Soya - Facts and safety about Soya

Hi friends,
I have neglected this little blog of mine, for quite a long long time, It reminds me of these stories we used to read when we were kids like, long time ago so long ago..., so that's what has happened to my blog.
Coming back to the blog post of today I came across this book by Rose Elliot who is a top vegetarian cookery writer mentions about soya and how good is that ?, she also tells us what kind of soya should be consumed.
Reading across the pages I started deeply into it  to find more about soya and its products, and how it has taken the world over by its various uses in lot of products and byproducts, I found a few websites which tells us about soya and facts and things you should know about this product.  I found this article quite useful and the comments below by people who have gone through the article also is a must read.



Photo courtesy: google Images


As I always I tell my friends and family that anything consumed in limited quantities will not certainly cause any disruption to our body isn't it right ?


I started reading about soya, only when my sister was talking about GMO ( Genetically modified Organisms), because her H doesn't like to use any soya products in cooking.
when I started searching for this GMO thing, I realized soya and corn are two main products are highly talked about, even though lot of articles indicate that they are not really going to harm your health and millions of people consume them everyday. I still have my doubts
It is such a vast subject starting from wikipedia it has two links about GMO here and here take a look at them. 
Lot of other people talking about this product I came to a conclusion that you need to read the label and go organic when buying things from your grocery stores. But, reading about this also ended me up in a dark corner, not all times we can see products being labelled as to the standards. So, the big question is how do we do this, COOK EVERYTHING FROM SCRATCH.  Is it possible ?.... sometimes yes sometimes no, as lot of people do not have time for such things.


According to this website the information about GMO is


Soybeans and corn are the top two most widely grown crops (82% of all GM crops harvested in 2000), with cotton, rapeseed (or canola) and potatoes trailing behind. 74% of these GM crops were modified for herbicide tolerance, 19% were modified for insect pest resistance, and 7% were modified for both herbicide tolerance and pest tolerance. Globally, acreage of GM crops has increased 25-fold in just 5 years, from approximately 4.3 million acres in 1996 to 109 million acres in 2000 - almost twice the area of the United Kingdom. Approximately 99 million acres were devoted to GM crops in the U.S. and Argentina alone.


This is an other website which tells you about Genetically modified foods what is it ?, how it is been done, causes and concerns, how safe is it ? etc...,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/02/99/food_under_the_microscope/280868.stm


An other website which talks about GMO
http://www.combat-monsanto.co.uk/spip.php?rubrique5


This is an other website, which was fascinating and he has a number of articles which keeps you thinking and quite interesting too...
http://www.johnrobbins.info/blog/what-about-soy/

Just do not read the entire article and go away read through the comment section too, you find it really useful and you can compare notes with your encounter with soya..
why did I say encouter ? yes, exactly when you use soya, how do you feel, do you notice any changes in your body and here people in the forum talk about a lot of these things and it is definitely an enlightening read....
Check out and write to me about how you feel....
click on the older comments in this article to know more about what people say...
John Robbins also writes on various other subjects, look through his articles and enjoy reading them...



Photo courtesy: Google images


There is an other website and read the whole article and you will be amazed knowing about soya
http://jacknorrisrd.com/?p=1778


Reading all these articles I have come to a conclusion and it is my personal opinion that is all, what I can do, being a vegetarian as they say soya is rich in proteins... a diet which vegetarians and vegans need as they are not meat eaters!
After reading all those articles, I have drastically reduced the intake of soya in most of my cooking may be monthly once or twice I use it, I do use silken Tofu sometimes in baking, which is in a very minimal quantity. As I am not a doctor nor a researcher and I don't hold an authority on this subject, I am not entitled to any kind of accusations or opinions right ?
So, what can I do with my diet ? I simply cook simple Indian food with lots of lentils and vegetables as our ancestors did try not to eat lot of take away food, very rarely go to Macdonalds or subways, try and make everything at home from scratch, feeling better when I  do so, as I know what I am cooking in what quantities and qualities :)
Reading all those articles one thing I have found out is I cannot runaway from soya or its by products as it has entirely occupied in each and every product, it may be fresh, frozen or long life food products... read the labels of each every product you buy then you would know what I am talking about...
As I said try and cook from scratch, read label carefully for GMO free when buying things and enjoy the rest of your life...
c u soon with an other tit bit....
write to me, if the information on the website was useful..... checking out the links...., 
If you would like to share anything about this subject please do write in the comment form I will be much obliged...

vegetarianism

I have been thinking of writing some things which I have collected from some books about vegetarian eating and  cooking and about lot of other things, which I felt was interesting for me might be interesting for you to read too......

As we all know that vegetarians are people who do not eat meat in any form kill animals even fish! you may be wondering why I have mentioned fish ? well, when I came to UK for the first time, say that this was the first I have travelled abroad and made friends with British people, and told them I was a vegetarian they were going to offer me fish ! I did not understand the concept so, then I asked them why do you offer me fish to eat when I say I am a vegetarian they told that here vegetarians ate fish!, then I started telling people whom I met and was talking about food that I am vegetarian where I do not eat animals which have been killed even if it is a fish !.

coming back to vegetarian foods, Today I was going through Madhuram's blog and I was surprised to see that my thoughts were in print their, somebody else also has written about it and of course madhu  no need to say she will get everything possible to give us good information and precise too..., check out her blog on Links concerning this topic hope you all know her blog address. It is www.EgglessCooking.com 

vegetarians eat at least eat natural produce of living creatures like milk. But strict vegetarians who are also called as vegans refuse to eat any animal products at all, not even dairy products instead they use plant milks made from soya beans & nuts.

Vegetarians food consists mainly of dairy products, fruits, nuts, vegetables, cereals, legumes & lentils these are the main source of their food.

Everybody eat food for vitality, building a strong body & mind, energy and also for the love of it!

A well-balanced vegetarian diet provides all the nutrients you need for good health.  It is only important to know what, how balanced we eat, & regularly.  we need recommended daily amount or intake of proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, Iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, fibre, phosphorous, potassium & selenium etc.,

Here are some things vegetarians need to watch out:

It is always very important to check out the labels before buying anything, the list here might be quite useful:

• ADDITIVES: 

These include emulsifiers, colourings and flavourings, and may or may not be vegetarian.  Two of the most common are E441 (gelatin), a gelling agent derived from animal parts and bones, and E120 (cochineal), made from crushed insects. E542 animal sources, E631-E920 either veg or non-veg

•  ALBUMEN

Albumen may be derived from battery-farmed eggs

• ANIMAL FATS

Animal fats are sometimes found in biscuits, cakes, pastry, stock, chips, margarine, ready-meals, ice-cream, edible fats can mean animal fats.

• ASPIC

Aspic is a savoury jelly derived from meat or fish

• CHEESE

Many cheeses are produced using animal rennet, an enzyme taken from the stomach of a calf. Vegetarian cheese is made using microbial or fungal enzymes.  Non-vegetarian cheese is often used in pesto, sauces and ready-meals. 

• EGGS

Eggs are animal products.  Some foods, such as mayonnaise or pasta, may contain battery-farmed eggs.  If possible, try to buy organic, free-range eggs.

• GRAVY

Gravy is made from meat juices, although vegetarian gravy mixes do exist

• JELLY

Jelly usually contains animal-derived gelatin, but it is possible to buy vegetarian alternatives set with agar agar or Gar gum, avoid AKA E441

• SOFT DRINKS

Soft drinks, particularly canned orange drinks, may contain gelatin, which is used as a carrier for added beta carotene.

• SOUP

Soup may contain animal stock or fat

• SUET

Suet is animal fat, but vegetarian versions do exist. 

• FOOD COLOURINGS

E120 or cochineal- red from crushed insects, E124 Ponce au 4R is acceptable E162 is Beetroot juice

                                                                                                                     continued........

vegetarianism

Health Foods and Vegetarian Foods

The following gives you some idea of vegetarian diet or say found in health food shops:

Breakfast cereals:

Barley, Biscuit cereals, Bran, Maize, Millet, Muesli, Oats and Oatflakes

Wholemeal flours, meals and grains

Flours: wholemeal wheat atta, rice flour,

Meal : Millet, Oatmeal, Rye meal, 

Grains: Barley, Buckwheat, Millet, Rye, Whole unground wheat, Rice

 

WheatGerm

Bemax, Froment

Oils & Fats & Creams

Corn oil, Mustard oil, Olive oil, Sesame oil, Groundnut oil, Sunflower seed oil, Bran oil, Soya oil, Gingely oil, Rapseed oil, Vegetable oil

Fats: Granose

Creams: Creamed coconut, Granose Soya cream

Nut Butters: Almond, cashew nut, hazelnut, peanut, tahini

Yeast and Yeast extracts:

Yeast : easy bake yeast/ allinson active baking yeast

Extracts: Barmene, Marmite, Natex, Vecon

Savoury extracts

Soy sauce, tamari

Savoury spreads and Pates

Tartex

Salad dressings: 

cider, binegar, Honegar

Glutamate Powders

Marigold

Savoury nut mixes

Sasmix Realeat

Tinned nut meats

Nuttolene, Sausalatas

Milk products

Granose, plamil soya milk

Salts

Hebamare, sea salt

Soya beans and products

Soya beans, soya flour, 

Gelatin substitute

Gelozone, agar agar.

Many of the things above are not known to me !, I just wrote it down in my book thinking it may be useful sometime, or for somebody !  all the above and past post has been extracted by books which i read quite sometime back one was by patty fisher & the other from a vegetarian cook book but enjoyed reading them and thought i will share with everybody.