The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food (Hardcover)

~ Kaayla T. Daniel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A disturbing number of safety issues surrounding soy have yet to be resolved. Dr. Kaayla Daniel begins an important dialogue. -- Barbara Dossey, PhD, RN, HNC, FAAN, Director, Holistic Nursing Consultants, Santa Fe, NM, and author of Florence Nightingale: Mystic, Visionary, Healer Holistic Nursing: A Handbook for Practice and Rituals of Healing

A gauntlet thrown the soy industry, whose reputation often seems based as much on self-promotion as science -- Larry Dossey, MD, Author of Healing Beyond the Body, Reinventing Medicine and Healing Words

This is the most important nutritional book of the decade. Every concerned American should read this brilliant and entertaining exposé. -- William Campbell Douglass, II, MD, Author of The Milk Book and editor of Real Health Breakthroughs

Product Description

A groundbreaking expose that tells the truth about soy that scientists know but that the soy industry has tried to suppress. Soy is not a health food, does not prevent disease and has not even been proven safe.--Epidemiological, clinical and laboratory studies link soy to malnutrition, digestive problems, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders, even heart disease and cancer.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: NewTrends Publishing (March 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967089751
• ISBN-13: 978-0967089751
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,131 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

376 of 411 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars moderation is key , February 28, 2006

By	J. Wang "jyswang" (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One of the most interesting facts I find about people today is they don't use common sense. We all know that orange juice is good for you, it has vitamin C. But orange juice consumed by the gallon daily is NOT GOOD for you. So if someone consumes a gallon of orange juice everyday and becomes diabetic, does this imply that orange juice is evil and has no merits? Overdoing anything, even the best nutrient, and you can overdose.

As a Chinese, and still eating Chinese food 90% of the time, no one in our family overdoses on soy. We drink 16 oz of soymilk at the most per day. Fresh soybeans (edamame), only a handful twice a week. Fresh tofu, freshly fried tofu, miso, tempeh, real fermented soy sauce, fermented soybean pastes, are consumed in larger quantities. But we never eat soy alone. And we don't have these strange soy hotdogs, soy burgers, soy powders, soy shakes, engineered soy products.

Babies are never fed soymilk. As soon as babies can start eating food, they are fed fresh silken tofu, as it is an easily digested protein. But tofu is never the only source of protein. Small amounts of ground meat, milk and regular food are fed to babies.

As for adults, tofu will always be eaten with eggs, or meat or fish in a meal. Never by itself. The same with soybeans, miso and soy sprouts and soy sauce, etc.

I believe that Chinese and Japanese have eaten this way for centuries. And because we consume mostly tofu and fermented soy products, you don't hear people having these kinds of problems. Soybeans are naturally high in trypsin. The process of fermentation and tofu making is what deactivates trypsin, and makes it safe for consumption. That is why soymilk and edamame are not eaten in large quantities.

Also what is unknown to most people is that Chinese eat larger quantities of soy bean sprouts and black soy beans. The black soy beans are commonly mistaken as "black beans", but they are not the Mexican or South American black beans. Black soybeans have higher protein content, and are considered superioer to yellow soybeans.

Even though soybean sprouts have phytoestrogens, they contain less phytoestrogens than alfalfa sprouts. One birth control pill has 5000 times as much estrogen as 20 grams of soy sprouts. So eating soy sprouts occasionally (as in once or twice a week) does not hurt you. But going overboard and eating large quantities everyday is not good for you.

And until Americans started producing soybean oil, the majority of Chinese was raised on peanut oil and safflower oil (made by pressing you choy).

The first written record of the soybean plant is contained in the book "Ben Ts'ao Kang Mu", describing the plants of China by Emperor Shen Nung in 2838 BC. They have been cultivated and eaten since then.

If a food has been eaten for 4800 years, I'm pretty sure there is enough empirical data to show that soy itself is not evil. If the plant was toxic in any way, it would be listed as such in the "Ben Ts'ao Kang Mu" and the Chinese Materia Medica. Perhaps engineered soy foods, such as soy hot dogs, soy protein powders, and such should be eaten sparingly.

But if you have any doubts about soy, you shouldn't eat too much of it, and definitely do not eat engineered foods. As in everything, moderation is key to good health.

155 of 169 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Naked Truth at Last!, April 7, 2005

By	Tom Whittier - See all my reviews

As a former vegetarian who relied heavily upon commercial soy products, and suffered because of it, I loudly applaud this important, timely work! It is exhaustively researched and provides for the first time, a revealing glimpse into more industry greed at the expense of consumer's health. I suffered from a compromised Thyroid due to my reliance on Tofu, Soy Milk, and phony burgers to get me through the day. I suffered doubly, from the poor palatability of the products, as well as their hidden hormones. The resulting Thyroid complications, flatulence, and loss of libido caused much unnecessary suffering. I have studied about Soy independently, being a Pharmaceutical chemist, so am somewhat familiar with some of the problems associated with the modern processed varieties. However, I was unprepared and shocked by what I found out from this wonderful book. Being a scientist, I am very impressed with the research that went into it. The author makes it easy reading and humorous as well which helps one to get through the dark truths revealed. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the health of themselves and their loved ones. The current belief that processed Soy is somehow equated with health is just another example of how we are so often controlled by marketing hype.

102 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book on Soy Ever Written, June 21, 2005

By	Russell L. Blaylock "Russell L. Blaylock, M.D." (Ridgeland, MS United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The nutritional literature is littered with books extolling the virtures of soy and soy products. Unfortunately, most are based on hype, poor research and manipulated science. This book explores the history of soy, defines the various types of historical soy products and then proceeds to explore the science of soy and soy prooducts in great detail. I have found it to be a tremendous encyclopedia of knowledge concerning the subject. Having studied soy products for some years, Dr. Daniels taught me a considerable amount about soy. The sections on soy and cancer are especially valuable, since so many women have been convinced that soy products prevent breast cancers, when in fact, there is compelling evidence the opposite is true. I strongly recommend this book for all those interested in the truth about soy and soy products.