To be bothered by DH's new "food militancy"??? He's turned vegan and gone a bit nuts really.

[MrsMushroom]

He's always been into healthy eating and working out...it's part of his personality. Fine.

But...a friend of his (big into uncovering government plots and all that...lizard people you know)

Well this friend sent DH a copy of something called The China Study which is a big expose on our food chain etc.

All this happened BEFORE the horse meat thing.

DH is now vegan. He's constantly asking me to read the report...telling me things like "When meat protein mixes with milk protein that is what causes some cancers"

And the latest is that cheap peanut butter has mold in it...which causes cancer.

So we can only buy organic.

He won't eat any processed foods...we hardly have any anway! As a family we didn't eat a lot of meat...one roast chicken a week which we got 3 meals out of...and maybe a bit of bacon.

That was it...no red meat really as we're on a small budget.

I'm frigging SICK of hearing it all!

he's now on Skype with his paranoid mate and they're discussing the evils of that fake meat...what's it called...you know soy stuff.

I cooked a chicken yestersay which I ate with the DDs...he came in from work and asked me to cover the chicken up...I suspect because he was tempted.

AIBU to be bored and a bit annoyed?

Claig,

Really interesting article, thanks. I usually buy Clearspring soya sauce so will stick with that. Tofu is harder to source as avaiability is limited. I buy either the waitrose brand in UK or from an Asian grocery store in France. So in both cases origins are unclear...I do hope they use non GMO soy.

I am surprised that the Cearsprings guy in the article said they don't eat soy normally in Japan. I thought steamed edamame was a Japanese snack? Atleast I can only get my hands on it in a Japanese restaurant. Is it one of those 'fake' ethnic foods like tikka masala or chop suey?

flatbread, I don't eat edamame, but have googled it and you are right that it is used often as an appetizer in Japan, steamed or boiled and often served with salt. Because they are young immature beans, they contain less of teh toxins and antinutrients contained in mature beans. Reading the article again, it may be that the Clearspring guy is talking about mature beans rather than immature ones, but I am not sure.

I looked on clearspring website and I couldn't find any edamame products for sale. Not sure if I missed them though.

"The young green beans, now sold as a fashionable snack, edamame, are lower in oestrogens and antinutrients, though not free of them. But raw mature soya beans contain phytates that prevent mineral absorption and enzyme inhibitors that block the key enzymes we need to digest protein. They are also famous for inducing flatulence.

Christopher Dawson, who owns the Clearspring brand of organic soy sauces, agrees. He lived in Japan for 18 years and his Japanese wife, Setsuko, is a cookery teacher. "I never saw soy beans on the table in Japan - they're indigestible."

Dawson describes the traditional craft method of transforming the soya bean through fermentation, so that its valuable amino acids become available but its antinutrients are tamed."

Claig, yes you are right. It is probably ok because the beans are young.

I usually feel full of beans (pardon the pun) after eating tofu or edamame

The ingredient that gives me heartburn is rapeseed oil. And it is in everything! Yesterday I was in M&S and wanted some hummus. Every single one had rapeseed oil! Even the supposedly extra virgin olive oil one.

I have a relative who gets incredibly worked up about the environment -- goes round turning off the heating completely as the snow falls and has been known to nearly cause accidents driving in a rather odd way that he insists minimises fuel use. He will rant on for hours when he gets really ill.

He is bipolar, which accounts for the extremism, but due to my experience with him and other people who go nuts about diet or climate change I always have a question in my mind about their mental health.

It's not that, by any means, I disagree or disapprove of caring about either food or climate, it's that this obsessional concentration and the need to lecture others together with an obsession about what is entering the body and issues of "purity" in food is very often linked to mental health issues, as is a belief in conspiracy theories.

You will know whether this is an issue. Mrs Mushroom -- I may be way off beam.

slight side track - for anyone wondering about the edaname beans; you can get frozen ones fairly easily these days, albeit pre-podded.

Brought to you by none other than Birds Eye - just along from the frozen peas and found in most reasonable size supermarkets. Very nice they are too!

BOF

He is bipolar, which accounts for the extremism

What a stupid thing to say.

His diet sounds pretty good to me.

It's the extreme thinking & lectures which I agree can be bloody annoying.

zipzap Tesco do frozen edamane beans now too - very nice.

ppeatfruit I was about to mention the palm oil thing too. Always there are unintended consequences. The true problem is overpopulation.

I'm not sure about it being just overpopulation being the true problem (that's an argument used by the global GM companies if globalisation and GM were the answer there would be no starvation) If more people were actually mixed farming in their own countries with crops suited to the specific weather and environment of the particular place and no global companies ripping them off, i've a feeling there would be improvements all round (i may be wrong of course).

Gosh, how awful that someone should do some extreme thinking.

If only more people started taking responsibility for the planet (and ourselves), all would be well.

I wrote, of my relative: He is bipolar, which accounts for the extremism

Hopkinette you replied "What a stupid thing to say" - which is quite unnecessarily rude, particularly when you provide no support for your statement.

Saying bipolar people become extreme isn't at all stupid. It's the voice of experience. If you have lived with bipolar disorder you would know that when the sufferer is "high" one of the main symptoms is extremism: whether it's spending money they haven't got, deciding their food theory will change the world, or ranting on about God, the family recognise this as a symptom.

If you still doubt my explanation, here's what the NHS says:

Bipolar disorder is characterised by extreme mood swings. The mood swings can range from extreme highs (mania) to extreme lows (depression). Episodes of mania and depression can often last for several weeks or more.

'The true problem is overpopulation'

It is their major concern, and you will often hear about overpopulation reducing the earth's resources and the need to reduce consumption and meat eating (with 'meat free mondays' etc.) in order to 'save the planet' which is under the threat of cataclysmic destruction by 'global warming'.

Sometimes you will hear soy mentioned as a way to help save the planet

Eat Soy Save the Planet

But there are some studies that question soy's effect on human fertility

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=soybean-fertility-hormone-isoflavones-genistein

www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/nov/07/research.health

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6856974/Soy-baby-formula-ban-call-after-fertility-fear

If you have lived with bipolar disorder

I have bipolar disorder.

But, I mean, you have a RELATIVE with bipolar disorder, so... I guess your experience and insight trump mine :(

I would also question the assertion that people who become enthusiastic about sustainability and reducing their impact on their environment are mentally ill

I love those articles about soya and other things like essential oils affecting hormonal norms. They always ignore things like the contraceptive pill in the water supply and dairy consumption that have been known for years as definitely affecting the oestrogen hormone levels in the population e.g. male breasts, early sexual maturity in females etc.

Love the term 'Vegangelists'!

It is interesting though how much male fertility has dropped and breast cancer rates have increased during the period when soya has been so prevalent in our diets though. As well as the contraceptive pill being in such widespread use.

Though what's the phrase? Coincidence doesn't mean cause, or something?

My dsis had breast cancer and blamed dairy ( she hadn't touched soya btw.) The Japanese don't seem to have worse problems than the west reproducing though do they?

My brother is bipolar type 1 and I am bipolar type 2. I was very clear in saying that there's nothing remotely odd about an interest in diet or the environment. However when someone goes completely over the top and starts seriously upsetting the family, particularly when it comes to conspiracy theories and the OP is talking about paranoia (check what she wrote), then yes -- mental illness is a possibility. Check what I wrote. Didn't say it was a diagnosis, just that it was a possibility.

I think it's the type of soya they eat, ppeatfruit.

www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/11/lack-babies-could-mean-extinction-japanese-people/