No, the food ferments but within 24 hours you shit it out. This what soluble fiber helps you do. All fermenting means is to breakdown using microorganisms.
They eat both but, fresh is the majority.
You only chose one point in that article when it mentioned unfermented tofu numerous times. The point was unfermented tofu is not dangerous for you. You are just showing where it says fermented tofu will have more nutrients but that is a whole bunch of fermented foods. That isn't what we are discussing.
Tofu is not a waste product of milk, its an extraction. You first boil the beans, then you add a coagulent to get the protein to bind together. Then you squeeze out the water, and you are left with a cake. That is not a waste product of soy milk. This is the first time I heard someone say that. The point of tofu is to have a protein concentrate but, since its not processed and broken down, it will still have parts of the whole soybean such as soluble fiber, some carbohydrates, and some phytonutrients, and minerals, hence a whole soy food.
At least you hope you shit it out, many people don't digest unfermented soy very well. For example unfermented soy contains trypsin inhibitors, which interfere with protein digestion.
I showed you an article full of research that show the health problems that come from eating unfermented soy. Then I pointed out
numerous citations in your article that shows how much better fermented soy is than non-fermented, it's throughout the article so I edited my post. Your article is about a study of soy's health benefits, but they only used fermented soy, so anything it says about unfermented soy is speculation.
Edit:
Unfermented soy has the following 10 adverse affects on your body:
1. High Phytic Acid (Phytates): Reduces assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking, but only with long fermentation. High-phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
2. Trypsin inhibitors: Interferes with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals, trypsin inhibitors in soy caused stunted growth.
3. Goitrogens: Potent agents that block your synthesis of thyroid hormones and can cause hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked with autoimmune thyroid disease. Goitrogens interfere with iodine metabolism.
4. Phytoestrogens/Isoflavones: Plant compounds resembling human estrogen can block your normal estrogen and disrupt endocrine function, cause infertility, and increase your risk for breast cancer.
5. Hemagglutinin: A clot-promoting substance that causes your red blood cells to clump, making them unable to properly absorb and distribute oxygen to your tissues.
6. Synthetic Vitamin D: Soy foods increase your body's vitamin D requirement, which is why companies add synthetic vitamin D2 to soymilk (a toxic form of vitamin D).
7. Vitamin B12: Soy contains a compound resembling vitamin B12 that cannot be used by your body, so soy foods can actually contribute to B12 deficiency, especially among vegans.
8. Protein Denaturing: Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make
soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein (TVP). Chemical processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
9. MSG: Free glutamic acid, or MSG, is a potent neurotoxin. MSG is formed during soy food processing, plus additional MSG is often added to mask soy's unpleasant taste.
10. Aluminum and Manganese: Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum, which is toxic to your nervous system and kidneys, and manganese, which wreaks havoc on your baby's immature metabolic system.
Soy's antinutrients are quite potent. Drinking just two glasses of soymilk daily provides enough of these compounds to alter a woman's menstrual cycle. But if you feed soy to your infant or child, these effects are magnified a thousand-fold. Infants fed soy formula may have up to 20,000 times more estrogen circulating through their bodies as those fed other formulas. You should NEVER feed your infant a soy-based formula!
In fact, infants fed
soy formula take in an estimated five birth control pills' worth of estrogen every day.
As dangerous as unfermented soy is,
fermented soy from organic soybeans is a different story altogether and can be a beneficial part of your diet. Fermented soy is a great source of
vitamin K2, and K2 (combined with vitamin D) is essential in preventing osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and various types of cancer.
Note that tofu is NOT on this list and is among the soy foods I do not recommend. Traditionally fermented soy products include:
- Miso
- Tempeh
- Natto
- Soy sauce (as long as it's fermented in the traditional way, and not all are)
Contrary to what you may have heard, Asians do not consume large amounts of soy. They use small amounts as a condiment (about two teaspoons daily), but not as a primary protein source. And the type of soy they consume is traditionally fermented soy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/soy-health_b_1822466.html