A Nutritionist's Perspective: Understanding the Role of Soy in Your Diet

Modern alimentary culture has a knack for venerating food. When wonders of technological analysis reveal an element that demonstrates nourishing potential (as defined by the current nutritional paradigm), the pedestal is hoisted and the beholden food placed upon. And within a flash of a digital shutter, the food, along with it’s prospective element and any other potentially nutritious cohorts is being plucked, packaged, touted, tested, and, most of all, marketed as the next super food of the century. Inevitably comes the backlash to this fundamental idolism as the fringe groups mobilize against the system, breaking lies and bringing “truth.” They do all in their power to drag the innocent food from its altar, image bruised and packaging torn. So has been the saga for many a wonder food: wheat, dairy, vegetable oil, the list goes on. And do has been the journey of soy. As with all situations, there is some validity to each side of the soy argument, some partial correctness in each voice of the debate. True power comes from the ability to synthesize those perspectives in a unified function. This is done by surrounding each element with it’s appropriate context, thus opening the panoramic view of the road ahead including all the pitfalls to its right and left. With such a view comes the ability to walk straight down the middle. 

The one thing that pro- and anti-soy proponents agree upon is that soy foods have had a place on the traditional dinner table for centuries. The divergence begins with the questions of “How?” How much of this food should be eaten to provide a healthy portion of an balanced diet? And how should soy be prepared, from seed to serving, in order to yield the nourishing properties that have served the species for centuries?