Evaluating your overall health doesn't just mean looking at what's wrong, it also means looking at what you are doing right. The Analyst™ learns all about you through a simple-yet-comprehensive questionnaire.
Approximately how often do you consume tofu, soy milk, soybean curd or other soy-based products?
Possible responses:
→ Never / don't know→ Once per month or less → Once per week or less → A few times per week → At least daily |
Soybeans contain high levels of phytates; some researchers say more than other beans. Additionally, soy's phytates are so stable that many survive phytate-reducing techniques such as cooking. (The phytates in whole grains can be deactivated simply by soaking or fermenting.)
It is possible that only long periods of soaking and fermenting – as are used in making miso, natto, shoyu, tamari, and tempeh (but not tofu, soymilk, texturized soy protein, or soy protein isolate) – significantly reduce the phytate content of soybeans. It has also been reported that tempeh has lower phytate levels than unfermented soyfoods [Anderson and Wolf, Journal of Nutrition, 1995]. Eating too much unfermented soy may lead to a shortage of crucial minerals.
Soybeans have the highest levels of phytic acid of any legume, and as such have an extraordinary ability to cause mineral deficiencies. Soy chelates zinc from our bodies.