Talk:Soybean

Additional sections in Environmental Issues (under Production)
This section needs to include additional environmental issues besides deforestation. I propose adding subsections for biodiversity loss and water use, and adding information on each. The changes would read:

Biodiversity Besides deforestation for soy production, soy production causes a loss of global biodiversity through harm done by herbicides. Monsanto’s popular brand of seed named “Roundup Ready” is useful in that it is unaffected by glyphosate herbicides. When farmers apply this herbicide to soy crops, it creates runoff that kills native plants like Milkweed, a critical habitat for the Monarch Butterfly. The midwestern United States’ increased use of these herbicides has caused a 90% decline in Monarch butterflies in a span of 20 years.[2] This herbicide spraying also threatens many other plants like wildflowers.

Water use From 1996 to 2005, soybean production accounted for about 5% of global agricultural water use, the fifth largest among major crops.[3]

2 = http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/monarchs-in-peril-one-pager--copy_82788.pdf?_ga=2.33986785.131460174.1618570923-547327032.1618570923 3 = https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report47-WaterFootprintCrops-Vol1.pdf

RachelK2022 (talk) 02:08, 15 May 2021 (UTC)


 * As above, too much about non-soybean extraneous issues. Stick to soy+Roundup Ready+Roundup environmental issues and this would be fine. Invasive Spices (talk) 21:20, 15 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I think that any crop with such a large acreage in many countries will have negative environmental impacts, at minimum a loss of biodiversity. The 'negatives' discussed here, IMO, should be those that are specific to soybeans. The Roundup Ready issue is one, so is other genetic engineering, and the uncertainties of the effect of these foods on human, animal, and ecosystem health (because there is no control group). Two or three sentences should do it, consistent with the style of this article.Downtowngal (talk) 20:30, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

Additional information in Uses (under Cultivation)
This section needs more specific information on the "large variety of processed foods" soy is used for. I propose adding an additional sentence at the end of the first paragraph. The paragraph would read:

Soybeans are a globally important crop, providing oil and protein. In the United States, the bulk of the harvest is solvent-extracted with hexane, and the "toasted" defatted soymeal (50% protein) then makes possible the raising of farm animals (e.g. chicken, hog, turkey) on a large industrial scale. Soybean products are also used in a large variety of processed foods. Oil from soybeans is incorporated into about 50% of processed foods for humans, in addition to being consumed directly in foods such as tofu, soy milk and tempeh. A small amount is used in Industry as biodiesel and lubricants.[4]

4 = https://ourworldindata.org/soy#which-countries-produce-the-most-soy

RachelK2022 (talk) 02:18, 15 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Redundant. Downtowngal (talk) 23:32, 2 February 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 November 2021
Add an "Effects on Testosterone in Men" subsection to the "Health" section, reading, "A 2010 meta-analysis by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine concluded that "neither isoflavone supplements nor isoflavone-rich soy affect total or free testosterone levels"". Matthew Jilk (talk) 06:04, 10 November 2021 (UTC)
 * ❌. If there's no effects, why should the article mention it at all? ◢  Ganbaruby!   (talk) 10:30, 19 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Ganbaruby If a secondary source (especially a meta-analysis) makes a point of saying there is no effect, then mention of it is generally WP:DUE at least at face-value. In this case though, the source is a bit old, and we usually want newer sources per WP:MEDRS. KoA (talk) 21:07, 15 February 2022 (UTC)
 * closed tag after response by Ganbaruby  — Paper9oll  (🔔 • 📝)  13:45, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Edit request to section 10.1.2 "Gastrointestinal and colorectal cancer"
Section 10.1.2 appears to contain two inaccuracies.

Two references are attached in this section; [164] & [165] in the article.

From 10.1.2:

"Reviews of preliminary clinical trials on people with colorectal or gastrointestinal cancer suggest that soy isoflavones may have a slight protective effect against such cancers."

Neither of the articles referenced contain reviews of clinical trials. Both of the referenced articles [164] and [165] are referring to meta-anaylses of available epidemiological studies relating to colorectal cancer;

[164] appears to pertain to a meta-analysis of thirteen case-control and four prospective cohort studies;

From [164 ]: "Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the association between soy isoflavone consumption and CRC risk in humans using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases. A total of 17 epidemiologic studies, which consisted of thirteen case-control and four prospective cohort studies, met the inclusion criteria." (1st paragraph of absract).

[165] appears to pertain to a meta-analysis of twenty-two case-control and eighteen cohort studies;

From [165 ]: "Twenty-two case-control and 18 cohort studies were included for meta-analysis, which contained a total of 633,476 participants and 13,639 GI cancer cases." (under results section in the abstract).

Additionally from 10.1.2:

"Reviews of preliminary clinical trials on people with colorectal or gastrointestinal cancer..."

Also an inaccuracy as the studies are not specific to populations with with colorectal or gastrointestinal cancer. They are studies of general populations in both of the referenced articles.

Proposed edit to section 10.1.2:

"Meta-analyses of epidemiological studies suggest that soy isoflavones may have a protective effect against gastrointestinal and colorectal cancer cancers." 14.202.177.138 (talk) 00:33, 29 September 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 October 2023
For human consumption, the method of heating the soybean is irrelevant. The insertion ,"wet" heat, has no relevance whatsoever. It could be changed to "For human consumption, soybeans must be heated to destroy the..." Source : https://doi.org/10.1016/S0189-7241(15)30080-1 " ...It was pre-treated by cooking and roasting. It was observed that roasting reduced the different anti-nutritonal factors better than other pre-treatment methods..." Alpha2023 (talk) 12:41, 14 October 2023 (UTC)
 * I adjusted the proposed language to more accurately capture your provided source. The source argues that cooking, roasting, and fermentation are all acceptable forms of processing to address the problematic proteins. -- Pinchme123 (talk) 21:46, 19 October 2023 (UTC)