), states that it is advisable
to use soy flour in small amounts in many different dishes instead of a few dishes with large amounts
of the flour.

The digestibility of soybeans is 90.5%, while soy bean flour is 94% digestible. (Source: The Complete
book of Food and Nutrition). Continuing, it states that the protein in fruit is only about 80% digestible,
whereas in whole wheat the percentage is 82% and for rye bread it is only 65%. This puts soybean
protein way in front. Not only that but soybeans contain more potassium than any other food.

Refuting a Bad Report

Whenever a particular food item or herb gains a lot of publicity expounding its virtues, sooner or later
someone will seize upon information which ‘exposes’ its harmfulness (or ineffectiveness). One such
article exists, entitled “What’s Wrong With Soy Beans” by Elaine Hollingsworth.

Some serious allegations have been made about this common food item which would be enough to
scare one from eating soybeans for life..IF you believe it!

The story starts with the accusation that soybeans contain more phytic acid than any other food source.
This is actually a true statement. “Phytic acid impairs absorption of all minerals, including calcium”,
the article states. It goes on to say that soybeans reportedly cause “enlarged thyroid glands… pancreas
damage”, “rickets”, “gastric distress, reduced protein digestion, zinc deficiency”, “chronic deficiency
of amino acids”, “pancreas enlargement and even cancer.” With 400,000,000 Chinese eating soy beans
as their staple we would have to wonder if there is any truth in this report. (By the way the other
400,000,000 Chinese have rice and wheat as their staple foods with its phytic acid content.)

We may well ask why would God create legumes (and grains too, for that matter) with such a terrible
poison? Firstly, Lets look and compare the nutritional comparison in the chart.

Neither cow’s milk or soy beans are a good source of zinc, so to say that “soy beans produce a zinc
deficiency” is not validated. Also, the zinc may not be available unless the soy bean is sprouted.

Does this mean that all foods in which zinc is not available produce a zinc deficiency? The following
foods also don’t contain zinc: biscuits, cornbread, cracked wheat, English muffins, Pita bread, (in fact,
nearly all grains and grain products), Kiwi fruit, melons, passion fruit, Chinese cabbage, carrot juice,
chives, Kidney beans leaks, lettuce, peas, pumpkin, turnips, watercress. As well, it has been found that
too much copper and/or iron causes a zinc deficiency.

Research shows that the phytic acid is actually a cancer growth inhibitor.

Secondly, we all should know that enlarged thyroid glands are caused by a deficiency of iodine. It just
so happens that in many areas of China there is a deficiency of iodine in the soil. Therefore it would
not matter what you ate from produce grown in iodine deficient soils. We would find enlarged
thyroids in the population greater than one would normally find.

Lets examine the statement “when Asian children do not eat enough meat and fish to counteract soy’s
high phytate content they get rickets.” What is rickets? Bailliere’s Nurses Dictionary states that rickets
“is caused by a lack of vitamin D which results in a failure of calcium and phosphorus absorption from
the gut and can be treated by giving adequate vitamin D and by exposure to sunlight or ultra violet
light.” Rickets are caused by a deficiency of vitamin D not soy beans! In fact, soy beans contain 454
mg of calcium per cup.

If Ms Hollingsworth thinks it good that Asian people eat fish, perhaps it is because she has forgotten
that the extra acids produced by eating meat leaches calcium out of the bones. That would have to be
worse than simply not absorbing calcium.

Another statement from Ms Hollingsworth states that “The enzyme inhibitors block trypsin and other
enzymes needed for protein digestion.” The fact is that any legume eaten raw contains protein
inhibitors. Cooking and sprouting de-natures the protein inhibitor.

The information provided about soy protein isolate is quite correct and very valid: “It’s production
includes grinding, extremely high temperatures and extraction with dangerous solvents to remove the
oil. It is then mixed with sugars, precipitated with an acid wash and spray dried at high temperatures in
order to produce high protein powder. (This powder should bear the skull and crossbones on the label!)
Dangerous additives are also contained in this powder, including cancer-causing nitrosamines.
(Formed by the high temperature drying process).”

Regarding soy based baby formulas, she states that “The aluminum content of the powder is 10 times
higher than that of milk formulas, and 100 times greater than that in unprocessed milk.” Nearly all
herbs contain high levels of aluminum, and this aluminum is in the organic form. It should not
be confused with the aluminum one would get from cooking in aluminum pots and pans. Soybeans
simply contain high levels of aluminum in the organic form. However, the author goes on to make the
statement that “all soy is bad” and “tofu and unfermented soy milk are dangerous”. This would only be
correct if referring to those products made from soy bean isolates.

On the evidence given, the idea that soybeans are potentially dangerous as a food item should be taken
with a grain of salt, especially when she states that soy beans causes ”chronic deficiencies in amino
acids”. The fact is that soy beans contain all of the essential amino acids and is in itself a complete
protein.

“A little knowledge is dangerous” and many people find that there is currently a mountain of
confusion abounding regarding foods and proper nutrition. Some of the ideas meant to show the harm
of eating soybeans seem similar to those currently being promoted by Peter J. D’Adamo, who
advocates that your blood type is a correct indicator of what you should eat – a flesh food or a
vegetarian diet. However, since his concepts are largely based on evolutionary concepts, in the final
analysis they lack credibility and logic.

There are many people who will use some carefully chosen scientific evidence to prove their own
point. However, through it all we can be sure that God spoke the truth when, after he created the plants
and herbs of this world, He said that “it was good”!