Soy is an important food in Southeast Asian countries; it’s the staple food for the poor and healthy food for the rich. The poor eat soy for protein and the rich for keeping their heart healthy. Mostly people who cannot afford to feed their children with cow milk prefer soy milk because it contains equal amount of protein as cow’s milk. It has calcium; little saturated fat and has no cholesterol. But is the over hyped healthy food actually healthy or it’s just a food fraud. Let’s look at the other side of the coin as well.

The popular soy milk has high amount of aluminum and magnesium which can be dangerous for infants. Soy milk lacks vitamin A, a much essential nutrient for infants and children. Soy milk is not a substitute for breast milk because it lacks saturated fat which is again essential for growth of infants.

Though soy is hyped as a food for fighting cancer, researches have found that the isoflavones contained in soy can support the growth of tumors and cancers especially breast cancer when soy is not processed correctly.

Most soy products available today are made of genetically modified soy beans which are not healthy for consumption. They are also treated with chemicals and the way of processing is not specified.

Healthy Way of consuming soy: Consume soy in moderation and consume only the organic soy preferably the whole beans like tofu, tempeh, miso and esamame. Keep yourself away from processed soy products.

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