As a vegetarian i eat lots of tofu. was wondering if there are any problems with eating so much?

Question

As a vegetarian i eat lots of tofu. was wondering if there are any problems with eating so much?

Answer 1

The soy foods with the most absorbable nutients are cultured soy foods. So try less tofu and more tempeh and soy yogurt. Tempeh is pressed soy and is made with edible cultured mold just like blue cheese. I slow cook it in a crockpot full of organic BBQ sauce for 8 hours on low heat, and it comes out looking good and tasting great.  

Answer 2

Just to make sure you understand:

The Beans+rice= Complete Protein thing is a myth:

1) "Another myth is the idea that you need to combine different

plant foods to form complete proteins. The idea was that

most plant foods only contained some of the essential amino

acids, so you'd have to combine “incomplete” foods like

beans and rice to form meals that contained complete

proteins. This idea was put forth in the 1971 book Diet for

a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé. It was a

million-copy bestseller. Unfortunately, many people still

aren't aware that this theory was later found to be

completely false, as Lappé herself recanted her original

theory in later works that were far less popular. "

2) " In Frances Moore Lappe's 10th anniversary edition of Diet for a Small Planet, she writes:

"When I first wrote Diet for a Small Planet in 1971, the idea that people could live well without meat seemed much more controversial than it does today. I felt I had to prove to nutritionists and doctors that because we could combine proteins to create foods equal in protein usability to meat, people could thrive on a non-meat or low-meat diet. Today, few dispute that people can thrive on this kind of diet. In fact, more and more health professionals are actually advocating less meat precisely for health reasons, reasons I discussed in 'America's Experimental Diet.' In 1971 I stressed protein complementarity because I assumed that the only way to get enough protein (without consuming too many calories) was to create a protein as usable by the body as animal protein. In combating the myth that meat is the only way to get high-quality protein, I reinforced another myth. I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods."

Answer 3

I would say its important to keep in mind that most soy in the US and UK (and likely other countries) has been genetically modified to the point that it is no longer a natural food.  Due to the heavy GMO of soy, most of it contains DNA from many other suspicious things, not all of them food sourced.  For example, soy is "round up" ready, meaning it has been spliced with DNA from pesticides to make it resistant to the heavy spraying it gets.  It also contains DNA from things like scorpion venom to make it more pest resistant.  Soy is the LEADING cause of adult onset food allergies.  In my case, heavy consumption of soy caused me to develop MANY chronic food allergies in my late 30's-suddenly and without warning.  Google GMO soy for more info.  Soy is too controversial as far as I can see, and I would say its best avoided, unless you are sure that your source is not only organic, but heirloom and non gmo as well-and that's a pretty rare commodity.  Much of the soy that's grown organically is STILL GMO, although its not usually labeled that way.  I make a pretty decent "tofu" version of my own, using organic buckwheat.  Like tofu, it picks up the flavor of whatever its cooked with, and works pretty much the same as tofu in recipes.   A little research on the whole GMO soy should help you decide if soy should be part of your diet at all.  

Answer 4

Their are two sides to the soy debate and It wouldn't be wise at all to take any article seriously if it listed nothing but negatives. I recommend the following.

http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about...

It's written by a man that could have had ridiculous wealth from the Baskin Robbins franchise but chose to deny any involvement because of his beliefs on the dairy industry.

Answer 5

  Here is a list of dangers of soy, taken from the website sited below.  I'd say, "yes," there are certainly problems of eating too much tofu!

  *   High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.

  

* Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.

  

  * Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.

  

  * Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.

  

* Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.

  

* Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.

  

  * Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.

  

* Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.

  

  * Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.

  

  * Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.