History of Natto and Its Relatives (1405-2012 - SoyInfo Center

of North Bengal, NBU 734430, District of Darjeeling, West
Bengal, India.
1516. Fallon, Sally W.; Enig, Mary G. 1995. Soy products
for dairy products? Not so fast. Health Freedom Newsletter
(Monrovia, California) 14(5):12-20. Sept. [35 ref]
• Summary: Contents: Introduction. History of the bean. Fit
for human consumption? Marketing the soybean? Processing
denatures and dangers remain. Soy formula not the answer.
Fabricated soy foods. Cancer preventing or cancer causing?
Soy products are not complete. Only fermented soy products
are safe. Another look at milk. Processing is the problem
[that transforms healthy milk products into unhealthy ones].
Quality dairy products are available. Butter is a healthy food.
Homemade formula best for babies. Contains two recipes
for homemade formula: Milk based formula (based on
unhomogenized raw organic milk plus lactose, cod liver oil,
coconut oil, etc.). Milk free formula (based on 3½ cups of
homemade broth, made from beef, lamb, chicken, or fi sh).
This article is written to scare people “who have turned
to soy products as substitutes for dairy products,” and to
sing the praises of natural (fresh, raw, and organic) dairy
products. It is loaded with so much incorrect information and
false conclusions about soybeans and their alleged dangers
to human health that one does not know where to begin in
starting to refute them. To take just a few such statements:
(1) “The Chinese did not eat the soybean as they did other
pulses (legumes) such as the lentil, because the soybean
contains large quantities of a number of harmful substances.”
Fact: The soybean, processed into a host of soyfoods using
simple technologies, has been the main legume consumed
in China since ancient times. It has long been referred to as
“The cow of China.”
(2) Trypsin inhibitors in soybeans are “not completely
deactivated during ordinary cooking and can produce serious
gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic
defi ciencies in amino acid uptake.” Facts: The SoyaScan
database contains 386 articles on trypsin inhibitors. When
active, these proteins inhibit trypsin, a digestive proteolytic
enzyme secreted by the pancreas, which helps us to
digest proteins. Fortunately, trypsin inhibitors are almost
completely deactivated by the typical cooking of soybeans to
make soyfoods. There is no scientifi c evidence that the small
percentage remaining has any adverse effects on human
health, digestibility, or amino acid absorption. A considerable
body of research, starting in the 1970s, shows that trypsin
inhibitors have anti-cancer properties.
(3) “The soybean also contains hemaglutinin [sic,
hemagglutinins], a clot promoting substance that causes red
blood cells to clump together.” Fact: Like trypsin inhibitors,
hemagglutinins are inactivated by ordinary cooking and have
been a non-issue in the scientifi c literature for at least 10
years.
(4) Soybeans are high in phytic acids or phytates,
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 471
which can cause health problems. “Only a long period of
fermentation will signifi cantly reduce the phytate content
of soybeans.” “Oriental children who do not get enough
meat and fi sh to counteract the effects of a high phytate diet,
frequently suffer rickets, stunting and other growth... Parents
would do well to ask their six-year old boys whether they
would prefer to be six-foot-one or fi ve-foot-seven when
they grow up, before substituting tofu for eggs, meat, and
dairy products.” Fact: Phytates and phytic acid are a twoedged
sword. They appear to inhibit mineral absorption by
forming tight chelates with a variety of polyvalent metals
such as calcium, zinc, and iron. By virtue of forming a
unique iron chelate, they suppresses iron-catalyzed oxidative
reactions and may serve a potent antioxidant function in
the preservation of seeds. By the same mechanism, dietary
phytic acid may lower the incidence of colonic cancer and
protect against other infl ammatory bowel diseases. Twelve
records in the SoyaScan database show phytic acid to have
anticancer activity. In addition, they are one source of dietary
phosphorus in the soybean.
(5) Aluminum content of soy formula is 10 times
greater than milk-based formula, and 100 times greater
than unprocessed milk. Aluminum has a toxic effect on
the kidneys of infants, and has been implicated as causing
Alzheimer’s in adults. Fact: Aluminium is the most abundant
metal in the earth’s surface. It is harmless to humans except
for infants with kidney failure–who should not drink
soymilk. There is no solid scientifi c evidence indicating that
aluminum causes Alzheimer’s disease; that theory, advocated
by a few scientists 10 years ago, is no longer being pursued.
(6) Allergies to soy are almost as common as those
to milk. Fact: Roughly 10 to 15 times as many infants are
allergic to cow’s milk compared to soymilk. Since 1910 soybased
infant formulas have saved the lives of many infants
whose mothers could not breast feed and who were allergic
to cow’s milk
The authors conclude that only traditional fermented soy
products such as miso, natto, and tempeh, are safe.
About the authors (autobiographical): Sally W. Fallon,
M.A. lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and
4 children. A member of the Price Pottenger Nutrition
Foundation Advisory Board, she is a regular contributor to
their quarterly journal. Mary Enig, PhD, is an expert in the
fi eld of lipid chemistry who has conducted many studies
on trans fatty acids. She is also well known for a career of
anti-hydrogenation and anti-margarine research and writing,
with funding from the dairy industry. A large percentage of
America’s margarine is made from soy oil.
Update: Printout of website named Mercola.com sent
to Soyfoods Center by Sjon Welters of Cabot, Vermont.
1998. Nov. 6. The title of this 6-page website is “Avoid
soy: Concerns regarding soybeans.” On the last page
we read: “The above information was abstracted from
an article written by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, PhD.