Crimson TidBit - Furu, Tofu and Soy - Oh Boy!
First I’ll tell you a funny story about furu (I have no idea how to
spell this word). Here goes…
I was in China with my boss and a Business Representative for our
company. We were just sitting down to dinner and since I only
spoke a handful of words, I tried to make up for it by paying
attention to every detail.
My boss was sitting to my right and the Rep. was on my left. I
noticed that our rep. requested something w/ somewhat detailed
instructions which caused our server to do a double-take on some
portion of his instruction.
At that point, I made a mental note: watch what she brings out next.
The server was bringing items out and placing them on a large
turntable. Sure enough, she came out a few minutes later bearing a
small dish that I can’t well describe, except that it appeared from
our Western perspective to be some kind of dip.
The server placed it on the table. Our Business Rep. was clearly
‘containing himself’. He took some. I took a very small amount and
waited. My boss, oblivious to the growing excitement, took a
significant portion and proceeded to put it in the ol’ chute.
Then, my boss almost fell out of his chair. At which point, the
Business Representative did come out of his chair - laughing
hysterically. In fact, he almost fell on the floor and I nearly
joined him.
Did I mention that I had a really good-natured boss?
When the dust had cleared, he told us that it was furu or fooroo
(phonetically spelled).
What was it? Fermented (Soy) Bean Curd.
Now on to Soy and Tofu…
There is a lot to the soy/tofu story. I won’t take the time now to
cite oodles of research, but here are the things we’ve learned…
1. All soy products are not the same.
2. Standard soy products don’t seem to be a healthy choice - at all.
3. Some studies argue that soy products are carcinogenic (cancer
causing).
4. Most non-fermented soy is GMO (genetically modified) - yipes.
5. Soy is a great source of protein. However, the modern day
processed soy products have major problems.
6. The only exception is organic fermented soy which is found in
the form of Natto, Tempeh, Miso, and Soy Sauce. These are the only
soy products that my family will eat.
For more information on soy, you can go to www.mercola.com and type
in soy or tofu. Dr. Mercola’s website is a great resource for
researching soy/tofu.
Wishing you all the best of health to you and your loved ones. And
watch out for furu, it packs a mean punch.
