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A genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically engineered organism (GEO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques are generally known as recombinant DNA technology. With recombinant DNA technology, DNA molecules from different sources are combined in vitro into one molecule to create a new gene. This DNA is then transferred into an organism and causes the expression of modified or novel traits.

Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods produced from GMO that have had their DNA altered through genetic engineering. GM foods were first put on the market in the early 1990s. The most common modified foods are derived from plants: soybean, corn, canola cotton seed oil and wheat.


2008-09-06

Soya - Is It Part Of A Healthy Diet?  

When people speak in these days soy they usually focus on how it is produced - whether GM (genetically modified) or not. The grate problem with him but that is another common food, such as wheat and maize, which finds its way into a very large number of foodstuffs. It is cheap, and it is very high in protein, so that food manufacturers find it very useful as enricher and a life extender.

Soy sauce. Soy flakes, soy flour, soy, bran, soybean oil and soybean milk are easy to see how soy products. Tofu, miso and tempeh are also important from soybeans. However, soy is often unnoticed part of an in-store items bought baked goods such as bread, buns, cakes, biscuits, doughnuts, biscuits /cookies and other products, including:



  • canned meat

  • cheese

  • Cold cereal

  • Gravy mixes and stock cubes

  • desserts and ice from many types

  • formula milk
    Li
    Lecithin (unless, of egg)

  • noodles, macaroni, spaghetti, pasta

  • sausages

  • dressings

  • Soy bean sprouts

  • soups

  • candy /candy

  • Vegetable cooking oils and fats (mixed blends) and margarines

Soya can be disguised on food labels in many different forms: as hydrolysed vegetable protein, soy protein isolate, protein concentrate, textured vegetable protein (TVP), vegetable oil, plant sterols, or as an emulsifier is also lecithin.

Soya used extensively in agricultural feeds for the intensive chicken, beef, dairy, pork and fish farming. Therefore, we are very likely to eat it indirectly, if we eat eggs, milk, meat or fish.

So, unless we are actively to avoid or eat an all-natural nutrition, we will most likely eat soy days.

Well Is it a problem? Is not soy supposedly healthy, and in fact even encouraged for certain medical conditions?

It was known since the early 1980s that phyto-estrogens (plant estrogens), as the isoflavones in soy could biological effects in humans. Many health claims for soya were in the isoflavones it contained, such as the easing of menopause symptoms, improve bone density and protection against certain hormone-related cancers. The justification for the claims was that these rates of cancer, osteoporosis and menopausal symptoms problems were lower in the east Asian populations, it was alleged that historically had eaten food rich in soya.

However in 2002, the British government expert committee for the Toxicity of food (COT) published the results of its inquiry into the safety of plant estrogens, which consist mainly of soy protein, in the modern food industry. She came to the conclusion that there was no clear evidence for many of the details for him as a health food.

The Committee pointed out that the Asian diet was not in fact high in phyto-estrogens. Asians historically not consume that much soy, and did eat something they had usually been fermented for months. You did not consume unfermented forms such as soy milk, soy burgers or foods with soy flour. This fact is of crucial importance, since the way soy is processed affects the levels of phyto-oestrogens. Traditional fermentation methods reduce the levels of isoflavones oestrogenic by a factor of two or three. Modern factory processes. In addition, modern strains of soy used in the West have significantly higher than the Asian isoflavones, because they were bred to be resistant to pests (the higher levels of isoflavones make them infertile) .

toxicologist Dr. Mike Fitzpatrick, was instrumental in getting governments at the beginning of the investigation of the health problems associated with soy, calculated that babies fed on soy formula can oestrogenic equivalent, based on body weight, of five birth control pills a day.

Indeed, a Royal Society report on endocrine disrupting chemicals in 2000 had already concluded that soy milk should not be recommended for babies and young children, even if they had cow's milk allergies, except on medical advice because of the high oestrogenic isoflavones it contained. The report had also observed that the mass of exposure to soy isoflavones had over the last thirty years. Soya was not part of the general food supply law in the West until the 1970s, as incorporation of soy protein in processed foods was widespread.

The current opinion of the British Food Standards Agency is that soybeans have the potential to have a negative effect on infants' development is hormonal still controversial, but the soy formula should only be applied to infants under 12 months old in exceptional circumstances. soya milk for infants has always been to a small minority in the United Kingdom. But the situation is different in the U.S., where thirty to forty percent of all children are raised on soy formula - not least because it is when you look at the welfare programs.

There are also concerns that a high intake of phyto-estrogens from soy can disrupt the function of the thyroid. This is a great potential for the health of the population, because the incidence of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) increases in the western population and noted that affect many more people than previously thought. experts believe that hypothyroidism is now seriously underdiagnosed. untreated can lead to obesity, heart disease and many other chronic health problems.

Further questions about soy relate to the essential fatty acids Omega-3 and omega-6. The importance for our health, the right balance of these fats has been recognized. Unfortunately, most of us take too many omega-6s and too little omega-3s. soya oil is high in the omega-6s. Because it is largely used in the manufacture of snacks such as chips or fries, Sawaren, deep-fried Take Away, ready meals, ice cream, mayonnaise and margarine, it is conceived as one of the reasons our balance of omega-3s to Omega-6s from kilter.

To is so close, it seems there are serious questions about whether soy in the form , Usually we eat it in the West is safe, let alone a "health food". Before we let it become an important part of our diet, perhaps we should not forget the following:



  • population in the West, at least so far only suspended soya for thirty years, and there is evidence that food allergies are often the result of the mass of exposure to new foods, which our genetic systems have not enough time had to evolve to handle.

  • These populations, with soy products for many years use them in limited quantities and usually in the fermented soy forms.

  • has oestrogenic effects on the body. Is this taking hormonal or endocrine disrupters, with no way to know how much we are a good idea? How would we react if the issue turned around a bit, and we were asked whether we would be happy if the government said they would to hormones for our food? The amount of soy in a soy product could small - but what about the cumulative effect of the meal they eat the food in many processed foods, fill our carts supermarket?

More information on the concepts used in this article can be found in the e-book "Why can not I lose weight - The real reasons Diets Fail and What to Do About It '.

Copyright Good Diet Good Health. Com 2007

 

Jackie Bushell is passionate about raising awareness of the role of diet and nutrition in good health and helping those who are affected by obesity. Via her website at GoodDietGoodHealth.com, she provides information, support, cookbooks, how-to guides and a newsletter for those wishing to understand more about how to improve their health and achieve a healthy weight in a natural way. Amongst the resources she has developed are a low carb/low GI diet cookbook and a book called 'Why Can't I Lose Weight' for those who experience common problems such as not losing weight on their diet or becoming stuck on a 'diet plateau'.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jackie_Bushell

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