Is Tofu bad for toddlers?

[roxemama]

Is tofu bad for my toddler? I am limiting the tofu I give my LO even though she really likes it. I am considering stopping it all together because I heard that soy based products are very difficult to digest and prevent you from absorbing other nutrients. However, we are vegetarian so I want your opinion before I take out a source of protien that my LO enjoys. She'll eat some beans but the amount (if any) varies day to day.

[Elecampane]

I am very interested to see what folks have to say on this topic. My three year old LOVES tofu. Like, she would eat a whole block in a sitting if I let her. My take is that tofu is okay in moderation; it's not as heavily processed and unnatural as say soy protein isolate or tvp. I have friends who are completely opposed to soy in any form, though. For my family I am comfortable with traditional soy products such as tamari/shoyu, tempeh, miso and tofu (in moderation). We have tofu maybe once a week here. We eat edamame maybe once a month. We don't have soy milk or cheese or soy based meat substitutes.

John Robbins has a good article on soy, here: http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about_soy.htm. I agree with his take.

[Holiztic]

I'd also look at what Kaayla T. Daniels says about soy (she's dedicated her career to it!). Here's kind of a list of concerns as well as a host of articles on soy dangers:

www.soyalert.com

After inadvertently using soy as birth control for years (yes, it virtually stopped menstruation for me--and my periods came back within weeks after stopping daily soy) I avoid it completely for me and my kids.

On a side note, my DS loves cubes of paneer cheese, which looks a lot like tofu AND (in my long-term memory, its been 10 years!) has a similar texture. Its pretty easy to make, I think (haven't tried yet, but soon!) as its a very young cheese (pretty much just curds, I think).


Here's a link:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Paneer-%28Indian-Cheese%29

[LittleBlessings]

I sure hope its not bad because we eat it all the time

[roxemama]

I love the paneer cubes idea. Yummy! I'm still on the fence. I think for sure we'll limit it to once per week and try to introduce more protein alternatives like beans. Then eventually weed it out of our routine.

[noobmom]

Originally Posted by Elecampane

My take is that tofu is okay in moderation; it's not as heavily processed and unnatural as say soy protein isolate or tvp. I have friends who are completely opposed to soy in any form, though. For my family I am comfortable with traditional soy products such as tamari/shoyu, tempeh, miso and tofu (in moderation). We have tofu maybe once a week here. We eat edamame maybe once a month. We don't have soy milk or cheese or soy based meat substitutes.

I pretty much agree with Elecampane. I think soy was touted as a health food too much and now the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Americans tend to be too black and white about such issues. Many Asian cultures have consumed soy in moderation for centuries. It would be good for us to take a page from their book.

I should mention that my mother (Chinese) would never eat tofu without cooking it first. Not because there's something wrong with the tofu, but because she doesn't trust that there isn't bacteria or something living on the surface. This goes back to the time when you would buy tofu by fishing out a block from a big open bins. But even when I buy tofu in aseptic packs, I still blanch or cook it first. If I make my own tofu, of course I feel free to eat it fresh.

[Holiztic]

Originally Posted by Elecampane

For my family I am comfortable with traditional soy products such as tamari/shoyu, tempeh, miso and tofu (in moderation). We have tofu maybe once a week here. We eat edamame maybe once a month. We don't have soy milk or cheese or soy based meat substitutes.

I don't want to push too much, because you seem to be aware of the issues with soy, but just wanted to point out that tofu stands out in your list as the least "traditional" (though still pretty old) soy food as it is not fermented like the tamari/shoyu, tempeh and miso. Here's a little info on the difference b/w tofu and the others:

The Chinese did not eat the soybean as they did other pulses (legumes) such as the lentil because the soybean contains large quantities of a number of harmful substances. First among them are potent enzyme inhibitors which block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. These "antinutrients" are not completely deactivated during ordinary cooking and can produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors cause enlargement and pathological conditions of the pancreas, including cancer. The soybean also contains hemaglutinin, a clot promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together. Trypsin inhibitors and hemaglutinin have been rightly labeled "growth depressant substances." They are deactivated during the process of fermentation. In precipitated products, enzyme inhibitors concentrate in the soaking liquid rather than in the curd. Thus in tofu and bean curd, these enzyme inhibitors are reduced in quantity, but not completely eliminated.
from http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/ploy.html

So not a dire warning, as the antinutrients are at least diminished.

But for me, the isoflavones are enough to be wary (esp. for kids!) I stopped my period with 2 glasses of soy milk a day. And I was fully grown!

[MountainMamaGC]

We eat tofu maybe twice a week. I am not too concerned. My 18 month old DD loves it too. I think its better for her than meat.

[treemom2]

Originally Posted by noobmom

I think soy was touted as a health food too much and now the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Americans tend to be too black and white about such issues. Many Asian cultures have consumed soy in moderation for centuries. It would be good for us to take a page from their book.

This is what I was going to say. . .when Americans learn that something is "healthy" we tend to consume way too much of it. . .we heard soy was good, Japanese people eat it all the time and they live so long. . .so people started drinking soy milk, eating tempeh, eating edamame, eating tons of tofu (tofu eggs, tofu cheesecake, tofu, tofu, tofu). Sure, Japanese people eat tofu. . .but they eat lots of different foods as well--they say the most healthy meal has at least 30 different foods represented (not that all Japanese meals in the home have all this. . .but they do have many different dishes). I say if you are buying non-GMO tofu, and aren't eating it all the time there is nothing wrong with eating it or feeding it to your child. Everything in moderation: