One hundred grams of soy protein = 500 mg of isoflavones in the form of genistein — a very high dose. That's the same amount of estrogen as a birth control pill. Thus,links to breast cancer, DNA damage and chromosome fragmentation, and feminization of males.
But none of those nasty effects are found in Japanese who eat lots of soy, because they eat nearly ALL of it in fermented form: Natto, Miso, Tempeh, fermented soy sauce (tamari), Fermented or pickled tofu. The fermentation enzymes evidently break down the bad phytochemicals in soy.
Natto is loaded with the good stuff.
But I tasted it once and thought I'd die :o/
Alas, it's undeniably one of the healthiest foods in the world. I think if you took one little natto-ized bean, and blenderized it into a big bowl of soup, maybe it could be OK.
That's my bacon-and-eggs American opinion!
It’s interesting that people are concerned about the estrogen in soy, but they’ll eat meat crammed with estrogen and hormones. What’s the difference?