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Soybean Wikipedia

Taxobox_begin | color = lightgreen | name = Soybeans
Taxobox_image | image = Image:Soybean.USDA.jpg|200px| | caption =
Taxobox_begin_placement | color = lightgreen
Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = Plantae
Taxobox_phylum_entry | taxon = Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta
Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = Magnoliopsida
Taxobox_ordo_entry | taxon = Fabales
Taxobox_familia_entry | taxon = Fabaceae
Taxobox_subfamilia_entry | taxon = Faboideae
Taxobox_genus_entry | taxon = Glycine (plant)|Glycine
Taxobox_species_entry | taxon = max
Taxobox_end_placement
Taxobox_section_binomial_simple | color = lightgreen | binomial_name = Glycine max
Taxobox_end

NPOV

Soybeans (American English|US) or soya beans (British English|UK) (Glycine max) are a high-protein legume (Family Fabaceae) grown as food for both humans and livestock. The word soy comes from Japanese shoyu.

<table align=left wrap=right border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>
<tr><td>Image:Soybeans.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Soybeans grow throughout Asia and North and South America.
<tr><td>Image:Soybeanvarieties.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Varieties of soybeans are used for many purposes.
</table>

Soybeans may be boiled whole (in the green pod) and served with salt, often under the Japanese language|Japanese name edamame. Soybeans prepared this way are a popular local snack in Hawaii|Hawai'i where, like in Japan and China, the bean and products made from the bean (miso, natto, tofu, douchi, etc.) are a significant part of the diet.

The beans can be processed in a variety of ways. Common forms of soy (or soya) include soy meal (often used as animal feed), soy flour, tofu, textured vegetable protein (TVP, which is made into a wide variety of vegetarian foods, some of them intended to imitate meat), tempeh, soy lecithin and vegetable oil. Soybeans are also the primary ingredient involved in the production of soy sauce (or shoyu).

Many traditional dairy products have been imitated using soybeans, and products such as soy milk, soy yoghurt and soy cream cheese are readily available in most supermarkets. These products have the same texture and appearance as milk-based ones, however regular soy milk does not contain significant amounts of calcium, since the high calcium content of soybeans is bound to the insoluble constituents and remains in the okara. Therefore, many manufacturers of soy milk sell calcium-enriched products as well. Tofu often contains high amounts of this important mineral since calcium salts are used to coagulation|coagulate the protein in soy milk in order to produce tofu. Additionally, soy protein has been found to reduce kidney|renal excretion of calcium, an effect that is reinforced by soy products' high potassium content. Most soy products must not be fed to infants, although specially designed soy infant formula has also been made in recent times. This formula has extra vitamins and other nutrients added to it to make it compatible with the infant's needs. In some cases, infants fed normal adult soy milk on a long-term basis have become extremely malnourished and even died. In addition, soy allergies are one of the more common food allergy|food allergies.

Soybeans are also used in industrial products including oils, soap, cosmetics, resins, plastics, inks, crayons, solvents, and biodiesel.

Soybeans are native to southeast Asia, but 45 percent of the world's soybean area, and 55 percent of production, is in the United States. The US produced 75 million metric tons of soybeans in 2000 of which more than one-third was exported. Other leading producers are Brazil, Argentina, China, and India. Much of the US production is either fed to animals or exported, though US consumption of soy by people has been increasing. Soy oil makes up 80% of the edible oil consumption in the U.S.

Soybeans are one of the crops that are being genetically modified, and GMO soybeans are being used in an increasing number of products. Currently, 80% of all soybeans cultivated for the commercial market are genetically modified. Monsanto is the world's leader in genetically modified soy for the commercial market.

Soybeans are considered a source of protein#Protein and nutrition|complete protein, i.e., protein that contains significant amounts of the essential amino acids that must be provided to the human body because of its inability to synthesize them.


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A caveat soybeans are highly toxic. Soybeans have the highest levels of phytic acid, an anti-nutrient, of any studied grain or legume. Phytic acid binds to essential minerals, keeping the body from assimilating them. Such as: calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. However according to the journal Enviromental Nutrition(April 2004 volume 27 issue 4) phytic acid may be considered a phytonutrient providing a antioxidant effect. In early research as show potential for phytic acid in compating cancer. The research also states that phytic acid effect on calcium is small.
Hemagglutinin in soy is a clot promoting substance and growth depressant. Just these two alone, phytic acid and hemagglutinin, makes soy especially unsuitable for growing children and infants.

Soybeans contain isoflavones (phytoestrogens), plant compounds that act like estrogen, and which many toxicology textbooks list as carcinogens, cancer causing agents. Infants fed exclusively on soy formula receive the equivalent estrogen of five birth control pills per day. This flooding of female hormones causes girls to show signs of and reach puberty prematurely, which can ultimately lead to infertility, and delays or prevents puberty and causes learning disabilities in boys. In addition, phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents. The isoflavones in soy depress thyroid function; can cause autoimmune thyroid disease and even cancer of the thyroid. Those who are already hypothyroid should avoid soy in all forms.

The isoflavones in soy are being touted for their anticancer properties because of the lower rates of breast, prostate and colon cancer in Asia. But logic requires that they also be blamed for higher rates of thyroid, pancreatic, liver and stomach cancer in Asia.

Because of the highly toxic nature of soy, soybeans are put through extremes to try and remove them. This processing, however, does not completely work. Only traditional fermentation methods can safely neutralize most of soy's many toxins. The bulk of the soy you find in America, however, is not fermented, but cooked at super high temperatures and treated with alkaline and acid washes and petroleum solvents. This processing leaches high amounts of aluminum, which is toxic to the nervous system, into the finished product and creates MSG, a potent neurotoxin, and other toxins and carcinogens. Soy's fragile proteins are, of course, damaged during this processing. Soy also contains enzyme-inhibitors, which interfere with protein digestion and can cause pancreatic disorders. The B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed by humans and actually increase the body's need for them. Thusly, making Soy's status as a good alternate protein source tenuous at best.

A significant amount of soy is genetically modified and has one of the highest percentages of contamination by pesticides of any of the foods we eat. With soy's toxic nature, over processing and the mounting evidence that pesticides cause cancer and birth defects, soy is one of the Health Food industries unhealthiest foods. And is the most dangerous to those that have no choice or voice: infants.

Last Modified:   2005-04-13