Plant Milks: Soy Beans

More on Plant Milks, this time looking at Soy milk.

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A Readers Comment

A PattyCooks reader, Kate, has been exploring a vegan diet and she writes:

I drink silk unsweetened original soy milk. Soy milk is my favorite milk to drink. It is creamy and has a slightly sweet flavor. It tastes great right out of the fridge and also heats well. Nutritionally, I enjoy its high protein and calcium content. I also like that that it tastes delicious without any added sugar. I also bake often with this milk and it works wonderfully. I would highly recommend milk to anyone! I looked at your other articles, they are so interesting! I love all of the detail you have gone into. It might inspire me to try out a few new milks

Review of Soy Milk

Nutrition

I remember Soy milk becoming popular in the 90’s because it contained as much protein as cows milk, had very little fat, and was a good source for B12 which my vegan and vegetarian friends were low on. After a while, there were also soy milks with probiotics, and some were fermented for our gut bacteria health.

While it naturally has high protein, I would check to make sure it is fortified with Calcium and Vit B12. Also, to make sure I am getting certified GMO-free and organic beans, I tend to only buy milks from American and Canadian companies.

Environment

WWF writes: Since the 1950s, global soybean production has increased 15 times over. The United States, Brazil, and Argentina together produce about 80% of the world’s soy. China imports the most soy and is expected to significantly increase its import of the commodity.

Concerns are that the rather large, industrial farming of soybeans in some places are causing widespread deforestation, smaller family farms displacement, and harming indigenous peoples around the globe. Here are a few quick facts:

Brazil is razing their environment to plant soy beans (1) so I do not buy soy products from there.

90% of all soy beans grown globally are for animal feed, mainly beef (1).

Medical Benefits

WebMD report that:

eating large amounts of soy might help prevent breast cancer or breast cancer recurrence in some people.
Feeding a soy-based formula to infants who have galactosemia might help to reduce symptoms.
Some research suggests that taking soy isoflavones can improve symptoms of IBS, such as stomach pain.
Most evidence suggests that soy protein or soy extract can increase bone mineral density (BMD) or slow BMD loss in women near or beyond menopause. It appears that soy products need to contain at least 75 mg of an ingredient called isoflavones in order to work.
The consumption of soy might reduce fracture risks in some women.

Concerns

Beans: The complaints then started as most of the beans used to make soy milks were GMO. So now many advertise GMO-free and organic.

Allergies/Reactions: Soy is used everywhere in processed foods, yet it numbers eight on the top ten list of food allergies. And even if used in moderation, it can cause bloating and stomach uncomfortableness in people with IBS. Between 2018-2019, ~1.9 million Americans had allergic responses to soy and soy products.

WebMD reports that soy contains a chemical called phytoestrogens. which, if consumed at high levels can be toxic. People with kidney failure who use soy products might be at risk for blood levels of phytoestrogens becoming too high. If you have kidney failure, avoid taking large amounts of soy.

Feminization or cancer fears have been made about consuming soy milk. However, per WaPo, studies generally do not support the notion that drinking soy milk will cause men to grow breasts, or experience any other feminizing effects. Studies also refute the notion that soy increases the risk of breast cancer in women.

Studies regarding feminization, where there appeared to be some cause + effect of soy to men growing breasts were questioned due to a limited number of people, and grossly over consumption of soy milk daily.
Regarding cancer, studies show soy consumption may actually reduce the chances of getting breast cancer.
Women who have estrogen-positive breast cancer may have concerns about soy consumption, but studies do not show a causal relationship.

Make Your Own

Soak 1/2C white soybeans in 2-3C of water overnight. Next day discard the water and rinse the soybeans in the kitchen sink. Remove all the skins from the beans, as best you possible. Then combine beans and 4C water in a blend, and blend until it is smooth. Strain through a layered (so it has small holes) cheese cloth squeezing out everything you physically can, into a pot. And heat to 100F for ~20 minutes, stirring constantly. Then cool and store in the fridge, in a glass lidded container for up to a week.

EdenSoy Unsweetened Organic Soymilk

EdenSoy has been a company making Soy Milk for a long time.

Color: Comparing to fat-free milk it is a creamy looking whitish color.
Viscosity: Similar to fat-free milk.
Smell: Not strong.
Taste: I find it a neutral flavor when I had it in my coffe.
Froth: I uses the Zulay Frother for 30 seconds and it did froth.
Tea: I used a lightly fragrant black tea to see if the milk curdles (did not), and does it overpower the flavor of the tea (did not).
Cereal: I the milk with an oat cereal to see if it tasted good and it was okay but not a favorite.
Storage: Same storage as other plant milks, use by expiration dates and once open keep in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Contents are purified water and organic soybeans.
The package is 73% certified as coming from sustainable forest products.

The ingredients are organic, non-GMO soybeans grown in the USA.

Review

I am neutral on this milk.

There are issues with this milk that are of concern, but for me I just prefer the flavor or other milks better. Soy is not one of my top 5 choices of plant milks I like. Again, the issues of concern are:

Soy is an allergen (#8 in the top ten list), and can irritate the digestive system in humans.
The planters/harvesters of soy beans in Brazil (#2 in top ten soy producers) are destroying the environment.
The majority of Soy Beans are GMO. In fact, In 2020, 94 percent of the soybean crops grown in the US were genetically modified, mostly to be herbicide tolerant.

— Patty