Soy: good, or bad?

[Thorn]

Just thought I would add to the conversation about soy...I agree with the "moderation" comments. Soy got a bad rap some years back, kind of like eggs. And yes I would make sure to go organic with it, but it's not the devil.

I enjoy the info and videos on this site. The good doctor presents everything with a vegan perspective (which I am not) so the paleo folks will disagree with what he has to say about meat...but his clips are usually well researched and documented. Here's what he has to say about soy: (coconut oil is covered extensively as well)

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-...y-is-too-much/

+1 on this site. Sure, the doc is vegan and so has a specific point of view, but he can cite juried medical studies to support his points; in fact the videos are really just meta-research. And, if the study may be flawed (e.g., oh, say, a "benefit of milk" study funded by the dairy council or a "benefit of nuts" study funded by Diamond walnuts), he points out that the results may be suspect.

[Eden]

Indeed Oak - my point simply was that it likely isn't an "evil" food... otherwise all those Okinawans would be suffering from osteoporosis, cancer and the like.... There are other things in their lifestyle that are very relevant to life span (low stress being one of them).

[shootingstar]

I read the book on the Okinawan diet...and medical research they did on the seniors by following them through the years. I read this over decade ago. It's actually the only book which I could relate dimly in terms of any diet that they described only because I had some dim (very dim) comparisons on an predominantly Asian diet that against what I grew up ...but totally different in Canada and with milk in my diet. (Ah, assimilation can be a good thing..)

Okinawan diet really is not that mysterious in terms of other influential factors: eat only 80% full, little meat in their diet (though I believe there may be more seafood in their diet), very little sugar in their diet (oh come on, Asian cuisines are NOT known for their desserts in traditional diet), lower fat in many of their dishes, daily physical activity, spiritual sense of something greater than themselves (helps lower stress and not get overly depressed), social network of friends that helped one another (very important..unlike my parents. I wish my parents were more socialable. ) They did show that the younger generation who ate some more fast/processed foods may have more health problems.

I bought a tub of fresh tofu ..today. As I said earlier, only a few times per month or less. I'm such a lazy slug in certain areas and penny pincher...(more expensive than Vancouver's prices). Would I refuse a tofu dish if someone offered it to me? No way... It's almost like a comfort ingredient for me.

I'm sure I'm doing more damage by eating several coffee sweet snacks per week.

[Miranda]

Thanks ladies for that additional feedback.

[zoom-zoom]

I avoid soy as much as possible, simply because I have endometriosis and the last thing I want is to add any extra estrogen to my system. Perhaps when menopause hits I will be less concerned about estrogen-containing foods.