Well, I have begun some harder research into soy. You will get just a tidbit this morning, as I have a test in a couple hours, and I have to go to Bensenhurst to take it.
The Chinese did not consume this bean until they invented a fermentation process (1800-2000 years ago). The fermentation process makes a more palatable product and eliminates some unpleasant acids. A short while later the Chinese figured out that they could use other acids or salts to treat the bean curd, and came up with Tou Fu. Tou Fu was never consumed in large amounts, but used rather to supplement meals already rich in other proteins. It never reached the heights of its fermented brothers.
Fermented Soy:
here is a list of fermented soy products. We know several of them in the west, Miso, Tempeh, Tamari, Soy Sauce.
Non-Fermented Soy:
Tou Fu is your big one, Soy Protein, Oil, and all the residual products being produced by our industrial food system are the others. According to this article, 90% of current Soy production is genetically modified. Non-fermented Soy products are far less likely to be of Organic sources, thus they are far more likely to be a child of mega AG-Business conglomerate Monsanto, subject of a fine piece of ultra-liberal smear in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. Read all about it here!
So, Tou fu and all the residuals are essentially trypsin inhibitors. Trypsin breaks down protein. Yes, you read that correctly - Soy products may INHIBIT digestion of protein. Let that sink in for a little while.
Additionally, un-fermented Soy is high in acids called Phytates, which inhibit the uptake of several vitamins and minerals, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.
So...eating un-fermented Soy blocks protein digestion and the uptake of vitamins and minerals. hmm.
you may now be asking why we eat it?
My answer is: follow the money! That will be my next post. But it will not arrive until I have returned from a real farm, one that doesn't grow Number 2 corn, and that isn't on the shipping docket for an industrial feedlot.
until then, Be Well.
2 comments:
Hey Lukie! Good blog. I have a question about soy, though. Fr. Sergious was always skeptical of soy -- not sure exactly why, except that he felt that soybeans contained a lot of pesticides because they were not raised primarily for food. Be that as it may, since I am a "woman of a certain age," I am supposed to eat soy. Are all those soy burgers that I eat actually bad for me?
Say hi to Karina and give Alden a zrrbit when you see him next!
hey nancy, thanks for checking it out.
the answer is that you should stop eating the soy burgers RIGHT AWAY! Unless they are made of Tempeh, which i doubt.
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