How fermenting soy may prevent soy allergies?
According to Elvira de Mejia, a professor from University of Illinois, during the fermentation process, the proteins in soy are broken down into very small pieces. These small pieces of proteins cannot be identified by antibodies which cause an allergic reaction. The Research: The researchers fermented the soy products with six fermenting agents including bacteria, yeast, and mold. They obtained blood plasma from persons allergic to soy and subjected it to fermented soy products and unfermented soy products. The bacteria, Lactobacillus plantarum reduced the immunoreactivity to about 96 to 99%. Reduced immunoreactivity would mean reduced risk of allergies. Soy allergy affects about 1% of people in the United States. Currently, the only way to be free from soy allergies is prevention. Researchers are planning to optimize the fermentation process to produce soy products which do not cause allergies. This research may as well pave way for allergy-free soy products.
