How an in inedible plant becomes a mainstay in nutrition.

Soy, Industrial waste turned into gold

We have such a small world it is amazing how everything affects everything.

In his book: ‘Enriching the Earth’, Vaclav Smil pointed out that, “there is no way to grow crops and human bodies without nitrogen.” By 1900 European scientists had recognized that unless a way was found to augment this naturally occurring nitrogen, the growth of the human population would soon grind to a painful halt. The same recognition by Chinese scientist a few decades later. After President Nixon’s 1972 visit to china where he takes all the credit for ‘opening up’ access to China the Chinese government almost immediately placed orders for 13 huge fertilizer plants, as they had realized without them they were going to starve.

There are 6 billion people on earth today and it doubles every 10 years. In one month (10-06) the population of the U.S. will reach 300 million.

While nitrogen is 80% of the air, the atoms are in tightly paired making them non-reactive, virtually inert. Think of those patio chairs that nest together for storage but you can’t possibly sit on them like that. To make the atoms useful they need to be split up. Bacteria, the type found on the roots of leguminous plants such as peas (peanuts), alfalfa, locust trees or soybeans and to a lesser extent lightening can and does break this bond. Doctor Carver figured out over a hundred different ways to use peanuts to encourage their planting, so the soil wouldn’t get depleted (of nitrogen). Soybeans grow profusely in many kinds of soil and claimants but are virtually inedible by humans and even they even make poor animal feed. Doesn’t anyone remember their 7th grade social studies text books? (1955)  In 1909 Fritz Haber figured out a way to break the nitrogen atoms apart in a laboratory.

A German, Haber Bosch, working in the German WWI chemical warfare industry figured out a way to commercialize Haber’s discovery . The Haber-Bosch method works by combining nitrogen and hydrogen together under immense heat and pressure but this requires lots and lots of energy.

In 1947 there was a huge munitions plant at Muscle Shoals, Alabama that had tons of tons of ammonium nitrate left over from making explosives and it was decided to turn this into fertilizer.

When the farmers used the fertilizer it quintupled their crop yield and immediately they began to rely on fertilizer rather than bacteria to replenish the nitrogen in their fields.

The point I’m trying to make here is that by 1950 a huge amount of money had been invested in soybeans by big business trying to make it profitable to grow (every other year a field needed to be seeded with soy [or peanuts or alfalfa but soy grows almost anywhere] to replenish the nitrogen in the soil and it would be much more profitable if the soy was good for something and than, all of a sudden; that need goes away. Now they are stuck with a huge investment in soy and they just don’t want to walk away from it. They had learned so much about how to grow and manipulate the soybean. It was an investment they just didn't want to let go.

So now about soy. Soy in its natural state is riddled with contaminants. To separate soy from its contaminants it is heated to over 400 degrees up to 6 different times in an effort to release the ‘bad’ impurities from the ‘good’ protein. So, just how ‘good’ is your protein now that it has been heated so hot so many times and are you going to take ‘their’ word for it is safe to eat now?

Is Soy Bad for Babies?

Contributor Randall Neuestaedter, O.M.D., responds: you should be concerned.  Soy is dangerous for several reasons.  Besides the toxic level of aluminum and manganese in Soy formula, soy itself is an inappropriate food for children.  Soy the foods and soy formulas depress thyroid function.  They can induce a hypothyroid state in infants.  Soy formula feeding is associated with hormone disruption in premature sexual development in small children.  A soy-fed baby receives the equivalent of 5 birth control pills worth of estrogen every day.  Soy feeding in infancy has also been linked to diabetes.  Soy interferes with the absorption of calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron.  Soy formulas should never be given to infancy.  Organic towers milk formulas our safest.  (Horizon). If babies have difficulty digesting mail, then a hyper allergenic formula (good start) or a predigested milk-based formula (Nutramigen) may be required until babies or eating enough solid foods to stop formula.

Use the WEB, go into Google and type “Truth about soy” yourself, I’m not making this up.