"Knowledge Is Power" (知識は力なり)
Francis Bacon (British philosopher, 16~17th Century)
Knowing is a treasure that no one can steal from you. The hard part is to sort out which information has the truth in this deluge of information era, with internet and media.
Information is right there when we need it once we turn TV on, search on google, or connect with thousands of SNS postings (incl, my posting)... When celebs talk about "my way of staying in a good shape is having green smoothie every morning!" (I think the smoothie boom has been going on for a while now) people blindly follow that.
...WHY NOT? "Green smoothie is 'the thing' you can get a great benefit, from many nutritious veggies and fresh fruits, just in a glass! Oh don't forget soy milk in it. It's better than whole milk and has lots of phyto-estrogen, which is good for women"
How does that resonate in you?
Smoothie in morning can be great for some constitutional people, NOT FOR EVERYONE. Next, what's in the smoothie? > Kale? — NO! > Banana? — ...How is your blood sugar level? > Soy milk? — Nooo.
Just last year, 2016, I was watching a TV show in Japan, about food, health, and beauty care — every girl's best interest. Then...I got speechless! This 'beauty advisor' was talking about how beneficial for 'all' women to drink soy milk and eat soys. When the beauty professional says so, I bet so many women go with that idea, drink soy milk and eat soys (in any form) with no doubt! ( In US, I sense people are a bit more exposed to the information about the risks of soy. ) (**Fermented Soy products are exceptions. They are purely 'Super-Foods'**) This is a perfect example of 'a deluge of information' that can confuses people.
◊ FACTS YOU WANT TO BE AWARE ABOUT ◊ UNFERMENTED SOY
• Unfermented soybeans contain massive Anti-nutrients, giving negative affects on our body functions. Its known elements are listed below
• Phytate: Most of legumes and grains have Phytate. Among legumes, soy carries it the most. Phytate binds with minerals (zinc, magnesium, iron, copper, calcium) in a body. As a result, a body loses minerals.
• Enzyme inhibitors: They block the actions of digestive enzymes, promoting digestion and assimilation of protein and carbohydrate. Due to this indigestive effect, bacterias in the large intestine have to work. That could cause unpleasant symptoms in a gut.
• Goitrogen: Soy is rich in goitrogen, which could cause goiters and inhibit the production of thyroid hormone. Hypothyroidism is more popular among women. So please be careful if you have a history or potential of hypothyroidism. Thyroid function takes quite an important role on energy level (life force) in a body. Therefore, lowered thyroid functions mean a decline of cardiac activity.
• Isoflavone in soy (genistein): It's been encouraged to ingest soy products loudly to prevent any conditions associated with depleted female sex hormone, such as menopause, female hormone imbalances, and skin rejuvenation..., for its estrogen-like activity. But wait! Consuming excess amount can impact on a body in many different levels. First, it can interfere thyroid production. Second, it can heighten the risk of estrogen-sensitive conditions.
If you have a history and potential of any excess-estrogen conditions, such as breast cancer, fibrocystic breast disease, endometriosis, fibroids etc..., please be careful with the excess isoflavone consumption.
⚠︎ It's been reported that consuming 70~75mg of isoflavone per day could bring positive feedbacks FROM ACTUAL FOODS (1 pack of Natto has 50mg / 1 pack of Tofu has 60mg). Food safety commission (in Japan) suggests to consume upto 30 mg of it FROM SUPPLEMENTS.
• Watch out for GMO soy: In the recent history, the techinque of gene recombination (gene modification) brought a big progress in the agricultural business. More harvested crops, less herbicidal and insecticide labors. That means we can purchase those products with cheaper prices. And they are ubiquitously found not only in soy products, but also in so many food products on supermarket shelves. That all seems to make sense. We have to remember though, that's not how nature created plants originally.
Since GMO products became prevalent in the market, chronic disease rate went higher proportionately. How do you read this correlation?
◊ ...so, EAT FERMENTED SOY ◊
Our ancestors hold a full of wisdom. They fermented stuff for reasons. In the process of fermentation, the anti-nutrients, above, are neutralized. Not only that, that'll add much more benefit to the food, such as beneficial bacteria for a body.