"Soy is Making Kids Gay" - Jim Rutz

photo by southerntabitha

I found this article from the San Francisco Chronicle's website, sfgate.com (via chow.com) and it so funny it is worth repeating.  SF Gate columnist Mark Morford discovered an evangelist named Jim Rutz from Megashift Ministries who is proclaiming that because soy contains estrogen-like compounds (isoflavones), it is turning society gay.

Jim Rutz claims:

"Research is now showing that when you feed your baby soy formula, you're giving him or her the equivalent of five birth control pills a day. A baby's endocrine system just can't cope with that kind of massive assault, so some damage is inevitable. At the extreme, the damage can be fatal.  Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality.

The danger zone is the first three months of both pregnancy and infancy, when male physiology and brain circuitry are still developing. In other words, a girl-chasing, football-playing college boy won't go gay even if he becomes a vegetarian or snacks all day on soy energy bars. (He might develop thyroid or other health problems or lose most of his libido, though.)"

This increase in gay must because of the dramatic increase in the sale of soy products.

 

From the FDA's website:

"The problem, researchers say, is that isoflavones are phytoestrogens, a weak form of estrogen that could have a drug-like effect in the body. This may be pronounced in postmenopausal women, and some studies suggest that high isoflavone levels might increase the risk of cancer, particularly breast cancer.

Research data, however, are far from conclusive, and some studies show just the opposite--that under some conditions, soy may help preventbreast cancer. It is this scientific conundrum, where evidence simultaneously points to benefits and possible risks, that is causing some researchers to urge caution."

It sounds like Jim's claims are a big helping of crazy with a dash of pseudo-science just to throw off the sent of paranoid schizophrenia.

Check out Mark's article where he goes "nuts" on Jim (soy nuts, anyone?).  It's hilarious.  Mark rants:

"It is no secret, after all, that the consumption of excess Girl Scout cookies -- particularly Caramel deLites -- will make you a butch lesbian. It has also been reported in lesser-known scientific journals that eating lots of organic baby greens means you want to subscribe to the New Yorker and drive a Prius and get your genitals pierced, often at the same time.

Stay in school, kids. Stay in school and for Christ's sake please learn something lest you end up like Jim, what with his trembling hands and his spasming colon and his violent nightmares featuring giant tofu robots leading perky armies of sashaying soy-fed children, marching into his yard wielding soy lattes and Barbra Streisand records and waving gay-marriage petitions like victory flags. Shudder."

Soopid Food Myths

Explosinve Orange - photo by noisen8r

From the comedy magazine (now web-only), Cracked, comes a hilarious take on "7 Retarded Food Myths the Internet Thinks Are True."  I have heard most of them, in some way, shape, or form; however, I thought MSG burns your stomach lining, not your brain.  I also never knew how bad water was for you after eating.  How I've for lived this long - we'll never know.

My own high school Physics teacher (Mr. Brundin?) had a story about HIS college Biochemistry professor keeping an unwrapped Twinkie on hand to make the class guess how old it is.  If I remember correctly, it was more than 20 years old.  Although it is all hearsay, I don't think I ate a Twinkie for at least the next ten years.

This Twinkie story pre-dates the internet and I'm sure all of these rumors existed by word of mouth well before Netscape Navigator existed.  Nevertheless, at the time I had now way of "fact-checking" on the web (oxymoron?) to confirm or deny the truth behind Mr. Brundin's story.  So here are Cracked's Top 7:

#7 - Coca-Cola Will Melt Your Stomach

#6 - Red Bull Gives You Wings, and By Wings, We Mean a Brain Tumor

#5 - MSG Burns Your Brain Cells

#4 - Cold Water After a Meal will Give You Cancer... Or a Heart Attack...

#3 - Twinkies Are Not Real Food, They Last Forever

#2 - Margarine is Actually Plastic

#1 - Canola Oil is RAPE OIL

Read the article here for their Facts for each one and commentary from their readers.

- Dave Koch

Coconut Oil - Facts and Fallacies

Coconut - photo by anitasarkeesian

There's been a ton of hype about Coconut Oil in the health food news lately and I went digging to see what I could find.  What started this article was a friendly argument with my sister in-law last April.  I knew that Coconut Oil wasn't as bad as the press has made it out to be.  But at the time, I couldn't tell her why...

Remember the movie theater popcorn "butter" backlash?  coconut oil was implicated and I remember signs saying "No Coconut Oil used here" after the showdown.  As far back as 1994, the LA Times among others reported that, "A medium-sized "buttered" popcorn at a typical theater contains "more fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac-with-fries lunch and a steak dinner with all the trimmings combined," article found here.

Two days after the dialectic with my sister in law, I went to Chicago for the 10th Annual Spring Fancy Food Show.  There, I met a representative for Coast Coconut Farms who convinced me to eat a teaspoon of their "Extra Virgin."  Because the melting point is 74 degrees Fahrenheit, he handed me a spoonful of a pure white solid but it instantly melted in my mouth.  It was delicious.  The other surprise was that it didn't coat my mouth like butter, shortening, or an animal fat would have.  

I was intrigued.  I told him about the discussion I had just days prior and he filled me in on two commonly overlooked health benefits of coconut oil.  

1. Although coconut oil is mostly saturated, the fatty acids are of small and medium length fatty acid chains, making up medium chain triglycerides.  Which are good for you, read about them here.
2. Coconut oil is one of the best sources of lauric acid (44-45% of its total makeup)  - which is believed to not only have antimicrobial/antiviral properties but may naturally raise the metabolism. 

Small chain fatty acids (SCFA) contain less than 8 carbon atoms.  Medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) contain 8-14 carbon atoms.  Large chain fatty acids (LCFA) contain more than 14.  

Coconut oil may be mostly saturated fat (90%); however, it is mostly made up of SCFA's and MCFA's.  Almost 70% by volume via wikipedia.com.  As long as you are consuming unrefined, non-hydrogenated, and non-fractionated coconut oil, you are consuming a natural and healthy product.

By contrast, olive oil is mostly made up of Oleic acid, a monounsaturated LCFA (55-83%) and Palmitic acid, a saturated LCFA (7-20%).  Even though it is mostly LCFA's, we all know how much the health benefits of olive oil are touted by the western medical world.

 I have since bought some and use it often.  Spreading it on toast, frying with it [especially eggs, yum!], and although I have not baked with it yet, they say it can be substituted ounce for ounce with shortening.  This is a great tip if you are looking to remove trans-fats from you pie crusts or biscuits.

Give it a chance, I personally like Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil 54oz.

Homebrewing for beginners

Homebrew beer fermenting in carboy - photo by geoffeg

I've been brewing my own beer at home for 14 years now and although it is easy... it does require some specialized equipment and quite a bit of homework.  I could have never done it without Charlie Papazian's The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing - AKA "The Bible" for novice and experienced homebrewers alike.  Basically, anyone who enjoys making their own suds.  You can brew as basic or as complex of beer as you like to.  

I have gone as far as making "Mocha Stout"  by adding cacao powder and espresso to a stout.  "Chile Lime Pulque" which was brewed using Agave malt extract (instead of barley malt extract), adding lime, and then dropping a chile into every bottle.  Spicy spicy stuff.  "Kava Kava Cranberry Mint" started as an American Ale with Kava Kava, cranberry, and you guessed it... mint.  Go nuts.

After you are all set up and prepped, it takes about 4 hours to make 5 gallons.  I'm already including extra time in there for clean up too, which can get a little messy.  That's enough beer to fill (53) 12-ounce bottles, or if you're lazy like me, (21) 22-ounce bottles and some change.  

There is really only a 2 hour commitment (at minimum) to cook the wort [which is pronounced WERT], 10 days or so in the fermenter, and about 2 hours to bottle.  Two more weeks to ferment in the bottle and you're ready to drink it!

Recently I discovered MR.BEER , and at first I doubted the efficacy of brewing without 5 gallon buckets, a carboy, an air lock, and all those tubes that my wife adores when I hang them all over the kitchen to dry!  But then I saw this video of Garrett Oliver demonstrating it on YouTube.  He's the Brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, and the author of The Brewmaster's Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food.  So in my game, he's legit!

This is not going to replace the bucket method and grain pushers the world over don't have to worr.  But what I like about ths system  is that someone can TRY homebrewing without much investment; in their time or money.  They offer a pretty large selection try experiment with different styles and the starter kits are only $40 here.