Investigate it: Soy

Soy is in almost every packaged food today. It’s chemical make-up allows for easy modification, giving it the flexibility as an almost universal mix-in. Even organic bars and cereals have soy protein on their ingredient list.

For many years soy has had a celebrity status as a super-food, capable of immune enhancement and cancer-prevention. It also developed a reputation as a hormone-balancing agent, and it’s nutrition labels boasted high levels of Vitamin B1, B2, B12, and Thiamine. The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods(1) praises it for doing work similar to estrogen and enhancing child development.

We need to give soy another look, though. Studies have since shown that soy poses a threat to health. In 2006 the American Heart Association reversed its position on soy, deciding that it actually did not promote heart health(2). Vitamin B12 analogs in soy actually increase the body’s need for B12 (3). It’s trypsin inhibitors stunt growth, and the high phytate content is dangerous for growing children (3). Much of soy processing also causes consternation in health professionals. For TVP (textured vegetable protein) and other soy products the soy must undergo denaturing. Some processing also produces MSG, a nerve poison widely known for its manipulation on our chemical receptors (3). But of all the components of soy, the worst is phytoestrogen.

Phytoestrogen is similar to animal and human estrogen and actually binds itself to estrogen receptor sites as if it were the real thing. In studies of animals, soy has stunted male maturation and substantially sped up the maturation of females. In humans, soy has not done much better. Although many of the health issues we see today are not due to just one cause, we should not discount soy as a leading factor in estrogenic conditions. It is literally in every meal, snack, and dessert we eat. Almost every packaged food has some form of soy, and many animal meats have soy in them from the animal’s feed. Most sobering of all, soy is the base of many infant milk formulas and body-builder drinks.

Of all places, soy should not be in infant formula. Babies tiny bodies are busy developing and modifying themselves daily. According to New Zealand toxicologist Mike Fitzpatrick, infants who are fed soy formula exclusively get the equivalent of 5 birth control pills a day (4)! In fact, just two glasses of soy milk a day can change a woman’s menstrual cycle timing, and 100 grams of soy has the estrogenic content of a contraceptive pill (6). Add to this the fact that in one 2002 study, 25% of bottle-fed children in America received soy-based formula(5) and much of the food offered to the poor by WIC was soy-based (5).

The second worst place we find estrogen is in protein drinks. Because it is a high-nutrient, high-protein source, soy is in almost all recovery drinks and body-building foods. Young men do not need high doses of estrogen, but if soy is in their bodies any estrogen receptors will activate. In Teens Before Their Time (4) Enig and Morell discuss a trend developing in children where sexual maturation was beginning as early as two and three years old. Following the soy route, by the time these children become young adults, they have had a tremendous amount of hormone stimulation. Adding more estrogen in the weight room seems to counteract the desired effect of most young men and certainly increases the stress on their bodies’ development.

What will happen if we continue to accelerate sexual maturation of young girls and reduce the testosterone in men (2)? 

But beware of quacks that have become afraid. Make sure you’re not one of them, and look their arguments square in the face. Realize soy is not a government conspiracy or a farm conspiracy. People want to make money, yes. They aren’t particularly interested in the optimal health of each of their customers, no. What do we expect?

Soy grows more nutrition per acre than raising beef on the same acre! As soon as people realized how useful it was in almost any product, how it boosted the nutritional labels on their products, and it reached both the carnivore customer and the vegetarian customer, they used it. Is there anything wrong with that? No.

We are the only ones responsible for our health. It’s not the job of the FDA, the supermarket, Kraft or Frito-Lay. Our individual purchases belong to us, and , since soy comes with so many red flags, we should use discernment, avoiding large amounts of of it in our regular menus. For the dear Joe Schmo and Jane Doe there is thy prescription.

Now, here’s a tiny little paragraph where I become the clinician dealing with miss Suzy Exception. Her doctor has told her that she is allergic to soy. In reality, she could be allergic to any one of the 30 plus allergenic proteins in soy. My advice? She should switch to whole foods gradually. Unless specifically directed, she should not eliminate every smidgen of soy. She could develop a violent aversion to the stuff. Even with this allowance, Jane’s menu will look drastically different than the average American’s. If she wants to, she can campaign against soy. This is her privilege, and frankly, she has more power than the quacks.





(1)Encyclopedia of Healing Food
(2)http://trusted.md/blog/vreni_gurd/2007/03/24/the_soy_controversy
(3)http://www.westonaprice.org/
(4) http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1086544
(5) http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/17/7/1692
(6)http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2001/october/10/soy-alert/