The remark on tofu and soy and PETA brought out some remarks from a reader. First up:
Then there’s this:https://www.scientificamerican.com/…/soybean-fertility…/
A Scientific American article from 2009. sourced from Environmental Health News, on the possible effect ingesting large amounts of soy products may have on human fertility. No human studies cited, just animal studies. Coincidentally, it references the upcoming concerns concerning Bisphenol A, which was replaced in plastics by other compounds. Treehugger recently ran an article suggesting that those replacements are no better than Bisphenol A:
Twenty years ago, scientists made the accidental discovery that mice housed in damaged plastic cages were contaminated with bisphenol A (BPA). They had been studying female eggs from young females and saw a sudden rise in scrambled chromosomes. Subsequent studies showed that BPA does indeed have a serious effect on the developing brain, heart, lung, prostate, mammary gland, sperm and eggs. This spurred a widespread rejection of BPA in many consumer products, which is why it’s now common to see ‘BPA-free’ labels on certain plastics.
Now the same research team is back with more disturbing news, just published in the journal Current Biology: BPA replacement chemicals aren’t safe either. Study co-author Patricia Hunt from Washington State University calls it “a strange déjà vu experience for our laboratory.” Once again, the researchers noticed changes in control animals that were traced to exposure to damaged cages and subsequent contamination. That’s when Hunt and her colleagues realized that the mice were exposed to chemicals from the bisphenol family that are used to replace BPA.
It might be wise for families to go with glass and ceramics.
Another:
A cautionary remark. Another:
And if you have more time, a more complete and balanced look at just a few factors:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1480510/
Even older, 2006. It suggests caution as well:
The dominant isoflavone in soy is genistein, with daidzein and glycitein composing the remainder. Within soy, isoflavones are almost entirely bound to sugars, producing the respective compounds genistin, daidzin, and glycitin. Soy isoflavones have been linked with numerous health effects, but the strength of the relationships and whether the effects are beneficial are strongly debated.
We’ve stopped using soybean oil, which is the primary ingredient in most “vegetable oils.” So far, I haven’t regained the stamina of my youth.
