Soy: NOT AS GOOD AS YOU THINK!

I have been posting daily from the book, "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth" and tomorrow is on soy foods. The intro to the section was very lengthy, but good so I thought I would post it for anyone interested. I thought it might be too lengthy for our daily routine, but TOO GOOD NOT TO SHARE. so here it goes:

What about Soy?

Wait a minute, i can almost ehar you saying. In a book on teh world's healthiest foods, you barely mention soy. What gives? Is there a misprint? No misprint, and full disclosure: I'm not a big fan of soy. Man people reading this book are probably unaware that there is a huge controversy in nutrition community over soy. the pro-soy PR effort has been so strong that most people simply accept that anything with soy in it is a health food. You hardly hear about the many schientists, nutritionists, and researchers who have grave doubts about this so-called "fact." And in fact, the anti-soy contingent is sometimes so strident and angry )probably because it is frustrated with not being heart) that it sometimes tends to overstate some of the negatives (and the danges) associated with soy, making that group easier to ignore.

THE BAD NEWS ABOUT SOY
That doesn't mean those problems don't exist. Soy contains large amounts of natural toxins or "anti-nutrients," chief among them potent enzyme inhibitors that block the action of enzymes needed for protein digestion. (Of course, these same protese inhibitors are believe by some to have a cancer-protective effect, hence part of the controversy.) Soybeans also contain baemagglutinin, a clot-prompting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together, and goitrogens--substances that suppress thyroid function. And soy has one of the highest phytate levels of any grain or legume studied. (Phytates block the obsorption of minerals; fermentation reduces them.) Yes, soy contains phytoestrogens, but that can be a good thing or a not-so-good thing, depending on many factors, not the least of which are your age and sex. The Israeli Health Ministry recently issued a health advisory that strongly recommended that the consumption of soy foods be limited for young children and adults and that soy formula be avoided all together by infants. And a recent article on soy protein infant formula by the "Journal of Pediatrics, Gastroenterology and Nutrition" suggested that soy protein formula had no nutritional advantage of cows' milk protein and that the "high concentrations of phytate, aluminum and phytoestrogens ... might have untoward effects."

FDA RECONSIDERING ITS POSITION ON SOY
The universal acceptance of all things soy may be showing signs of cracking, even among the establishment organizations. As of April 2006, the American Heart Association's (AHA) Nutrition Committee no longer recommends eating soy to lower cholesterol. The FDA is currently reviewing its policy on soy health claims. And a recent article by Harvard Women's Health Watch (April 2006) was titles "Soy: Not So Miraculous?"

The soy associatedwith the Asian diet is a whole different animal from the soy we've been sold in America as a health food. There, they eat naturally fermented soy foods like tempeh and miso and old-fashioned fermented soy sauce--and they eat way less of it than you might imagine. it's also far from clear that the health benefits they get from their diet are attributable to eating soy rather than the fish and sea vegetables they consume regularly.

THE REAL DEAL ON SOY:
Let me be clear: In a world of French fries, fast food, trans fats, and high-fructose corn syrup, I hardly think a few servings of soy protein is the worst think in the world. We have bigger battles to fight in the food arena. But I also don't think soy products are among the healthiest foods on the planet, for all the reasons mentioned above. Currently, my thinking can be summed up this way:

1. Fermented soy products such as miso and tempeh--fermented the old-fashioned way, the way they are in asia--are very healthy foods, as are most traditionally fermented foods (e.g., sauerkraut).

2. One serving of a high-quality soy protein powder a day is not going to kill you and may even be good for some people.

3. Most "soy products"--e.g., soy chips, soy milk, soy ice cream, tofu ice cream, soy burgers, soy cheese, soy lattes, and all the rest--are junk foods and no healthier than the crap they replace.

4. I would not feed soy formula to infants and small children unless there were absolutely no other choice.

5. I would not make soy my only source of protein under any circumstances. (Vegetarians take note.)

6. I do not recommend supplements of soy isoflavones. Period.

Sonce you don't have to look very hard to finds "pro-soy" info but you might have to dig a little to get to hear "the other side", I suggest that anyone really interested in the soy controversy start by googling Dr. Mar enig and reading her extensive writing on soy, inclduing "The Ploy of Soy" and "Soy Alert: Tragedy and Hype." For a more easy and entertaining--but no less scientifically documented read--get the essential bood, "The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Health Food", by Kayla daniel, Ph.D. Then, to get the single most balanced and fair reading of both sides, read the conclusions of Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D., based on her reading of more than five hudnred studies (pro and con). DesMaisons' conclusions, which you can read online at www.radiantrecovery.com/soy4303html.htm, are eminently reasonable, and I agree with them wholeheartedly.

By the way, it's interesting that of the fifteen experts I surveyed fro their "top ten favorite health foods", not a single one chose soy.