Dorothy FarrarMilitary
Soy refers to the bean of soy, which is used as animal food and as part of human nutrition, especially in Asian cuisine. Today, soy occupies 6% of the world’s agricultural land and is considered the world’s most important oilseed.
General overview
Soy has been proven as a crop in China and Japan since pre-Christian times. Small quantities of uncultivated, wild-growing and smaller soybean plants have been used by humans for many thousands of years. The soybean plant yields the soybean, which has many uses. It serves as the basis for extracting the soy sauce from its oil, but can also be processed in its pure form or used as animal feed. Outside of food , soy is grown for the production of biodiesel, which is the plant’s primary use. Only a tiny proportion of the global soybean harvest goes into food and feed production for humans and animals.
Occurrence and cultivation
Soy is native to Southeast Asia and is mainly found in China and Japan. There it is since 1700 BC. cultivated. The soy plant forms a pod in which the valuable seeds are located. Although it can also be grown in Europe, North and South America, soybean cultivation in Asia is still of great economic importance today. In the USA in particular, campaigns were carried out around the Second World War that were intended to make soybeans interesting as animal feed and for human nutrition , which is still reflected in the cultivated areas in North America today.
South America began growing soy in the 1970s, and some countries now produce even more soy than domestic products. Little research has been done on the genetically modified soy plants that are circulating in the EU, but they are not approved for use in human or animal consumption.
Application and effect
For human consumption, soy is most commonly found in the form of soybeans, although soybeans, soymilk, or meat and milk substitutes are also occasionally used. Most of the material used comes from the soybean. Soybean sprouts are also wrongly offered, but these are mung bean sprouts. The pure soybean is occasionally eaten as a snack or as an accompaniment to mostly Asian dishes.
Soy sauce , tofu , miso, tempeh or soy milk products such as milk or yoghurt, on the other hand, play the leading role in a main meal. They are therefore eaten in similar amounts to meat, mainly by vegetarians or vegans who want to avoid animal products. As a fresh, green pod, soy plays a role in the form of edamame. Soy in any form contains stachyose, a polysaccharide that can cause bloating and flatulence.
The genetically modified soy plants are an attempt to keep the Stachoyse content low. Furthermore, soy is high in phytoestrogens: these are plant substances that act like the female hormone oestrogen . On the one hand, these probably reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, but excessive consumption can promote female sexual characteristics in men, such as breast formation, and reduce fertility. Since soy is now also widespread on the food shelf in Europe, the number of allergies is also gradually increasing.
Importance to health
The research results on soy and soy products are currently very contradictory. Some studies suggest that soy may be responsible for the low rate of heart and vascular disease in Asia. Even some tumor diseases are rare in Asia, including breast cancer – this could also be due to the high consumption of soy products. Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases could also be positively influenced by the high content of phytoestrogen in soy.
At the same time, other studies suggest that the “plant hormone” reduces the sperm quality in men and thus inhibits fertility. Furthermore, this component of soy could lead to breast formation and feminization in men if consumed in high amounts. However, this would also require a very high daily consumption, such as with a vegan diet and a focus on soy substitute products.
Fermented soy products should be significantly better for your health than unfermented products. Any toxins in soy are broken down during fermentation, fermented soy is considered easier to digest and causes less flatulence than unfermented products. Finally, the fermentation of soy also increases the levels of vitamins and antioxidants. Because of the phytoestrogens, soy should generally be considered a side dish rather than a main meal, as Asian cuisine exemplifies. Here you will rarely find a dish with unfermented soy, the amounts of soy are rather small.
Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.