Why are there so many conspiracy theories regarding soy beans?
Dear lemmy, someone very close to my heart is starting to fall into conspiracy theories. It’s heartbreaking. Among other things, he has now told me that soy beans are not supposed to be consumed by human beings and is convinced that despite the literal centuries of human soy bean cultivation and consumption, we shouldn’t eat it or anything derived from it for this reason (ie tofu, soy sauce, etc…evidence that soy is present in other common foods doesn’t seem to register with him).
I don’t even know where he got this information from and can’t find a single source to back it up (even disingenuously). I’ve tried explaining to him that sure, in its original state it’s not edible, but undergoes processing (LIKE MANY OTHER FOODS) to become edible. And that this has gone on since at least the 11th century, so it’s not like Big Soy is trying to poison the little people.
He’s normally a very reasonable and intelligent person, and I don’t know how to reach him. I thought it might be helpful to show him where these myths have come from with hard data sources to prove it. He seems open to the possibility, so I don’t think he’s a lost cause yet!
"Soy boy" is commonly used by MAGAs as a derogatory term to mean a feminine man. There was some rumor about how soy could mimic estrogen in the body (not really true) and so they believe that eating soy products makes men feminine. This is obviously bullshit, but maybe it's somehow spiraled from "real men shouldn't eat soy" into "no one should eat soy"
Here's my (fallible) understanding of the nugget of truth behind the soy nonsense.
Plants contain something called phytoestrogen. It has a similar shape and function in plants to estrogen in humans. Soy contains a lot of it.
However, since it is made of different chemicals to estrogen it does not act like estrogen in humans.
Still, because it has the word "estrogen" in it, a lot of idiots think it will cause you to become weak and grow tits if you eat soy. You know, like a woman. Hence the "soyboy" memes and the use of the term as an insult, mostly by woman-hating alt-right goons.
It's possible your friend is covertly falling for the fallacy, or perhaps their concern is several times removed; i.e. they fell for someone's lie based on a lie based on a lie based on bigotry.
If harvested while young, soybeans can be eaten in their original state as edamane. (You can just steam the beans and eat) They have to be processed for human consumption when left to fully mature.
Edamame is extremely tasty sprinkled with a little salt, or drizzled with a little sesame oil and chili powders.
As a farmer who's family has grown probably 2M+ bushes of soybeans since they became popular in the 70s. I can truly say that the worst part is spending night after night with little needles injecting the Republican poison into the fattest beans.
Some might be from the cyberpunk genre. It's crazy how many cyberpunk worlds are filled with soy-based everything and corporate conspiracy is a staple of the genre. Could easily put the two together so you have some soy-based conspiracies.
If it's conspiracy theories in general, and not just the soy thing, then I think you might be taking the wrong approach. Just trying to debunk the soy thing might prove impossible because there is some underlying cause that is making him want to believe it.
Your friend might be being radicalised. By a person he trusts, a community he is a part of, or simply by the algorithm of a website he is spending his time on. In which case, getting him to let go of the conspiracies is going to be extremely difficult, because to do so would lose him those connections.
It doesn't sound like he's too far gone though. Maybe reasserting healthy connections will help, and if you can try breaking his media habits.
While I'm not entirely sure about this reasoning, it might be related to the status of soy as a meat and milk substitute. Omnivores claiming that "soy is not meant for human consumption in the same way that milk and meat are" must have eventually been shortened along the way as "soy is not meant for human consumption".
Anecdotally I am intelligent and reasonable, but when I was younger around when 9/11 happened I couldn't wrap my head around why someone would do what they did, it was to me incomprehensible, irrational, my world view couldn't account for what happened. In that null space conspiracy theories created plausible explanations for my young and impressionable mind to latch onto.
I soon began questioning authority in general, the nationalized narratives provided were clearly propagandized, and in that wake of dissonance real conspiracies, like the war on drugs, started to add credibility to other outlandish ones. It is intelligent to question, and even entertain that which is irrational from time to time, if not just to test the waters, so to speak.
Humans have been cultivating soybeans for an estimated 9000 years. To think that a food staple in so many cultures worldwide is not healthy is completely xenophobic. Maybe don't tell him that, but the framing of different cultures might be helpful. If it wasn't healthy humans wouldn't have thrived spending resources to grow it.
Soy makes a good target for a conspiracy theory, because it’s in everything.
This ubiquity heightens its danger: your kids are eating it, you’re eating it, the ink on your cereal box is soy, the glue in your shoes is soy… it’s all around us, man!
Secondly, being everywhere gives the appearance of an elaborate, omnipresent plot. Like Bill Gates and his microchips, the cabal wants to get their soy into you one way or another!
They eat this kind of shit up.
The fact that hippies are associated with soy milk strikes the right notes for hating soy.
The belief that soy acts like estrogen in the body and will feminize men - that hits all the right notes for hating soy.
Americans don’t give a shit that Asians have been eating and even living on soy for centuries, because they denigrate those cultures, seeing them as hive minds without individuality. That makes soy even more hatable.
So if you’re going to fall down a rabbit hole at all, this seems like a deep one.
The only possible saving grace for soy is that there are a hell of a lot of soy farmers in America. And we know conspiracy nuts live down-home regular folk like farmers. Long as they ain’t organic or nuthin.
Not defending your friend, but I think part of it is the association with highly processed foods.
I developed a soy allergy, and I was shocked to learn how much it's restricted my diet. In two years I've found one brand of hot dog buns I can eat. If you you look at almost any fast food restaurants allergen menu you will see soy in almost every single item. Mayo is a effectively whipped soybean oil.
I don't think it's a conspiracy, but it's a cheap additive and seems to have some preservative quality, and a good indication that you're food is highly processed. I eat much healthier now, largely against my will.
I once had a co-worker who passionately believed that soy was full of feminising chemicals and it was being promoted by Western civilisation's satanic overlords to reduce our ability to resist them. He also believed that Christians are persecuted, Chinese people are cannibals and demons come from the planet Nebiru. Once he warned me that we're supposed to believe that people who go to faith healings collapse on stage in the ecstasy of communion with the Lord - but it's actually just the fake faith healer pushing them down with his psychic powers.
This doesn't answer your question, does it? At least we can find solidarity in our misery.
I think the meme first started back when Soylent was the next big thing (thinking back, it might not have been the best idea to name your product after a meal replacement made from human remains from a dystopian movie), and a bunch of YouTubers were making review of it with the typical exaggerated open mouthed clickbait expression, which led people to conclude that it was the soy that caused them to make said expression and it all started from there.
Speaking of meal replacement products with name from dystopian fictions, anyone interested in trying the next big thing in meal replacement from our newest venture, Corpse-starch?
Be aware that a fast change in character could be a sign for a starting mental illness or a physical one affecting the brain.
If you feel, you are no longer able to reach your friend, talk to a professional how you could support your friend. And discussing based on logic and common sense might not be the way to help.
Provided that he's reasonable, I'd highlight that soy beans are just a type of legume (like beans, peanuts, lentils...), and thus claiming that one is inedible while all the others are edible seems outright silly. Then ask him to back up his claims. As he does, highlight the [predictably low] reputation of the sources that he shows.
This study might be useful - it concluded that there are no clinical concerns to feed soy even to children.
(If soy was actually inedible my whole region would be a desert. The default veg oil here is soy oil, and it reached a point where soy sauce made its way into traditional recipes like entrevero.)
You started with conspiracy, then said nothing else about that and went to health stuff.
So on the first point, is it healthy? Who cares what he thinks. You have all sorts of people thinking all sorts of stuff about what's healthy and what's not. Really doesn't matter.
On the second point, is it a conspiracy? Are "they" out to get him and others? This is the dangerous thinking. I would try to steer him away from this. Just tell him there are unhealthy foods everywhere that sell because they are cheap, tasty, convenient, etc. It's not a conspiracy to make him _______.
Concern about use of soy bean or oil in highly processed food is as valid as any other. Not sure if it is soy issue or processing, there is something about tit.
However, claiming that tofu or soy sauce are some how big food conspiracy is just uneducated since people eating these food historically have better health vis-a-vis our country of land whales who are too dense to be educated on issues of food.
You got no time or money for your own health, checks out!