For those who are vegetarian and vegan, soy has been a god-send. In the health food industry, soy has been found in almost everything: soy milk, tofu, and fake-meat products. There are great qualities of the bean. They help in matters of the cardiac system, menopausal symptoms, and osteoporosis. There is also other evidence in it helping with pancreatic and breast cancers. After the hippie age, companies and big-business has found the product was an interest for their consumers that they began exporting the product heavily.
However, there is research to counter these claims of health. There are an array of “anti-nutrients” in soy that actually cause distress within the body. Also, there is a property in soy that causes red-blood cells to clump together (haemagglutinin). Animals have been observed to avoid soy entirely when encountered with it. The critters that were exposed to soy had cases of calcium and other minerals being sucked out of the body, as well as different kinds of cancers. So be careful in choosing your “health-foods.”
Many of the points for and against soy are based on only speculation and assumptions of future consequences. I do think that there are positive results of intaking soy, but to replace your entire diet with soy products is a dangerous thing to attempt. After all, a balanced diet is key to true health.