re: Soy Issues

June 19, 2008

There's been a lot of traffic about soy and thyroids, etc.

When I posted nutritional info about Toffuti Cream Cheese, my intent was to

point out that it's not low-fat, low-sodium, and has a lot of gunk in it that

might give a diligent vegan pause to reconsider whether it's a good idea to

ingest this stuff.

I thought that providing a link to one of the many webpages discussing the

negative effects of partially-hydrogenated oils would prompt people to do their

own research on the topic.

I eat little that comes from boxes or cans, so the issue was not one I needed to

research.

Soy, in less processed forms, has been eaten by Asians for several hundred (if

not thousands) of years with, apparently, little ill effect. Soy-bashers have

been discredited effectively on other websites, so I won't go into it here.

Personally, I think eating any particularly protein every day for several days

isn't a good idea. Variety in grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits, to me,

seems the most sound strategy. Biodiversity in nature is a wise strategy, and

maybe diet diversity is as well.

It's too easy to lean on tofu, tempeh, and meat analogs sometimes, and my

personal experience has been to have to actively remember to make sure to

incorporate more " beans " into my diet on a regular basis.

There are excellent really low-fat vegan alternatives to cream cheese, and I

thought it might be good to show how quickly one can find them. That's why I

posted that link.

....and although some might find them bland at first, I can only say from

personal experience, given time, you can " re-calibrate " your taste buds to enjoy

them without the extra fat.

After all, you gave up meat and eggs.... giving up fat is just one more step in

the process.

Best to all, Mark

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