Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Digestibles

I found an article which summarises the work of an early researcher into paleolithic diets. It gives a short but sweet overview and is certainly worth a read.

And here is an awesome extensive rant against the food pyramid and carbohydrates.

I had a feeling soy was bad. This site gives a good rundown of the concerns. Not too many scientific references, though.

Hmmm, those last two are not the most reliable sources in the world. Read with scepticism!

2 comments:

  1. A friend of mine commented:

    Because I consume soy products, albeit in moderation, I decided to check out this website.
    First, I noticed that it was a New Zealand site -- a country with a very large dairy industry.
    Next, the site is designed and maintained by Golder Kingett Mitchell who appear to specialise in preparing environment impact statements. Their clients include mining companies wanting to open mines in developing countries. Could there be issues of ethics compromised by big business and lax standards in poor countries? Could all be quite harmless but there's a little bit of me that remains suspicious.
    Next -- as you point out -- not many scientific references. Indeed, many of the items in the righthand column are sourced from other websites (e.g. www.westonaprice.org, whose "specific goals include establishment of universal access to clean, certified raw milk and a ban on the use of soy formula for infants"), newspaper articles, an Emirates in-flight magazine and Prime TV (Australia)! The campaign for universal access (consumption?) of cow's milk is slightly worrying -- doesn't sit well with the paleodiet.
    Without having investigated the items which appear to refer to scientific studies, I suspect that much of the science has been funded by the dairy industry and associated interested parties. There's very little truly independent scientific research these days.

    ReplyDelete
  2. To which I replied:

    Wow! A fine job you have done. Thanks for that. It is one of those things that since I don't consume soy (except for tofu, which is not such a concern), I haven't bothered to delve into it. It is interesting that if were to, I would look at the scientific references and try to determine how credible they seem. In contrast, you focussed on the ulterior motives. A lesson in there for me, I suspect!

    The problem with this issue is that on one side is the soy industry, producing websites like this:
    http://www.soyfacts.com.au/
    These are clearly to be taken with a grain of salt. And they also fund scientists who produce research on the benefits of soy. However, if anyone contradicts this, is it because they are genuine, or because they are funded by a competing industry (such as dairy)?

    In any case, if I had a child, I wouldn't be feeding him/her soy. I favour the precautionary principle!

    I should also say that I am not attempting to write a blog that can be relied upon for certainty. I haven't the time to look into everything in such detail. I just want to throw things out there that seem like there might be some truth to them, and let people decide for themselves.

    ReplyDelete

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