http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/56087/
As someone conscious of her health, I spent 13 years cultivating a vegetarian
diet. I took time to plan and balance meals that included products such as
soymilk, soy yogurt, tofu, and Chick'n patties. I pored over labels looking for
words I couldn't pronounce. Occasionally an ingredient or two would pop up
among my fake sausages. Soy protein isolate? Great! They've isolated the
protein from the soybean to make it more concentrated in my veggie dogs.
Hydrolyzed soy protein? I never successfully rationalized that one, but I
wasn't too worried. After all, in 1999, the FDA approved labeling found on
nearly every soy product I purchased: "Diets low in saturated fat and
cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein a day may reduce the risk of
heart disease." Soy ingredients are not only safe -- they're beneficial.
After several years of consuming various forms of soy nearly every day,
something wasn't right. I felt reasonably fit, but somewhere along the line I'd
stopped menstruating. I couldn't figure out why my stomach became so upset
after eating edamame or why I was often moody and bloated. It didn't occur to
me at the time to blame soy, heart-protector and miracle food.
When I began studying holistic health and nutrition, I kept running across
risks associated with eating soy. Endocrine disruption? Check. Digestive
problems? Check. I researched soy's deleterious effects on thyroid, fertility,
hormones, sex drive, digestion, and even its potential to contribute to certain
cancers. For every study that proved there was a connection between soy and
reduced disease risk, others cropped up to challenge these claims. What was
going on?
"Studies showing the dark side of soy date back 100 years," says Kaayla Daniel,
PhD, clinical nutritionist and author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of
America's Favorite Health Food.Ê "The 1999 FDA-approved health claim pleased
big business, despite massive evidence showing risks associated with soy, and
against the protests of the FDA's own top scientists. Soy is a global
four-billion-dollar industry that's taken these health claims to the bank."
Besides heart health, the industry says that soy consumption can alleviate
symptoms associated with menopause, reduce the risk of certain cancers, and
lower levels of LDL, the "bad" cholesterol.
Epidemiological studies have shown that Asians, particularly in Japan and
China, have a much lower incidence of breast and prostate cancer than in the
US, and many of these studies trace the results back to a traditional diet that
includes soy. Daniel says a common misconception is that Asians are consuming
more soy than they actually are; soy accounts for only about 15 percent of
their total calories, or nine grams per day. Asian diets include small amounts
of primarily fermented soy products, such as miso, natto, and tempeh, and some
tofu. By contrast, in the US, processed soy food snacks or shakes can contain
over 20 grams of soy protein in one serving.
"There is important information on the cancer protective values of soy," says
Ed Bauman, PhD, clinical nutritionist, head of the Bauman Clinic in Sebastopol
and director of Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition, who cautions against
painting the bean with a broad brush. "As with any food, it can have benefits
in one system and detriments in another. If there is an individual sensitivity,
one may have an adverse response to soy. And not all soy is alike," he adds,
referring to processing methods and quality.
Soy is indigenous to Eastern Asia, where it was once considered toxic and used
only as a cover crop. It was eventually fermented for better digestibility; it
had long been known that soy caused extreme digestive distress if consumed raw
or undercooked. Fermenting soy deactivates these harmful constituents and
creates health-promoting probiotics, the good bacteria our bodies need to
maintain digestive and overall wellness. Daniels mentions that Asian
populations may have had success with soy because they are consuming primarily
the fermented forms.
As soy moved west, it became a new addition to the diets of Europeans and
Americans. "Soy is not a native food to North America or Europe, and I think
you have issues when you move food from one part of the world to another,"
Bauman says. "We fare better when we eat according to our ethnicity. I think
soy is a viable food, but we need to look at how it's used and maybe consider
using other food stock that's more indigenous."
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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