The History of Soy
Learn the truth about the historical
use of soy
Just how much soy did Asians eat?
In short, not that much, and contrary to what
the industry may claim soy has never been a staple in Asia. A study
of the history of soy use in Asia shows that it was used by the
poor during times of extreme food shortage, and only then the soybeans
were carefully prepared (e.g. by lengthy fermentation) to destroy
the soy toxins. Yes, the Asians understood soy alright!
Many vegetarians in the USA, and Europe and Australasia
would think nothing of consuming 8 ounces (about 220 grams) of tofu
and a couple of glasses of soy milk per day, two or three times
a week. But this is well in excess of what Asians typically consume;
they generally use small portions of soy to complement their meal.
It should also be noted that soy is not the main source of dietary
protein and that a regime of calcium-set tofu and soy milk bears
little resemblance to the soy consumed traditionally in Asia.
Perhaps the best survey of what types/quantities
of soy eaten in Asia comes from data from a validated, semiquantitative
food frequency questionnaire that surveyed 1242 men and 3596 women
who participated in an annual health check-up program in Takayama
City, Japan. This survey identified that the soy products consumed
were tofu (plain, fried, deep-fried, or dried), miso, fermented
soybeans, soy milk, and boiled soybeans. The estimated amount of
soy protein consumed from these sources was 8.00 ± 4.95 g/day
for men and 6.88 ± 4.06 g/day for women (Nagata C, Takatsuka
N, Kurisu Y, Shimizu H; J Nutr 1998, 128:209-13).
According to KC Chang, editor of Food in Chinese
Culture, the total caloric intake due to soy in the Chinese diet
in the 1930's was only 1.5%, compared with 65% for pork.
For more information on the traditional use of
soy products contact the Weston A
Price Foundation.
The chief concern we have about the consumption
of large amounts of soy is that there is a risk of mega-dosing on
isoflavones. If soy consumers follow the advice of Protein Technologies
International (manufacturers of isolated soy protein) and consume
100 grams of soy protein per day, their daily genistein intake could
easily exceed 200 milligrams per day. This level of genistein intake
should definitely be avoided. For comparison,
it should be noted that Japanese males consume, on average, less
than 10 milligrams of genistein per day (Fukutake M, Takahashi M,
Ishida K, Kawamura H, Sugimura T, Wakabayashi K; Food Chem Toxicol
1996, 34:457-61).
What about the traditional use of soy in
infant feeding?
Ever heard the industry line that 'soy formulas
must be safe because Asian infants have been eating soy for centuries'.
Just another piece of false advertising, a little like the claims
that 'soy formulas are better than breast milk' that many parents
that have fed soy formulas testify to.
And to set the record straight, soy was seldom
used in infant feeding in Asia.
Ernest Tso is credited with the development of
the first soy milk diet that was able to sustain an infant for the
first eight months of life. Writing in the Chinese Journal of Physiology
in 1928, Tso noted that 'soybean milk is a native food used in certain
parts of the country as a morning beverage but it is little used
as part of the diet for children. Its nutritive properties as a
food for young infants are practically unknown'.
Eight years later Tso's comments were still valid.
Writing in the 1930's, Dr RA Guy of the Department of Public Health
of the Peiping Union Medical College found it 'pertinent to note
that we have never found soybean milk naturally used by Peiping
women to feed their children. This beverage is not made in the home
in Peiping, but is sold by street vendors, as a hot, very weak solution
of soybean protein and is usually drunk by old people in place of
tea. The milk, as reinforced for the feeding of young infants, is
rather tedious and difficult to prepare. As dispensed recently by
the various health stations, it is in demand, but is just as artificial
in this community as cow's milk' (Guy RA. Chinese Med J. 1936; 50:434-442).
In a later publication, Guy reported on the use
of soybean milk as a food for infants. The whole purpose of this
report was to comment on the possible use of soy milk to address
the problem of feeding those infants without sufficient maternal
milk in a country where cow's milk was not native. He again noted
that although a weak soy milk or 'tou fu chiang' was 'sold hot in
Peking by street vendors and was taken by old people in place of
tea', that 'contrary to Western notions' it was not usual to feed
soy milk to infants (Guy RA and Yeh KS. Chinese Med J. 1938; 54:1-30).
It seems those same Western notions that made
Asians out to be greater soy consumers than they were are still
prevalent. Why is that? Asia is a huge market for the soy industry
and the soy industry efforts to convince Asians that their ancestors
ate much more soy than they actually did are purely profit driven.
We view the attempts of the soy industry to re-write the history
books with the contempt it deserves.
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