# hazardous soybeans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hazardous-soybeans/216872 "2003-12-04T04:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![upperdeckfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/65b543/32.png) [@upperdeckfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/upperdeckfan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hazardous-soybeans/216872/1 "2003-12-04T04:46:42Z")
During a lunch break today someone claimed that soybeans are toxic in their raw form and that they must be cooked, boiled, roasted etc. during processing to make them safe for consumption. Is this true? Or did this person get raw soybeans mixed up with raw blowfish? ---
**Author:** ![Indefatigable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9d8465/32.png) [@Indefatigable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indefatigable)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hazardous-soybeans/216872/2 "2003-12-04T05:15:11Z")
Dunno. Soybean sprouts are eaten raw. And there are other beans, such as kidney beans, which absolutely must not be eaten raw and even undercooked is a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Sonyadora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sonyadora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonyadora)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hazardous-soybeans/216872/3 "2003-12-04T05:26:24Z")
Yes, soybeans must be cooked in some way before they can be consumed. I am unsure if they can kill you, but they will make you very ill if eaten raw. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hazardous-soybeans/216872/4 "2003-12-04T05:28:37Z")
We had a lengthy discussion a while back, if you want to search. Best I could tell, “soybean” refers to several different strains/varieties of plants. They are all toxic to some extent if uncooked. Some of them are rendered harmless by simply boiling them. Others require more elaborate procedures, like fermenting. By the way, _fugu_ (blowfish) is toxic even when cooked. It’s only safe if you carefully separete the non-toxic meat from the toxic parts. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hazardous-soybeans/216872/5 "2003-12-04T05:51:32Z")
Raw soybeans aren’t all _that_ bad for you. You just don’t want to make a steady diet of them. This [review of plant lectins](http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/toxicagents/lectins/lectins.html) (glycoproteins) adresses the toxicity of raw soybeans: > [@](#): > > Diet rich in raw soybean has a goitrogenic effect. This is indicated by the fact that fecal loss of thyroxine from the gut is higher in animals fed raw soybeans than in the controls. Raw soybean meals reduces fat and fatty acids absorption (not soybean trypsin inhibitor) in young chicks. Such meals also depresses the utilization of vitamin D in turkey. These effects are not found when the meals include heated soybean. Many plants have toxic effects if you eat too much of them over too long a period. Green things all need some method of defending themselves from the ravages of hungry herbivores. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hazardous-soybeans/216872/6 "2003-12-04T06:03:26Z")
Hmm, I wonder if castor beans are edible if you boil them long enough to denature the Ricin. They’d look very pretty in a three bean salad.