Tofu and Your Brain

There are two camps on the benefits of soy products - those who proclaim it has health promoting benefits and those who claim that it is harmful to your health.

In spite of those who vigorously promote soy as a healthy food with health-promoting benefits, there is a great deal of evidence indicating that soy is not the health food that the industry would like you to think it is. Kaayla Daniel, in her thoroughly researched book, the whole Soy Story, explains in great detail why soy is not a healthy food and should generally be avoided, except for use of some of the fermented soy products, like natto, tempeh and miso.

I have noticed that some who endorse Dr. Daniel's work also endorse the use of tofu, claiming that it is a fermented food product. While fermented tofu is produced by the Chinese and Japanese and eaten in those countries, it is generally not the tofu found in the U.S. In fact there is a study that "showed that men and women who ate tofu at least twice per week experienced accelerated brain aging, diminished cognitive ability and were more than twice as likely to be clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease."

For more information on the harmful effects of soy, check out these resources:

The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food

Facts About Soy, the Industry Doesn't Want You to Know: An interview with Dr. Kaayla Daniel author of The Whole Soy Story

For more information on healthy eating, click here.