Hexane

Claiming Soy is Healthy!

This story comes from the excellent News With Views site.  Here’s an excerpt from the full story, you can read the entire story by clicking the “read more” link below.

By Dr. Carolyn Dean, MD, ND
October 11, 2009
NewsWithViews.com

There is a new war between the health products industry and the FDA about health claims. The health product industry wants to state on their labels what their products are supposed to do for your health. My concern with health claims began when Archer Midland Daniels (AMD) won a long battle with the FDA to obtain a heart health claim for soy. That was back in 1999 and soy became the food that would save us all from a host of ills and its sales skyrocketed. But ten years later we find that soy may be hurting us, not helping. Ninety percent of the soy in the US is genetically modified and the way soy is processed in this country makes it indigestible and even dangerous.

Read the rest of this article HERE.

Why Choose Organic Hempseed Foods Over Soy Foods?

The old adage “You are what you eat” is one to live by. Today, more and more people are making healthy dietary choices—not only for their own health, but also for the health of the Earth.

Hempseed is known by researchers and physicians to be one of the most nutritious food sources on the planet. Its 33 percent protein content is well-balanced, easily digestible, and also rich in iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamins B and E, Omega-3, and GLA. A Canadian government report says that hemp protein has 66 percent high-quality edestin protein—the highest percentage of any plant source. And hemp has the ideal 3:1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3.

No wonder the hemp foods sector is booming! Walk down the aisles of a good store and you can now find hemp oil, hemp seeds, hemp protein, hemp bars, hemp bread, hemp butter, hemp milk . . . even hemp ice cream!

The Origins of Hemp Foods

More than 6,000 years ago, hemp was cultivated in China from a wild plant that grew in central Asia. The Chinese recognized the nutritional value of the hemp seed, and used it as a food source long before they used soy. About 1,000 years ago, hemp traveled to Europe, where one of the most popular ways that peasants used the plant was to make hemp butter by grinding the tasty seeds.

Health and Eco Concerns Regarding Soy Foods

Soy foods stand in marked contrast to hemp foods. Since the 1970s, the soy-food industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to convince the public of soy’s supposed “health benefits.“ Consequently, the average American diet includes about 10 percent soy—in dressings, butter spreads, cooking oils, shakes, desserts, etc. Yet, while the mainstream media has long promoted soy, a growing number of health professionals now caution people to think twice before consuming it in large quantities, due to potential allergic reactions, soy’s impact on thyroid health and mineral absorption, its poor fat ratio, and its estrogenic properties.

We should also be concerned about the environmental impacts of soy foods. First, most soybeans grown today are genetically modified, and even organic soy is often contaminated with GMOs by wind drift or processing. Also, toxic chemicals are applied to conventional soy fields in great amounts, causing damage to ecosystems from South America to America’s heartland.

A July 13, 2009, article, “Study Released in Argentina Puts Glyphosate Under Fire”  stated: “. . . research released by Argentina’s top medical school showed that a leading chemical used in soy farming may be harmful to human health.”

The article explained how soy cultivation is producing deformed frogs and adding untold hardships to small farmers. Do people understand that buying non-organic soy milk, food bars, cereal, and even common soy protein, supports this bitter harvest?

chemplant_web

And it’s not only how soy is grown. The toxic chemical hexane, a petroleum byproduct, is used as a solvent to extract soy oil for about 98 percent of all soybeans processed in America. When ordering a soy burger or soymilk, you wouldn’t request a side of petrol solvent. But you get that added serving of hexane—also a major greenhouse gas emitter—anyway! Listen to what leading health researcher Mike Adams, a.k.a. “the Health Ranger,” says about soy protein products.

If you eat only organic soy (a much better choice), please read The Soy Report Scorecard by the organic watchdog group Cornucopia. If you are going to use soy, choose foods that are both organic and fermented, such as miso, tamari, and tempeh. The fermentation process makes soy more bioavailable and reduces its antinutritional qualities. And beware: Some firms claim “made with organic soybeans” even though their products contain hexane-processed soy.

Another issue that medical doctors are watching is soy’s effects on the thyroid.

Also, learn why longtime vegetarian Julia Wey is rethinking her consumption of soy foods.

Hemp Benefits

Unlike soy, hemp isn’t genetically modified, and no company uses hexane to extract its healthy oil. Another plus for hemp is that it’s easy to grow without pesticides or herbicides. It smothers weeds as a rotation crop, and its long taproot helps to restore soil health. Besides the seeds’ nutritional benefits, hemp’s strong fibers are being used to replace unsustainable cotton, petrol, and concrete in everything from clothing to car parts to construction materials.

More than thirty industrialized nations grow commercial hemp, including England, Germany, China, and Canada. Nevertheless,

United States law forbids growing hemp without a federal license. This has prevented commercial hemp production since the 1950s. Visit VoteHemp.com to learn how you can help to restore hemp farming in America.

Back in 1995, I wrote a booklet on industrial hemp in which these were the opening words:

“Imagine a crop more versatile than the soybean, the cotton plant, and the Douglas fir tree put together . . . one whose products are interchangeable with those from timber or petroleum . . . one that grows like Jack’s beanstalk with minimal tending. There is such a crop: industrial hemp.

Hempfields_web“Hemp was once indispensable to world commerce. New World colonists and traders were able to cross the Atlantic Ocean because the hemp ropes and sails of their ships, unlike other natural fibers, resisted salt damage. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable for an economy to function without hemp.”

These words hold true today, and it’s good to see that the world is again acknowledging hemp’s great value. In this era of Google and YouTube, we can all access cutting-edge health information to help us compare hemp food crops to soy. I encourage you to do your own research, and to remember that good health is our greatest wealth. Our lives depend on it.

John W. Roulac is the Founder and CEO of Nutiva, the world’s leading brand of organic hemp foods and coconut oil. A longtime advocate of holistic living, he is the author of four books (with a million-plus copies sold) on hemp and composting. He helped jump-start the modern home-composting movement in the early 1990s, successfully sued the USDEA to keep hemp imports legal in 2001, and has founded three  nonprofit ecological groups. To learn more about John Roulac and Nutiva, visit www.nutiva.com/articles/.

Learn about the impact of soy foods on our health and environment

Anyone who consumes soy foods may benefit greatly from learning more about soy foods and its impact on our health and environment.

Look for Nutiva founder John Roulac’s upcoming Hemp vs Soy Foods article on our own blog in the coming week.

Also, check out this article about a soy protein factory explosion resulting from Hexane combustion back in 2003!

http://nutiva.com/articles/gas-explosion-rocks-iowa-soybean-plant/

Gas Explosion Rocks Iowa Soybean Plant

In the News: August 29, 2003

ED Note: These two stories below show how dangerous the use of hexane is for soy plant workers. Natural food consumers can help shift market demand by asking food manufacturers if their soy protein isolate is made with the use of hexane, and also requesting such firms seek alternatives.

Associated Press
Staff Writer

SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa – A gas explosion rocked a soybean processing plant in western Iowa on Friday, injuring eight people and sparking a fire, authorities said.

Fire crews extinguished the blaze after four hours at the Ag Processing Inc. plant, about 20 miles south of Sioux City, said Woodbury County Emergency Management Coordinator Gary Brown.

Three of the eight people injured were in critical condition at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, said Dr. Larry Sellers, chief medical officer. Most of the injuries involve burns and internal injuries from inhaling the hot gas, he said.

The plant, which employs 50 people and makes soybean oil and soybean meal, was shut down for routine cleaning and maintenance when the explosion occurred just before 9 a.m.

Brown said the explosion involved hexane gas, a highly flammable chemical used to extract vegetable oils from crops such as soybeans.

Jim Rodenburg, a spokesman at Ag Processing headquarters in Omaha, Neb., said there had been an incident at the company’s plant, but he said he could not elaborate. The company was investigating, he said.

Nine years ago, an explosion at a fertilizer plant in the same industrial complex killed four people, injured 18 and released a toxic cloud of ammonia.

Eight injured in Iowa soy plant explosion

Reuters Newsdesk

CHICAGO – An explosion at a soybean processing plant in western Iowa injured eight plant employees on Friday, five of them critically, officials from the company, police and hospital said.

The Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, plant, owned by Ag Processing Inc. (AGP), was shut at the time of the explosion for routine maintenance work, according to Woodbury County sheriff Dave Amick. He said the cause of the explosion, at around 9 a.m. CDT (1400 GMT), was not yet known.

“There was an explosion, with a fire,” Amick said.

AGP spokesman Mike Maranell said the explosion took place at the extraction facility of the plant that crushes soybeans to produce soymeal feed and soybean oil. He said it was too early to say when the facility would resume operations.

The plant also produces methyl ester, a biodegradable solvent made from soy oil that is used as a lubricant in soy diesel fuel.

AGP said in a written statement that eight employees were injured in the incident, and five of them are in critical condition.

“A complete and thorough investigation is being conducted and it may be several days before the exact cause is know,” the company said.

Rick Wollman, spokesman for Mercy Medical Center in nearby Sioux City, said the injured were treated at the hospital’s emergency unit. Three had been released, and two, in critical condition, were airlifted to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

“The extent of their injuries were such that we could not treat them,” he said, adding that they had inhaled a chemical called hexane that is used at the AGP plant.

The two, as well as the other three AGP employees still at the hospital, had also suffered from external burns.

AGP has said the plant has the capacity to produce 50 million pounds of product a year, and was designed to be able to produce 200 million pounds per year as demand grows. (Additional reporting by Julie Ingwersen, Eric Noe)

The Soy Food Industrial Complex Use of Hexane

The Soy Food Industrial Complex Use of Hexane
Organic Consumers Association
A short eye-opener on the use of harsh chemicals in producing soy protein isolates.

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