Sorry Soy

Soy is one of those deceptive foods like sugar that is not likely to be harmful in small amounts but will contribute to a variety of health problems when consumed in excess over time. Traditionally, soy has been eaten in small amounts and only in fermented form in Asia for many hundreds and possibly a few thousand years. In small amounts, fermented soy does not appear to be detrimental to health. The modern problem is that most soy in foods today is not properly fermented and is added in abundance to so many foods that it is easy to get too much. It is also processed in ways that create additional hazardous chemicals that end up in soy products.

Proponents of soy tout it as a "health food" and laud the high protein and isoflavane content. But most of this propaganda is coming from those who are selling soy for a profit. A closer look reveals that yes, soy is high in protein and nutrients, but these nutrients are not very bioavailable because of the abundant enzyme inhibitors and anti-nutrients that are also in soy. Soy contains trypsin inhibitors and haemagglutinin which are growth inhibitors, isoflavones that are both goitrogens and phytoestrogens which interfere with the endrocrine system, and phytic acid which binds to minerals to make them undigestible. These compounds are found in other legumes and grains, but soy has much higher concentrations and that's bad news for health.

Cooking helps to slightly reduce some of the detrimental compounds, but fermentation is required to achieve the greatest reductions. Even fermentation does not eliminate them and that is why fermented soy should only be consumed in small amounts.

Long-term excess consumption of soy increases risk of thyroid problems, reduces male fertility, causes premature female sexual development, and increases risk of endrocrine related cancers including breast cancer and prostate cancer. These problems are seen not only in humans, but also in animal models.

As if these problems are not enough, also consider that most soy is now genetically modified to withstand massive amounts of toxic herbicide, which can also contaminate the soy products. Yet another reason to avoid soy!

Further Reading

Newest Research On Why You Should Avoid Soy

Soy: The Dark Side of America's Favorite "Health" Food

Why Babies Should Not be Fed Soy

The Ploy of Soy

Flu Factories

The latest swine flu generating panic around the world may have come from a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) in Mexico. One more good reason to buy meat and dairy from pastured animals on sustainable farms! Filthy CAFOs are disease factories that produce poor quality food at best. At worst, they pollute the environment, breed antibiotic-resistant harmful bacteria and pathogenic viruses, raise animals in an inhumane and very unnatural environment, expose workers and neighbors to disease and pollution, and produce foods that are poor in nutrition and highly polluted.

Before you panic over the current swine influenza outbreak, be sure to read Dr Mercola's excellent Critical Alert: The Swine Flu Pandemic - Fact or Fiction? and a different point of view on Swine Flu Sanity. Also, read here for more information about CAFO involvement: Swine Flu. And, read more about how the swine flu crisis lays bare the meat industry's monstrous power and a food system that kills and symptom: swine flu. diagnosis: industrial agriculture?

The Organic Consumers Association has links to many more related articles: Swine and Bird Flu Resource Center

To boost your immune system and minimize your risk of getting flu and colds, be sure that you don't have a vitamin D deficiency. Get plenty of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, and K2 and eat plenty of the foods that Weston Price found to provide optimal health: animal seafoods, organ meats, and dairy. Also, learn more about the Principles of Healthy Diets.

And it's not just flu that may be coming from CAFOs, but antibiotic resistant bacteria: Farmacology.

Food Freedom

Life is all about risks and managing risks. Almost everything we do involves some kind of risk. One of the most dangerous risks that most of us undertake is driving a car. About 40,000 people die each year in the USA alone because of driving a vehicle and well over 100,000 are seriously injured, including many who are maimed for life. By comparison, only about 5,000 people in the USA die from food borne illness.

It is in this context that we must consider food safety. There are potential hazards with all kinds of food. Some hazards are quite serious and can be fatal, such as virulent bacteria and some types of food poisoning. However, most food hazards cause illness, but are not fatal. Food can become contaminated by pathogenic bacteria such as salmonella or virulent strains of e-coli. It is mainly people with compromised immune systems who are at greatest risk from pathogenic contamination. Part of our challenge is in improving public health to resist infection. Most bacteria are not bad and many are very beneficial. Ironically, we need high quality probiotic foods like clean raw milk to help strengthen our immune systems.

So what is the best approach to tackle the problem of food borne illness? Should we require that all foods be sterilized or pasteurized before being sold or eaten? Should we sacrifice food quality for food safety? Should we require that all foods be traced from origin? None of these measures will guarantee safe food. Instead, they will degrade our food quality by damaging our food and forcing industrial and franken food on everyone. Large business interests would like nothing better and are working diligently to push legislation around the world to that end. Ultimately, government should empower the consumer to choose their own level of food safety by using food labeling requirements and by regulating the large businesses that cause the vast majority of food safety issues.

Unfortunately, fear is often cultivated by large business interests who recognize that rules can be covertly changed to eliminate competition from smaller businesses by forcing expensive measures to be taken in the name of "food safety". Legislation to this end is currently in the U.S. Congress masquerading as "food safety" measures that are in reality thinly disguised measures to force small farms out of business and thus eliminate farmers markets and local food sources. We need to be very careful to address the largest sources of risk, which are from large businesses. Small farms and businesses should be exempted from costly rules. The amount of risk from small businesses is almost negligible compared to the risks inherent in large operations. We need to find ways to encourage small farms and businesses that sell directly to local consumers. Small farms and businesses that sell to local consumers already have plenty of incentive to provide clean safe food, or they will quickly lose their business. It's the large global conglomerates that need to be constrained for food safety. They can easily sacrifice a few thousand customers here and there to increase their profit.Is the cure worse than the disease?

We could reduce speed limits nationwide to 30 miles per hour and probably save at least 20,000 lives and 50,000 serious injuries every year in the USA alone. But that would infringe on our individual freedom to choose our level of risk within reason. Similarly, we could require that all foods be sterilized before being sold. But that would infringe on individual freedom in the right to eat raw unadulterated foods. We need a balance in food safety that supports individual freedoms to eat raw and healthy local foods, but reduces the risk of food contamination. Ideally, efforts to eliminate contamination should be made during production of the food and should preserve food quality. Sterilizing and pasteurizing food may reduce nutrients and may produce harmful chemicals. We need to find and minimize the sources of contamination. Consumers should not have to sacrifice food quality for food safety.

Labeling

If food is sterilized, it should be labeled so that those who want raw foods can choose a different product that is not sterilized. If food is grown with pesticides or contains genetically modified organisms, it needs to be labeled for food safety to empower the consumer to choose. Some individuals may be willing to sacrifice food quality for food safety, but that should be a freely made personal choice. Milk should be labeled as pasteurized or raw to let the consumer choose. Proper labeling is an important key to individual freedom in choosing foods to match individual preferences.

Let's choose food freedom over food facism!

Further reading

Fake food safety legislation - act now to save our farms.
HR 875 - The Death of Farmers Markets, CSAs and Local Food
Goodbye farmers markets, CSAs, and roadside stands

Read the full bill here:
HR 875 - Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009

Contact your government representatives and inform them you oppose HR 875 and any legislation that would degrade food quality or unduly burden small farms and small businesses.

National Animal Identification System information
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
No NAIS

Over-Regulation and Small Farms

Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal

Pandora's GMO Box

Pandora's GMO box has been opened and is already unleashing a torrent of unnatural and unknown consequences on a largely unsuspecting public and world. The earth has plenty of natural diversity. We don't need to be haphazardly creating new organisms simply because a company can copyright it and claim ownership to force the rest of us to pay for it. Most GMOs are now approved with inadequate testing that does not fully cover potential impacts to the environment and human health. Many approved GMOs have already been shown to cause serious health problems in animal models on further testing. Not very reassuring. Also, most GMOs have been developed to promote business interests and not human health. Why should we be risking human health and the world's environment so that privileged businesses can increase their profits?

Even if we manage to close Pandora's GMO box, GMO pollen has already infected many non-GMO crops. Consequently, much irreparable damage has already been done. But unfortunately, the box is only opening wider. Many more GMO plants and animals are planned for release in the near future. It's time to act and put and end to this travesty.

So what can we do?

Buy Organic

In the United States of Big Business ... err America ... about all we can do immediately is to vote against GMO by buying organic foods. By definition, organic foods are not allowed to have GMO, at least not more than 5% at worst. If enough people switch to organic, businesses will follow the money. The rapidly growing organic market is a good sign, but this approach is not likely to stop the GMO epidemic.

Labeling

Push government for required labeling of all products that include GMO. Such labeling would allow more consumers to make their economic voice heard.

Change the Law

The best way to end this plague would be to take away the right to patent genetically modified genes, which should have never been allowed in the first place. This action would take away the financial incentives for GMO. Unfortunately, this would probably take an act of Congress.

DNA Fragment

Learn More About Genetically Modified Organisms

What are genes?

Are GMOs safe?

Scrambling and gambling with the genome

Scientists speak

Corporate Ties

Farmer's Woes

Biohazards: The Next Generation?

Say no to GMO!

Go Organic

Everyone ate organic food until chemical pesticides and herbicides were invented in the last hundred years or so. The label "organic" is a bit of a misnomer, since all food is chemically organic because it is carbon-based. But organic in the context of food now means it is produced without the use of conventional pesticides and artificial fertilizers, is free from contamination by human or industrial waste, is processed without ionizing radiation or artificial food additives, and does not contain genetically modified organisms (GMO). Also, in the context of livestock, use of antibiotics or growth hormones is not allowed.



Organic foods are becoming more popular again as people realize that our bodies don't need the extra burden of harmful chemicals. Some foods are more likely to be contaminated by pesticides. Also, certain foods are more likely to contain GMOs. Avoiding those foods will also reduce your exposure, but that approach is getting more difficult, especially with GMOs since there is no labeling requirement. Buying organic foods from sources that you can trust is the best way to promote healthy foods. Beware of cut-rate vendors that offer "organic" products from overseas that may not really meet expected organic standards. Some unscrupulous producers and vendors may also falsely label food as organic. So knowing your food source is ideal - another good reason to buy local foods from producers that you know and trust.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is probably the largest organization that promotes organic food and defends organic standards. OCA has a wealth of information on their web site and is worthy of consideration for your support. The video below about organic food was included in a recent OCA newsletter.



We need to get back to producing and preparing foods like our healthy ancestors. We vote with our dollars - buy organic sustainable foods.