Some final thoughts on Soy

Soy- the Japanese thrive on their soy.  On the whole they appear a pretty healthy lot.  I've learned they process their soy in a beneficial way, a process they have been using for thousands of years.  I've learned that the way we process ours is completely different with the net effect that it is NOT good for our health. Then genetically modified soy comes upon the scene and changes the picture even more.  GM soy hasn't been adequately tested. The FDA has approved it for consumption seemingly without much information.  While they hold up the dissemination of new drugs for long periods of time while lengthy testing is done (and these drugs will be taken by far fewer people than the population that will ingest soy in its so many, many forms), genetically modified foods are given a comparatively quick greenlight.  When the scientific community is exhorting caution and saying that more studies are needed, Monsanto effectively says "prove it's not good for you," but doesn't make its seed available for testing.  The Biotech industry can destroy the career of scientists whose findings displease them, like Dr. Arpad Pusztai, who stated on British TV that he wouldn't eat genetically modified foods.  You can check it out at  http://www.psrast.org/pusztai.htm .  You make up your mind on whether you want to eat these foods.  I've already made up mine.

More about the dangers of soy

Yeah, soy's all around us, unhealthy as it is, and it'll be here to stay as long as we continue to eat it and not complain.  Al Sears, MD, in his June 1, 2011 health letter http://www.alsearsmd.com/frankenstein-lurking-in-your-pantry enumerates five dangers of soy as listed here: indigestion and blockage of absorption of key nutrients; boost of estrogen; gout and thyroid disruption; cancer and harmful fats; and clotting of Red Blood Cells.  Phil Angell, director of corporate communications for Monsanto, is quoted as saying that food safety is the concern of the government (FDA) and that Monsanto's business is selling as much of its product as it can (I'm referring to genetically modified soy here).  While Michael Taylor, food safety czar at the FDA, would like to see the onus of food safety taken off the federal government and placed on the backs of state and local government. http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-monsanto-FDA-taylor I don't know about where you live, but where I live funds in state and local government coffers are pretty much at an all time low.  Guess that would result in little or no testing? more food borne illness, more disease and a field day for the GREEDY?

Genetically Altered Soy

Soy, that ubiquitous legume that's touted as being wonderful and so healthy for us.  Look out into the fields as you drive country roads.  Chances are you'll see corn and soybeans- bet they're GMOs- genetically altered organisms.  It is estimated that 93% of US grown soy is GMO.  Soy is touted as a nutritious food and it's being added to our food supply in so many myriad ways- it's being put in 60 to 70% of all processed foods.  Let's look at the claim that it's a healthy addition to the diet.  Al Sears, MD in a June 1, 2011 newsletter Al Sears, MD June 1, 2011 newsletter points out that researchers have found that GMO foods are linked to infertility, weakened immune systems, accelerated aging, genetic problems with cholesterol and insulin production, and liver, kidney and gastro-intestinal systems diseases.  Apparently these studies follow people who consume genetically altered foods.  Monsanto doesn't allow scientific testing on its seed.  To conduct tests a lab must have access to the seed, but to get the seed they must sign an "end-user agreement" which forbids testing of the seed or comparison with other products!!! Not exactly convinced of the safety of their products, I'd guess. Now look at the USDA and the Secretary of Ag himself, the guy responsible for the agency and its decisions.  His name is Tom Vilsack.  He's a politician who was the governor of Iowa for two terms.  One of the first things he did as governor was to back Trans Ova a company which wanted to clone cows.  He is a supporter of corn- and soy-based biofuels, an industry that reportedly uses as much or more fossil energy in the production of the biofuels than is produced.  Net effect, biofuel production jacks up food prices resulting in heftier pricetags for all and hungry poor folks being priced out of the market.  In 2005 as Iowa governor he vetoed legislation that would have allowed local government a say on regulating where genetically altered seed could be sown, being banned altogether, and the option of designating buffer zones.  He was named Governor of the Year by the Biotechnology Industry Organization.  Tom's a shill for Monsanto and now he's top dog at the USDA. http://www.opednews.com/articles/Ag-Secretary-Announced-To-by-Jill-Hamilton-and-081216-596.html Hey- but we've got the FDA in our corner- they're lookin' out for us right? Wrong! Check out my blog on Antibiotics in our meat.  Since 1977 the FDA hasn't budged an inch in the direction of food safety in our meat supply coming out of CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations- those gigantic feedlots covering thousands of acres).  The FDA allows harmful antibiotics in our meat.  Michael Taylor was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Foods at the FDA in 2010.  We've got yet another fox guarding the henhouse.  Taylor has been rotating positions between Monsanto and the USDA, Monsanto and the FDA- back and forth.  Isn't that a conflict of interest?  Wouldn't a judge, for instance, be expected to recuse her/himself in a situation like this?  (Is it a question of integrity?)  Where is his allegiance?  Apparently not with the American consumer.  Next time, more on soy and how to avoid it.

Unhealthy soy

Wow, now I learn of another “healthy” food that isn’t so healthy after all.  Soy- it’s a big cash crop.  It’s being forced down our unknowing throats in so many forms… starting with infant formula, to the unhealthy oil our fast food and snacks are fried in, to veggie burgers- we’re ingesting tons of it, quite literally.  It’s good for us, right?  NO!  No way!  I’ve read various sources over a period of time which state that it’s bad for men because one of its components is similar to estrogen and men are not at their optimal when they are ingesting estrogen… they don’t feel well and it’s not healthy for them.  And “they” are putting it in our food without our knowledge.  The Japanese are known as very healthy people usually and they eat soy… tempeh, tofu, soy sauce.  What about that?  The Japanese and the Chinese FERMENT their soy products; they do not eat the form of soy being shoved down our throats.  Their soy products are not produced in massive industrial plants; their soy products are produced the age-old and proven way.  Now if all this soy weren’t bad enough, Monsanto sticks their dirty hands in the mix and comes up with an even worse form of soy- Genetically Modified Soy, FrankenSoy (that’s not the product’s name but it should be.)  Monsanto, whose genius lies in taking a healthy food and turning it into something that’s not (because they can make tons of money at it… and sure do) have genetically altered soy so that it’s even worse for our health.  So now we have a legume processed in such a way that it is unhealthy, and  is genetically mutated in such a way that we don’t even know all the foul effects it has on our health, but hey, they’re making good money at it, at our expense, and GREED wins the day.   More on genetically altered soy later.