Soy Milk?

Once upon a time, our fellow Scopophobic rambled on about "Soy Milk?." Our champion De-Medicalizing
in sci.med.nutrition retorts, thusly ...

Quoted message said:

I kinda like it. Any health risks associated with drinking a half gallon or more a day?

Your breasts might start growing.

"Scopophobic" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I kinda like it. Any health risks associated with drinking a half gallon

or

Quoted message said:

more a day?

For your edification.

Jack N Dalton

The Trouble With Tofu: Soy and the Brain By John D. MacArthur "Tofu Shrinks Brain!" Not a science
fiction scenario, this sobering soybean revelation is for real. But how did the "poster bean" of the
'90s go wrong? Apparently, in many ways - none of which bode well for the brain. In a major ongoing
study involving 3,734 elderly Japanese-American men, those who ate the most tofu during midlife had
up to 2.4 times the risk of later developing Alzheimer's disease. As part of the three-decade long
Honolulu-Asia Aging Study, 27 foods and drinks were correlated with participants' health. Men who
consumed tofu at least twice weekly had more cognitive impairment, compared with those who rarely or
never ate the soybean curd. [1,2] "The test results were about equivalent to what they would have
been if they were five years older," said lead researcher Dr. Lon R. White from the Hawaii Center
for Health Research. For the guys who ate no tofu, however, they tested as though they were five
years younger. What's more, higher midlife tofu consumption was also associated with low brain
weight. Brain atrophy was assessed in 574 men using MRI results and in 290 men using autopsy
information. Shrinkage occurs naturally with age, but for the men who had consumed more tofu, White
said "their brains seemed to be showing an exaggeration of the usual patterns we see in aging."
Phytoestrogens - Soy Self Defense Tofu and other soybean foods contain isoflavones, three-ringed
molecules bearing a structural resemblance to mammalian steroidal hormones. White and his fellow
researchers speculate that soy's estrogen-like compounds (phytoestrogens) might compete with the
body's natural estrogens for estrogen receptors in brain cells. Plants have evolved many different
strategies to protect themselves from predators. Some have thorns or spines, while others smell bad,
taste bad, or poison animals that eat them. Some plants took a different route, using birth control
as a way to counter the critters who were wont to munch. Plants such as soy are making oral
contraceptives to defend themselves, says Claude Hughes, Ph.D., a neuroendocrinologist at Cedars-
Sinai Medical Center. They evolved compounds that mimic natural estrogen. These phytoestrogens can
interfere with the mammalian hormones involved in reproduction and growth - a strategy to reduce the
number and size of predators. Toxicologists Concerned About Soy's Health Risks The soy industry says
that White's study only shows an association between tofu consumption and brain aging, but does not
prove cause and effect. On the other hand, soy experts at the National Center for Toxicological
Research, Daniel Sheehan, Ph.D., and Daniel Doerge, Ph.D., consider this tofu study very important.
"It is one of the more robust, well-designed prospective epidemiological studies generally
available. . . We rarely have such power in human studies, as well as a potential mechanism." In a
1999 letter to the FDA (and on the ABC News program 20/20), the two toxicologists expressed their
opposition to the agency's health claims for soy, saying the Honolulu study "provides evidence that
soy (tofu) phytoestrogens cause vascular dementia. Given that estrogens are important for
maintenance of brain function in women; that the male brain contains aromatase, the enzyme that
converts testosterone to estradiol; and that isoflavones inhibit this enzymatic activity, there is a
mechanistic basis for the human findings." [3] Although estrogen's role in the central nervous
system is not well understood, White notes that "a growing body of information suggests that
estrogens may be needed for optimal repair and replacement of neural structures eroded with aging."
One link to the puzzle may involve calcium-binding proteins, which are associated with protection
against neurodegenerative diseases. In recent animal studies at Brigham Young University's
Neuroscience Center, researchers found that consumption of phytoestrogens via a soy diet for a
relatively short interval can significantly elevate phytoestrogens levels in the brain and decrease
brain calcium-binding proteins. [4] Concerns About Giving Soy to Infants The most serious problem
with soy may be its use in infant formulas. "The amount of phytoestrogens that are in a day's worth
of soy infant formula equals 5 birth control pills," says Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., president of the
Maryland Nutritionists Association. She and other nutrition experts believe that infant exposure to
high amounts of phytoestrogens is associated with early puberty in girls and retarded physical
maturation in boys. [5] A study reported in the British medical journal Lancet found that the "daily
exposure of infants to isoflavones in soy infant-formulas is 6-11 fold higher on a bodyweight basis
than the dose that has hormonal effects in adults consuming soy foods." (A dose, equivalent to two
glasses of soy milk per day, that was enough to change menstrual patterns in women. [6]) In the
blood of infants tested, concentrations of isoflavones were 13000-22000 times higher than natural
estrogen concentrations in early life. [7] Soy Interferes with Enzymes While soybeans are relatively
high in protein compared to other legumes, Enig says they are a poor source of protein because other
proteins found in soybeans act as potent enzyme inhibitors. These "anti-nutrients" block the action
of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. Trypsin inhibitors are large, tightly
folded proteins that are not completely deactivated during ordinary cooking and can reduce protein
digestion. Therefore, soy consumption may lead to chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake. [8]
Soy's ability to interfere with enzymes and amino acids may have direct consequence for the brain.
As White and his colleagues suggest, "isoflavones in tofu and other soyfoods might exert their
influence through interference with tyrosine kinase-dependent mechanisms required for optimal
hippocampal function, structure and plasticity." [2] High amounts of protein tyrosine kinases are
found in the hippocampus, a brain region involved with learning and memory. One of soy's primary
isoflavones, genistein, has been shown to inhibit tyrosine kinase in the hippocampus, where it
blocked "long-term potentiation," a mechanism of memory formation. [9] Tyrosine, Dopamine, and
Parkinson's Disease The brain uses the amino acids tyrosine or phenylalanine to synthesize the key
neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, brain chemicals that promote alertness and activity.
Dopamine is crucial to fine muscle coordination. People whose hands tremble from Parkinson's disease
have a diminished ability to synthesize dopamine. An increased incidence of depression and other
mood disorders are associated with low levels of dopamine and norepinephrine. Also, the current
scientific consensus on attention-deficit disorder points to a dopamine imbalance. Soy has been
shown to affect tyrosine hydroxylase activity in animals, causing the utilization rate of dopamine
to be "profoundly disturbed." When soy lecithin supplements were given throughout perinatal
development, they reduced activity in the cerebral cortex and "altered synaptic characteristics in a
manner consistent with disturbances in neural function." [10] Researchers at Sweden's Karolinska
Institute at the National Institutes of Health and are finding a connection between tyrosine
hydroxylase activity, thyroid hormone receptors, and depleted dopamine levels in the brain -
particularly in the substantia nigra, a region associated with the movement difficulties
characteristic of Parkinson's disease. [11-13] Soy Affects the Brain via the Thyroid Gland Tyrosine
is crucial to the brain in another way. It's needed for the body to make active thyroid hormones,
which are a major physiological regulator of mammalian brain development. By affecting the rate of
cell differentiation and gene expression, thyroid hormones regulate the growth and migration of
neurons, including synaptic development and myelin formation in specific brain regions. Low blood
levels of tyrosine are associated with an underactive thyroid gland. Scientists have known for years
that isoflavones in soy products can depress thyroid function, causing goiter (enlarged thyroid
gland) and autoimmune thyroid disease. In the early 1960s, goiter and hypothyroidism were reported
in infants fed soybean diets. [14] Scientists at the National Center for Toxicological Research
showed that the soy isoflavones genistein and daidzein "inhibit thyroid peroxidase-catalyzed
reactions essential to thyroid hormone synthesis." [15] Japanese researchers studied effects on the
thyroid from soybeans administered to healthy subjects. They reported that consumption of as little
as 30 grams (two tablespoons) of soybeans per day for only one month resulted in a significant
increase in thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), which is produced by the brain's pituitary gland when
thyroid hormones are too low. Their findings suggested that "excessive soybean ingestion for a
certain duration might suppress thyroid function and cause goiters in healthy people, especially
elderly subjects." [16] Thyroid Hormones and Fetal Brain Development Thyroid alterations are among
the most frequently encountered autoimmune conditions in children. Researchers at Cornell University
Medical College showed that the "frequency of feedings with soy-based milk formulas in early life
was significantly higher in children with autoimmune thyroid disease."
[17] In a previous study, they found that twice as many diabetic children had received soy formula
in infancy as compared to non-diabetic children.
[18]Recognizing the risk, Swiss health authorities recommend "very restrictive use" of soy for
babies. In England and Australia, public health agencies tell parents to first seek advice from
a doctor before giving their infants soy formula. The New Zealand Ministry of Health recommends
that "Soy formula should only be used under the direction of a health professional for specific
medical indications. . . Clinicians who are treating children with a soy-based infant formula
for medical conditions should be aware of the potential interaction between soy infant formula
and thyroid function." [19] Thyroid hormones exert their influence during discrete windows of
time. Inappropriate hormone levels can have a devastating effect on the developing human brain,
especially during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy when the fetus depends on the mother's thyroid
hormones for brain development. After that, both maternal and fetal thyroid hormone levels
affect the central nervous system. A 1999 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine
showed that pregnant women with underactive thyroids were four times more likely to have
children with low IQs if the disorder is left untreated. The study found that 19% of the
children born to mothers with thyroid deficiency had IQ scores of 85 or lower, compared with
only 5% of those born to mothers without such problems. [20] Thyroid, Brain, and Environmental
Toxins Children exposed prenatally and during infancy to common environmental toxins like dioxin
and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can suffer behavioral, learning, and memory problems
because these chemicals may be disrupting the normal action of thyroid hormone. [21] Soybeans
grown in the United States contain residues of the pesticide dieldrin, an organochlorine similar
to DDT. Although both chemicals were banned in the 1970s, dieldrin still persists in soils and
is absorbed through the roots. Today it is the most toxic residue found on domestic soybeans.
[22] In Silent Spring, Rachel Carson warned that dieldrin is nearly 50 times as poisonous as
DDT. In addition to disrupting hormones, it can have long delayed neurological effects, ranging
from loss of memory to mania. [23] Combinations of insecticides, weed killers, and artificial
fertilizers - even at low levels - have measurable detrimental effects on thyroid and other
hormones as well as on the brain. [24] EPA scientists now want to upgrade the commonly used
herbicide, atrazine, to a "likely carcinogen." In animal tests, atrazine attaches to sites on
the hypothalamus, a crucial

[19]Individuals newly diagnosed with Parkinson's disease were more than twice as likely to have been
exposed to insecticides in their home, compared to those without the disease. [26] Soy formulas
for infants can contain other neurotoxins: aluminum, cadmium, and fluoride. Studies found that
aluminum concentrations in soy-based formulas were a 100-fold greater compared to human breast
milk, while cadmium content was 8-15 times higher than in milk-based formulas. In an Australian
study, the fluoride content of soy-based formulas ranged from
20.08 to 2.86 parts per million. The authors concluded that "prolonged consumption (beyond 12 months
of age) of infant formula reconstituted with optimally-fluoridated water could result in
excessive amounts of fluoride being ingested." A study of Connecticut children revealed that mild-to-
moderate fluorosis was strongly associated with soy-based infant formula use. [27-30] In May
2000, Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility released their report, "The Toxic Threats to
Child Development." In the section on neurotoxins, they concluded: "Studies in animals and human
populations suggest that fluoride exposure, at levels that are experienced by a significant
proportion of the population whose drinking water is fluoridated, may have adverse impacts on the
developing brain." [31] Iodine vs. Fluorine The thyroid gland uses tyrosine and the natural
element iodine to make thyroxine (T4), a thyroid hormone containing four iodine atoms. The other,
much more biologically active thyroid hormone is tri-iodothyronine (T3), which has three iodine
atoms. Lack of dietary iodine has long been identified as the problem in diminished thyroid
hormone synthesis. According to the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency
Disorders: "Iodine deficiency has been called the world's major cause of preventable mental
retardation. Its severity can vary from mild intellectual blunting to frank cretinism, a
condition that includes gross mental retardation, deaf mutism, short stature, and various other
defects. . . The damage to the developing brain results in individuals poorly equipped to fight
disease, learn, work effectively, or reproduce satisfactorily." This crucial role of iodine is
another reason why the thyroid gland is especially vulnerable today. Canadian researcher Andreas
Schuld has documented more than 100 studies during the last 70 years that demonstrate adverse
effects of fluoride on the thyroid gland. [32] Schuld says, "Fluorine, being the strongest in the
group of halogens, will seriously interfere with iodine and iodine synthesis, forcing more
urinary elimination of ingested iodine as fluoride ingestion or absorption increases." Fluorides
were actually used in the past, specifically to reduce thyroid function. In the 1930s through to
the 1960s fluorides at 0.9mg to 4.5mg/day were given as effective anti-thyroid medication to
hyperthyroid patients."
[21] Russian researchers in the 1980s concluded that prolonged consumption of drinking water with a
raised fluorine content was a risk factor of more rapid development of thyroid pathology. [34]
A major source of fluoride exposure in the United States is fluoridated drinking water -
including foods and drinks manufactured and processed with this treated water. (Only about 5%
of the world's population is fluoridated, and more than half live in North America. 99% of
western continental Europe has rejected, banned, or stopped the addition of fluoride compounds
to their drinking water. [35]) Also, approximately 45 million pounds of hydrogen fluoride are
released from U.S. coal-fired plants every year into the environment. Soy Phytates Inhibit Zinc
Absorption Another way that soybeans may affect brain function is because of their phytic acid
content. Phytic acid is an organic acid present in the outer portion of all seeds. Also known
as phytates, they block the uptake of essential minerals in the intestinal tract: calcium,
magnesium, iron, and especially zinc. According to research cited by the Weston A. Price
Foundation, soybeans have very high levels of a form of phytic acid that is particularly
difficult to neutralize - and which interferes with zinc absorption more completely than with
other minerals. The soy industry acknowledges the problem, noting that "one-half cup of cooked
soybeans contains one mg of zinc. However, zinc is poorly absorbed from soyfoods." As for iron,
"both phytate and soy protein reduce iron absorption so that the iron in soyfoods is generally
poorly absorbed." [36] Nutritionist Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook
that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, says that as early as
1967, researchers testing soy formula found that it caused negative zinc balance in every
infant to whom it was given. Even when the diets were additionally supplemented with zinc,
there was a strong correlation between phytate content in formula and poor growth. She warns
that "a reduced rate of growth is especially serious in the infant as it causes a delay in the
accumulation of lipids in the myelin, and hence jeopardizes the development of the brain and
nervous system." Zinc and the Brain Relatively high levels of zinc are found in the brain,
especially the hippocampus. Zinc plays an important role in the transmission of the nerve
impulse between brain cells. Deficiency of zinc during pregnancy and lactation has been shown
to be related to many congenital abnormalities of the nervous system in offspring. In children,
"insufficient levels of zinc have been associated with lowered learning ability, apathy,
lethargy, and mental retardation." [37] The USDA references a study of 372 Chinese school
children with very low levels of zinc in their bodies. The children who received zinc
supplements had the most improved performance - especially in perception, memory, reasoning,
and psychomotor skills such as eye-hand coordination. Three earlier studies with adults also
showed that changes in zinc intake affected cognitive function. [38] New research has
identified a specific contingent of neurons, called "zinc-containing" neurons, which are found
almost exclusively in the forebrain, where in mammals they have evolved into a "complex and
elaborate associational network that interconnects most of the cerebral cortices and limbic
structures." This suggests the importance of zinc in the normal and pathological processes of
the cerebral cortex. [39] Furthermore, age-related tissue zinc deficiency may contribute to
brain cell death in Alzheimer's dementia. [40] Safe Soy To produce soy milk, the beans are
first soaked in an alkaline solution, then heated to about 115 degrees C in order to remove as
much of the trypsin inhibitors as possible. Fallon says this method destroys most, but not all
of the anti-nutrients, however it has the "unhappy side effect of so denaturing the proteins
that they become very difficult to digest and much reduced in effectiveness." Furthermore,
phytates remain in soy milk to block the uptake of essential minerals. Only a long period of
fermentation will significantly reduce the phytate content of soybeans, as well as the trypsin
inhibitors that interfere with enzymes and amino acids. Therefore, fermented soy products such
as tempeh and miso (not tofu) provide nourishment that is easily assimilated.

Newest Research On Why You Should Avoid Soy by Sally Fallon email: [email hidden] & Mary G. Enig,
PhD email: [email hidden] About the Authors: Sally Fallon is the author of Nourishing Traditions:
The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (1999, 2nd
edition, New Trends Publishing, tel +1 877 707 1776 or +1 219 268 2601) and President of the Weston
A. Price Foundation, Washington, DC (www.WestonAPrice.org). Each year, research on the health
effects of soy and soybean components seems to increase exponentially. Furthermore, research is not
just expanding in the primary areas under investigation, such as cancer, heart disease and
osteoporosis; new findings suggest that soy has potential benefits that may be more extensive than
previously thought. So writes Mark Messina, PhD, General Chairperson of the Third International Soy
Symposium, held in Washington, DC, in November 1999.1 For four days, well-funded scientists gathered
in Washington made presentations to an admiring press and to their sponsors - United Soybean Board,
American Soybean Association, Monsanto, Protein Technologies International, Central Soya, Cargill
Foods, Personal Products Company, SoyLife, Whitehall-Robins Healthcare and the soybean councils of
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota. The symposium
marked the apogee of a decade-long marketing campaign to gain consumer acceptance of tofu, soy milk,
soy ice cream, soy cheese, soy sausage and soy derivatives, particularly soy isoflavones like
genistein and diadzen, the oestrogen-like compounds found in soybeans. It coincided with a US Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) decision, announced on October 25, 1999, to allow a health claim for
products "low in saturated fat and cholesterol" that contain 6.25 grams of soy protein per serving.
Breakfast cereals, baked goods, convenience food, smoothie mixes and meat substitutes could now be
sold with labels touting benefits to cardiovascular health, as long as these products contained one
heaping teaspoon of soy protein per 100-gram serving. Marketing The Perfect Food "Just imagine you
could grow the perfect food. This food not only would provide affordable nutrition, but also would
be delicious and easy to prepare in a variety of ways. It would be a healthful food, with no
saturated fat. In fact, you would be growing a virtual fountain of youth on your back forty." The
author is Dean Houghton, writing for The Furrow,2 a magazine published in 12 languages by John
Deere. "This ideal food would help prevent, and perhaps reverse, some of the world's most dreaded
diseases. You could grow this miracle crop in a variety of soils and climates. Its cultivation would
build up, not deplete, the land...this miracle food already exists... It's called soy." Just
imagine. Farmers have been imagining - and planting more soy. What was once a minor crop, listed in
the 1913 US Department of Agriculture (USDA) handbook not as a food but as an industrial product,
now covers 72 million acres of American farmland. Much of this harvest will be used to feed
chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows and salmon. Another large fraction will be squeezed to produce oil for
margarine, shortenings and salad dressings. Advances in technology make it possible to produce
isolated soy protein from what was once considered a waste product - the defatted, high-protein soy
chips - and then transform something that looks and smells terrible into products that can be
consumed by human beings. Flavorings, preservatives, sweeteners, emulsifiers and synthetic nutrients
have turned soy protein isolate, the food processors' ugly duckling, into a New Age Cinderella. The
new fairy-tale food has been marketed not so much for her beauty but for her virtues. Early on,
products based on soy protein isolate were sold as extenders and meat substitutes - a strategy that
failed to produce the requisite consumer demand. The industry changed its approach. "The quickest
way to gain product acceptability in the less affluent society," said an industry spokesman, "is to
have the product consumed on its own merit in a more affluent society."3 So soy is now sold to the
upscale consumer, not as a cheap, poverty food but as a miracle substance that will prevent heart
disease and cancer, whisk away hot flushes, build strong bones and keep us forever young. The
competition - meat, milk, cheese, butter and eggs - has been duly demonised by the appropriate
government bodies. Soy serves as meat and milk for a new generation of virtuous vegetarians.
Marketing costs money, especially when it needs to be bolstered with "research", but there's plenty
of funds available. All soybean producers pay a mandatory assessment of one-half to one per cent of
the net market price of soybeans. The total - something like US$80 million annually4 - supports
United Soybean's program to "strengthen the position of soybeans in the marketplace and maintain and
expand domestic and foreign markets for uses for soybeans and soybean products". State soybean
councils from Maryland, Nebraska, Delaware, Arkansas, Virginia, North Dakota and Michigan provide
another $2.5 million for "research".5 Private companies like Archer Daniels Midland also contribute
their share. ADM spent $4.7 million for advertising on Meet the Press and $4.3 million on Face the
Nation during the course of a year.6 Public relations firms help convert research projects into
newspaper articles and advertising copy, and law firms lobby for favorable government regulations.
IMF money funds soy processing plants in foreign countries, and free trade policies keep soybean
abundance flowing to overseas destinations. The push for more soy has been relentless and global in
its reach. Soy protein is now found in most supermarket breads. It is being used to transform "the
humble tortilla, Mexico's corn-based staple food, into a protein-fortified 'super-tortilla' that
would give a nutritional boost to the nearly 20 million Mexicans who live in extreme poverty".7
Advertising for a new soy-enriched loaf from Allied Bakeries in Britain targets menopausal women
seeking relief from hot flushes. Sales are running at a quarter of a million loaves per week.8 The
soy industry hired Norman Robert Associates, a public relations firm, to "get more soy products onto
school menus".9 The USDA responded with a proposal to scrap the 30 per cent limit for soy in school
lunches. The NuMenu program would allow unlimited use of soy in student meals. With soy added to
hamburgers, tacos and lasagna, dieticians can get the total fat content below 30 per cent of
calories, thereby conforming to government dictates. "With the soy-enhanced food items, students are
receiving better servings of nutrients and less cholesterol and fat." Soy milk has posted the
biggest gains, soaring from $2 million in 1980 to $300 million in the US last year.10 Recent
advances in processing have transformed the gray, thin, bitter, beany-tasting Asian beverage into a
product that Western consumers will accept - one that tastes like a milkshake, but without the
guilt. Processing miracles, good packaging, massive advertising and a marketing strategy that
stresses the products' possible health benefits account for increasing sales to all age groups. For
example, reports that soy helps prevent prostate cancer have made soy milk acceptable to middle-aged
men. "You don't have to twist the arm of a 55- to 60-year-old guy to get him to try soy milk," says
Mark Messina. Michael Milken, former junk bond financier, has helped the industry shed its hippie
image with well-publicized efforts to consume 40 grams of soy protein daily. America today, tomorrow
the world. Soy milk sales are rising in Canada, even though soy milk there costs twice as much as
cow's milk. Soybean milk processing plants are sprouting up in places like Kenya.11 Even China,
where soy really is a poverty food and whose people want more meat, not tofu, has opted to build Western-
style soy factories rather than develop western grasslands for grazing animals.12 Cinderella's Dark
Side The propaganda that has created the soy sales miracle is all the more remarkable because, only
a few decades ago, the soybean was considered unfit to eat - even in Asia. During the Chou Dynasty
(1134-246 BC) the soybean was designated one of the five sacred grains, along with barley, wheat,
millet and rice. However, the pictograph for the soybean, which dates from earlier times, indicates
that it was not first used as a food; for whereas the pictographs for the other four grains show the
seed and stem structure of the plant, the pictograph for the soybean emphasizes the root structure.
Agricultural literature of the period speaks frequently of the soybean and its use in crop rotation.
Apparently the soy plant was initially used as a method of fixing nitrogen.13 The soybean did not
serve as a food until the discovery of fermentation techniques, some time during the Chou Dynasty.
The first soy foods were fermented products like tempeh, natto, miso and soy sauce. At a later date,
possibly in the 2nd century BC, Chinese scientists discovered that a purée of cooked soybeans could
be precipitated with calcium sulfate or magnesium sulfate (plaster of Paris or Epsom salts) to make
a smooth, pale curd - tofu or bean curd. The use of fermented and precipitated soy products soon
spread to other parts of the Orient, notably Japan and Indonesia. The Chinese did not eat
unfermented soybeans as they did other legumes such as lentils because the soybean contains large
quantities of natural toxins or "antinutrients". First among them are potent enzyme inhibitors that
block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. These inhibitors are
large, tightly folded proteins that are not completely deactivated during ordinary cooking. They can
produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic deficiencies in amino acid
uptake. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors cause enlargement and pathological
conditions of the pancreas, including cancer.14 Soybeans also contain haemagglutinin, a clot-
promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together. Trypsin inhibitors and
haemagglutinin are growth inhibitors. Weanling rats fed soy containing these antinutrients fail to
grow normally. Growth-depressant compounds are deactivated during the process of fermentation, so
once the Chinese discovered how to ferment the soybean, they began to incorporate soy foods into
their diets. In precipitated products, enzyme inhibitors concentrate in the soaking liquid rather
than in the curd. Thus, in tofu and bean curd, growth depressants are reduced in quantity but not
completely eliminated. Soy also contains goitrogens - substances that depress thyroid function.
Soybeans are high in phytic acid, present in the bran or hulls of all seeds. It's a substance that
can block the uptake of essential minerals - calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc -
in the intestinal tract. Although not a household word, phytic acid has been extensively studied;
there are literally hundreds of articles on the effects of phytic acid in the current scientific
literature. Scientists are in general agreement that grain- and legume-based diets high in phytates
contribute to widespread mineral deficiencies in third world countries.15 Analysis shows that
calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc are present in the plant foods eaten in these areas, but the high
phytate content of soy- and grain-based diets prevents their absorption. The soybean has one of the
highest phytate levels of any grain or legume that has been studied,16 and the phytates in soy are
highly resistant to normal phytate-reducing techniques such as long, slow cooking.17 Only a long
period of fermentation will significantly reduce the phytate content of soybeans. When precipitated
soy products like tofu are consumed with meat, the mineral-blocking effects of the phytates are
reduced.18 The Japanese traditionally eat a small amount of tofu or miso as part of a mineral-rich
fish broth, followed by a serving of meat or fish. Vegetarians who consume tofu and bean curd as a
substitute for meat and dairy products risk severe mineral deficiencies. The results of calcium,
magnesium and iron deficiency are well known; those of zinc are less so. Zinc is called the
intelligence mineral because it is needed for optimal development and functioning of the brain and
nervous system. It plays a role in protein synthesis and collagen formation; it is involved in the
blood-sugar control mechanism and thus protects against diabetes; it is needed for a healthy
reproductive system. Zinc is a key component in numerous vital enzymes and plays a role in the
immune system. Phytates found in soy products interfere with zinc absorption more completely than
with other minerals.19 Zinc deficiency can cause a "spacey" feeling that some vegetarians may
mistake for the "high" of spiritual enlightenment. Milk drinking is given as the reason why second-
generation Japanese in America grow taller than their native ancestors. Some investigators postulate
that the reduced phytate content of the American diet - whatever may be its other deficiencies - is
the true explanation, pointing out that both Asian and Western children who do not get enough meat
and fish products to counteract the effects of a high phytate diet, frequently suffer rickets,
stunting and other growth problems.20 Soy Protein Isolate: Not So Friendly Soy processors have
worked hard to get these antinutrients out of the finished product, particularly soy protein isolate
(SPI) which is the key ingredient in most soy foods that imitate meat and dairy products, including
baby formulas and some brands of soy milk. SPI is not something you can make in your own kitchen.
Production takes place in industrial factories where a slurry of soy beans is first mixed with an
alkaline solution to remove fiber, then precipitated and separated using an acid wash and, finally,
neutralized in an alkaline solution. Acid washing in aluminum tanks leaches high levels of aluminum
into the final product. The resultant curds are spray- dried at high temperatures to produce a high-
protein powder. A final indignity to the original soybean is high-temperature, high-pressure
extrusion processing of soy protein isolate to produce textured vegetable protein (TVP). Much of the
trypsin inhibitor content can be removed through high-temperature processing, but not all. Trypsin
inhibitor content of soy protein isolate can vary as much as fivefold.21 (In rats, even low-level
trypsin inhibitor SPI feeding results in reduced weight gain compared to controls.22) But high-
temperature processing has the unfortunate side-effect of so denaturing the other proteins in soy
that they are rendered largely ineffective.23 That's why animals on soy feed need lysine supplements
for normal growth. Nitrites, which are potent carcinogens, are formed during spray-drying, and a
toxin called lysinoalanine is formed during alkaline processing.24 Numerous artificial flavorings,
particularly MSG, are added to soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein products to mask
their strong "beany" taste and to impart the flavor of meat.25 In feeding experiments, the use of
SPI increased requirements for vitamins E, K, D and B12 and created deficiency symptoms of calcium,
magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, copper, iron and zinc.26 Phytic acid remaining in these soy
products greatly inhibits zinc and iron absorption; test animals fed SPI develop enlarged organs,
particularly the pancreas and thyroid gland, and increased deposition of fatty acids in the liver.27
Yet soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein are used extensively in school lunch
programs, commercial baked goods, diet beverages and fast food products. They are heavily promoted
in third world countries and form the basis of many food giveaway programs. In spite of poor results
in animal feeding trials, the soy industry has sponsored a number of studies designed to show that
soy protein products can be used in human diets as a replacement for traditional foods. An example
is "Nutritional Quality of Soy Bean Protein Isolates: Studies in Children of Preschool Age",
sponsored by the Ralston Purina Company.28 A group of Central American children suffering from
malnutrition was first stabilized and brought into better health by feeding them native foods,
including meat and dairy products. Then, for a two-week period, these traditional foods were
replaced by a drink made of soy protein isolate and sugar. All nitrogen taken in and all nitrogen
excreted was measured in truly Orwellian fashion: the children were weighed naked every morning, and
all excrement and vomit gathered up for analysis. The researchers found that the children retained
nitrogen and that their growth was "adequate", so the experiment was declared a success. Whether the
children were actually healthy on such a diet, or could remain so over a long period, is another
matter. The researchers noted that the children vomited "occasionally", usually after finishing a
meal; that over half suffered from periods of moderate diarrhea; that some had upper respiratory
infections; and that others suffered from rash and fever. It should be noted that the researchers
did not dare to use soy products to help the children recover from malnutrition, and were obliged to
supplement the soy-sugar mixture with nutrients largely absent in soy products - notably, vitamins
A, D and B12, iron, iodine and zinc. FDA Health Claim Challenged The best marketing strategy for a
product that is inherently unhealthy is, of course, a health claim. "The road to FDA approval,"
writes a soy apologist, "was long and demanding, consisting of a detailed review of human clinical
data collected from more than 40 scientific studies conducted over the last 20 years. Soy protein
was found to be one of the rare foods that had sufficient scientific evidence not only to qualify
for an FDA health claim proposal but to ultimately pass the rigorous approval process."29 The "long
and demanding" road to FDA approval actually took a few unexpected turns. The original petition,
submitted by Protein Technology International, requested a health claim for isoflavones, the estrogen-
like compounds found plentifully in soybeans, based on assertions that "only soy protein that has
been processed in a manner in which isoflavones are retained will result in cholesterol lowering".
In 1998, the FDA made the unprecedented move of rewriting PTI's petition, removing any reference to
the phyto-estrogens and substituting a claim for soy protein - a move that was in direct
contradiction to the agency's regulations. The FDA is authorized to make rulings only on substances
presented by petition. The abrupt change in direction was no doubt due to the fact that a number of
researchers, including scientists employed by the US Government, submitted documents indicating that
isoflavones are toxic. The FDA had also received, early in 1998, the final British Government report
on phytoestrogens, which failed to find much evidence of benefit and warned against potential
adverse effects.30 Even with the change to soy protein isolate, FDA bureaucrats engaged in the
"rigorous approval process" were forced to deal nimbly with concerns about mineral blocking effects,
enzyme inhibitors, goitrogenicity, endocrine disruption, reproductive problems and increased
allergic reactions from consumption of soy products.31 One of the strongest letters of protest came
from Dr Dan Sheehan and Dr Daniel Doerge, government researchers at the National Center for
Toxicological Research.32 Their pleas for warning labels were dismissed as unwarranted. "Sufficient
scientific evidence" of soy's cholesterol-lowering properties is drawn largely from a 1995 meta-
analysis by Dr James Anderson, sponsored by Protein Technologies International and published in the
New England Journal of Medicine.33 A meta-analysis is a review and summary of the results of many
clinical studies on the same subject. Use of meta-analyses to draw general conclusions has come
under sharp criticism by members of the scientific community. "Researchers substituting meta-
analysis for more rigorous trials risk making faulty assumptions and indulging in creative
accounting," says Sir John Scott, President of the Royal Society of New Zealand. "Like is not being
lumped with like. Little lumps and big lumps of data are being gathered together by various
groups."34 There is the added temptation for researchers, particularly researchers funded by a
company like Protein Technologies International, to leave out studies that would prevent the desired
conclusions. Dr Anderson discarded eight studies for various reasons, leaving a remainder of twenty-
nine. The published report suggested that individuals with cholesterol levels over 250 mg/dl would
experience a "significant" reduction of 7 to 20 per cent in levels of serum cholesterol if they
substituted soy protein for animal protein. Cholesterol reduction was insignificant for individuals
whose cholesterol was lower than 250 mg/dl. In other words, for most of us, giving up steak and
eating vegieburgers instead will not bring down blood cholesterol levels. The health claim that the
FDA approved "after detailed review of human clinical data" fails to inform the consumer about these
important details. Research that ties soy to positive effects on cholesterol levels is "incredibly
immature", said Ronald M. Krauss, MD, head of the Molecular Medical Research Program and Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory.35 He might have added that studies in which cholesterol levels were
lowered through either diet or drugs have consistently resulted in a greater number of deaths in the
treatment groups than in controls - deaths from stroke, cancer, intestinal disorders, accident and
suicide.36 Cholesterol-lowering measures in the US have fuelled a $60 billion per year cholesterol-
lowering industry, but have not saved us from the ravages of heart disease. Soy And Cancer The new
FDA ruling does not allow any claims about cancer prevention on food packages, but that has not
restrained the industry and its marketers from making them in their promotional literature. "In
addition to protecting the heart," says a vitamin company brochure, "soy has demonstrated powerful
anticancer benefits...the Japanese, who eat 30 times as much soy as North Americans, have a lower
incidence of cancers of the breast, uterus and prostate."37 Indeed they do. But the Japanese, and
Asians in general, have much higher rates of other types of cancer, particularly cancer of the
esophagus, stomach, pancreas and liver.38 Asians throughout the world also have high rates of
thyroid cancer.39 The logic that links low rates of reproductive cancers to soy consumption requires
attribution of high rates of thyroid and digestive cancers to the same foods, particularly as soy
causes these types of cancers in laboratory rats. Just how much soy do Asians eat? A 1998 survey
found that the average daily amount of soy protein consumed in Japan was about eight grams for men
and seven for women - less than two teaspoons.40 The famous Cornell China Study, conducted by Colin
T. Campbell, found that legume consumption in China varied from 0 to 58 grams per day, with a mean
of about twelve.41 Assuming that two-thirds of legume consumption is soy, then the maximum
consumption is about 40 grams, or less than three tablespoons per day, with an average consumption
of about nine grams, or less than two teaspoons. A survey conducted in the 1930s found that soy
foods accounted for only 1.5 per cent of calories in the Chinese diet, compared with 65 per cent of
calories from pork.42 (Asians traditionally cooked with lard, not vegetable oil!) Traditionally
fermented soy products make a delicious, natural seasoning that may supply important nutritional
factors in the Asian diet. But except in times of famine, Asians consume soy products only in small
amounts, as condiments, and not as a replacement for animal foods - with one exception. Celibate
monks living in monasteries and leading a vegetarian lifestyle find soy foods quite helpful because
they dampen libido. It was a 1994 meta-analysis by Mark Messina, published in Nutrition and Cancer,
that fuelled speculation on soy's anticarcinogenic properties.43 Messina noted that in 26 animal
studies, 65 per cent reported protective effects from soy. He conveniently neglected to include at
least one study in which soy feeding caused pancreatic cancer - the 1985 study by Rackis.44 In the
human studies he listed, the results were mixed. A few showed some protective effect, but most
showed no correlation at all between soy consumption and cancer rates. He concluded that "the data
in this review cannot be used as a basis for claiming that soy intake decreases cancer risk". Yet in
his subsequent book, The Simple Soybean and Your Health, Messina makes just such a claim,
recommending one cup or 230 grams of soy products per day in his "optimal" diet as a way to prevent
cancer. Thousands of women are now consuming soy in the belief that it protects them against breast
cancer. Yet, in 1996, researchers found that women consuming soy protein isolate had an increased
incidence of epithelial hyperplasia, a condition that presages malignancies.45 A year later, dietary
genistein was found to stimulate breast cells to enter the cell cycle - a discovery that led the
study authors to conclude that women should not consume soy products to prevent breast cancer.46
Phytoestrogens: Panacea Or Poison? The male species of tropical birds carries the drab plumage of
the female at birth and 'colors up' at maturity, somewhere between nine and 24 months. In 1991,
Richard and Valerie James, bird breeders in Whangerai, New Zealand, purchased a new kind of feed for
their birds - one based largely on soy protein.47 When soy-based feed was used, their birds 'colored
up' after just a few months. In fact, one bird-food manufacturer claimed that this early development
was an advantage imparted by the feed. A 1992 ad for Roudybush feed formula showed a picture of the
male crimson rosella, an Australian parrot that acquires beautiful red plumage at 18 to 24 months,
already brightly colored at 11 weeks old. Unfortunately, in the ensuing years, there was decreased
fertility in the birds, with precocious maturation, deformed, stunted and stillborn babies, and
premature deaths, especially among females, with the result that the total population in the
aviaries went into steady decline. The birds suffered beak and bone deformities, goiter, immune
system disorders and pathological, aggressive behavior. Autopsy revealed digestive organs in a state
of disintegration. The list of problems corresponded with many of the problems the Jameses had
encountered in their two children, who had been fed soy-based infant formula. Startled, aghast,
angry, the Jameses hired toxicologist Mike Fitzpatrick. PhD, to investigate further. Dr
Fitzpatrick's literature review uncovered evidence that soy consumption has been linked to numerous
disorders, including infertility, increased cancer and infantile leukemia; and, in studies dating
back to the 1950s,48 that genistein in soy causes endocrine disruption in animals. Dr Fitzpatrick
also analyzed the bird feed and found that it contained high levels of phytoestrogens, especially
genistein. When the Jameses discontinued using soy-based feed, the flock gradually returned to
normal breeding habits and behavior. The Jameses embarked on a private crusade to warn the public
and government officials about toxins in soy foods, particularly the endocrine-disrupting
isoflavones, genistein and diadzen. Protein Technology International received their material in
1994. In 1991, Japanese researchers reported that consumption of as little as 30 grams or two
tablespoons of soybeans per day for only one month resulted in a significant increase in thyroid-
stimulating hormone.49 Diffuse goiter and hypothyroidism appeared in some of the subjects and many
complained of constipation, fatigue and lethargy, even though their intake of iodine was adequate.
In 1997, researchers from the FDA's National Center for Toxicological Research made the embarrassing
discovery that the goitrogenic components of soy were the very same isoflavones.50 Twenty-five grams
of soy protein isolate, the minimum amount PTI claimed to have cholesterol-lowering effects,
contains from 50 to 70 mg of isoflavones. It took only 45 mg of isoflavones in premenopausal women
to exert significant biological effects, including a reduction in hormones needed for adequate
thyroid function. These effects lingered for three months after soy consumption was discontinued.51
One hundred grams of soy protein - the maximum suggested cholesterol-lowering dose, and the amount
recommended by Protein Technologies International - can contain almost 600 mg of isoflavones,52 an
amount that is undeniably toxic. In 1992, the Swiss health service estimated that 100 grams of soy
protein provided the estrogenic equivalent of the Pill.53 In vitro studies suggest that isoflavones
inhibit synthesis of estradiol and other steroid hormones.54 Reproductive problems, infertility,
thyroid disease and liver disease due to dietary intake of isoflavones have been observed for
several species of animals including mice, cheetah, quail, pigs, rats, sturgeon and sheep.55 It is
the isoflavones in soy that are said to have a favorable effect on postmenopausal symptoms,
including hot flushes, and protection from osteoporosis. Quantification of discomfort from hot
flushes is extremely subjective, and most studies show that control subjects report reduction in
discomfort in amounts equal to subjects given soy.56 The claim that soy prevents osteoporosis is
extraordinary, given that soy foods block calcium and cause vitamin D deficiencies. If Asians indeed
have lower rates of osteoporosis than Westerners, it is because their diet provides plenty of
vitamin D from shrimp, lard and seafood, and plenty of calcium from bone broths. The reason that
Westerners have such high rates of osteoporosis is because they have substituted soy oil for butter,
which is a traditional source of vitamin D and other fat-soluble activators needed for calcium
absorption. Birth Control Pills For Babies But it was the isoflavones in infant formula that gave
the Jameses the most cause for concern. In 1998, investigators reported that the daily exposure of
infants to isoflavones in soy infant formula is 6 to11 times higher on a body-weight basis than the
dose that has hormonal effects in adults consuming soy foods. Circulating concentrations of
isoflavones in infants fed soy-based formula were 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than plasma
estradiol concentrations in infants on cow's milk formula.57 Approximately 25 per cent of bottle-fed
children in the US receive soy-based formula - a much higher percentage than in other parts of the
Western world. Fitzpatrick estimated that an infant exclusively fed soy formula receives the
estrogenic equivalent (based on body weight) of at least five birth control pills per day.58 By
contrast, almost no phytoestrogens have been detected in dairy-based infant formula or in human
milk, even when the mother consumes soy products. Scientists have known for years that soy-based
formula can cause thyroid problems in babies. But what are the effects of soy products on the
hormonal development of the infant, both male and female? Male infants undergo a "testosterone
surge" during the first few months of life, when testosterone levels may be as high as those of an
adult male. During this period, the infant is programmed to express male characteristics

masculine physical traits, but also in setting patterns in the brain characteristic of male
behavior. In monkeys, deficiency of male hormones impairs the development of spatial perception
(which, in humans, is normally more acute in men than in women), of learning ability and of visual
discrimination tasks (such as would be required for reading).59 It goes

influenced by the early hormonal environment. Male children exposed during gestation to
diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic estrogen that has effects on animals similar to those of
phytoestrogens from soy, had testes smaller than normal on manturation.60 Learning disabilities,
especially in male children, have reached epidemic proportions. Soy infant feeding - which began in
earnest in the early 1970s - cannot be ignored as a probable cause for these tragic developments.
As for girls, an alarming number are entering puberty much earlier than normal, according to a
recent study reported in the journal Pediatrics.61 Investigators found that one per cent of all
girls now show signs of puberty, such as breast development or pubic hair, before the age of three;
by age eight, 14.7 per cent of white girls and almost 50 per cent of African-American girls have
one or both of these characteristics. New data indicate that environmental estrogens such as PCBs
and DDE (a

the 1986 Puerto Rico Premature Thelarche study, the most significant dietary

in the press - but soy infant formula.63 The consequences of this truncated childhood are tragic.
Young girls with mature bodies must cope with feelings and urges that most children are not well-
equipped to handle. And early maturation in girls is frequently a harbinger for problems with the
reproductive system later in life, including failure to menstruate, infertility and breast cancer.
Parents who have contacted the Jameses recount other problems associated

extreme emotional behavior, asthma, immune system problems, pituitary insufficiency, thyroid
disorders and irritable bowel syndrome - the same endocrine and digestive havoc that afflicted the
Jameses' parrots. Dissension In The Ranks Organizers of the Third International Soy Symposium would
be hard-pressed to call the conference an unqualified success. On the second day of the symposium,
the London-based Food Commission and the Weston A. Price Foundation of Washington, DC, held a joint
press conference, in the same hotel as the symposium, to present concerns about soy infant formula.
Industry representatives sat stony-faced through the recitation of potential dangers and a plea from
concerned scientists and parents to pull soy-based infant formula from the market. Under pressure
from the Jameses, the New Zealand Government had issued a health warning about soy infant formula in
1998; it was time for the American government to do the same. On the last day of the symposium,
presentations on new findings related to toxicity sent a well-oxygenated chill through the giddy
helium hype. Dr Lon White reported on a study of Japanese Americans living in Hawaii, that showed a
significant statistical relationship between two or more servings of tofu a week and "accelerated
brain aging".64 Those participants who consumed tofu in mid-life had lower cognitive function in
late life and a greater incidence of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. "What's more," said Dr White,
"those who ate a lot of tofu, by the time they were 75 or 80 looked five years older".65 White and
his colleagues blamed the negative effects on isoflavones - a finding that supports an earlier study
in which postmenopausal women with higher levels of circulating estrogen experienced greater
cognitive decline.66 Scientists Daniel Sheehan and Daniel Doerge, from the National Center for
Toxicological Research, ruined PTI's day by presenting findings from rat feeding studies, indicating
that genistein in soy foods causes irreversible damage to enzymes that synthesise thyroid
hormones.67 "The association between soybean consumption and goiter in animals and humans has a long
history," wrote Dr Doerge. "Current evidence for the beneficial effects of soy requires a full
understanding of potential adverse effects as well." Dr Claude Hughes reported that rats born to
mothers that were fed genistein had decreased birth weights compared to controls, and onset of
puberty occurred earlier in male offspring.68 His research suggested that the effects observed in
rats "...will be at least somewhat predictive of what occurs in humans. There is no reason to assume
that there will be gross malformations of fetuses but there may be subtle changes, such as

results, he said, "could be nothing or could be something of great

logical to wonder if that could change the baby's development".69 A study of babies born to
vegetarian mothers, published in January 2000, indicated just what those changes in baby's
development might be. Mothers who ate a vegetarian diet during pregnancy had a fivefold greater risk
of delivering a boy with hypospadias, a birth defect of the penis.70 The authors of the study
suggested that the cause was greater exposure to phytoestrogens in soy foods popular with
vegetarians. Problems with female offspring of vegetarian mothers are more likely to show up later
in life. While soy's estrogenic effect is less than that of diethylstilbestrol (DES), the dose is
likely to be higher because it's consumed as a food, not taken as a drug. Daughters of women who
took DES during pregnancy suffered from infertility and cancer when they reached their twenties.
Question Marks Over Gras Status Lurking in the background of industry hype for soy is the nagging
question of whether it's even legal to add soy protein isolate to food. All food additives not in
common use prior to 1958, including casein protein from milk, must have GRAS (Generally Recognized
As Safe) status. In 1972, the Nixon administration directed a re-examination of substances believed
to be GRAS, in the light of any scientific information then available. This re-examination included
casein protein that became codified as GRAS in 1978. In 1974, the FDA obtained a literature review
of soy protein because, as soy protein had not been used in food until 1959 and was not even in
common use in the early 1970s, it was not eligible to have its GRAS status grandfathered under the
provisions of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.71 The scientific literature up to 1974 recognized
many antinutrients in factory-made soy protein, including trypsin inhibitors, phytic acid and
genistein. But the FDA literature review dismissed discussion of adverse impacts, with the statement
that it was important for "adequate processing" to remove them. Genistein could be removed with an
alcohol wash, but it was an expensive procedure that processors avoided. Later studies determined
that trypsin inhibitor content could be removed only with long periods of heat and pressure, but the
FDA has imposed no requirements for manufacturers to do so. The FDA was more concerned with toxins
formed during processing, specifically nitrites and lysinoalanine.72 Even at low levels of
consumption - averaging one-third of a gram per day at the time - the presence of these carcinogens
was considered too great a threat to public health to allow GRAS status. Soy protein did have
approval for use as a binder in cardboard boxes, and this approval was allowed to continue, as
researchers considered that migration of nitrites from the box into the food contents would be too
small to constitute a cancer risk. FDA officials called for safety specifications and monitoring
procedures before granting of GRAS status for food. These were never performed. To this day, use of
soy protein is codified as GRAS only for this limited industrial use as a cardboard binder. This
means that soy protein must be subject to premarket approval procedures each time manufacturers
intend to use it as a food or add it to a food. Soy protein was introduced into infant formula in
the early 1960s. It was a new product with no history of any use at all. As soy protein did not have
GRAS status, premarket approval was required. This was not and still has not been granted. The key
ingredient of soy infant formula is not recognized as safe. The Next Asbestos? "Against the backdrop
of widespread praise...there is growing suspicion that soy - despite its undisputed benefits - may
pose some health hazards," writes Marian Burros, a leading food writer for the New York Times. More
than any other writer, Ms Burros's endorsement of a low-fat, largely vegetarian diet has herded
Americans into supermarket aisles featuring soy foods. Yet her January 26, 2000 article, "Doubts
Cloud Rosy News on Soy", contains the following alarming statement: "Not one of the 18 scientists
int erviewed for this column was willing to say that taking isoflavones was risk free." Ms Burros
did not enumerate the risks, nor did she mention that the recommended 25 daily grams of soy protein
contain enough isoflavones to cause problems in sensitive individuals, but it was evident that the
industry had recognized the need to cover itself. Because the industry is extremely
exposed...contingency lawyers will soon discover that the number of potential plaintiffs can be
counted in the millions and the pockets are very, very deep. Juries will hear something like the
following: "The industry has known for years that soy contains many toxins. At first they told the
public that the toxins were removed by processing. When it became apparent that processing could not
get rid of them, they claimed that these substances were beneficial. Your government granted a
health claim to a substance that is poisonous, and the industry lied to the public to sell more
soy." The "industry" includes merchants, manufacturers, scientists, publicists, bureaucrats, former
bond financiers, food writers, vitamin companies and retail stores. Farmers will probably escape
because they were duped like the rest of us. But they need to find something else to grow before the
soy bubble bursts and the market collapses: grass-fed livestock, designer vegetables...or hemp to
make paper for thousands and thousands of legal briefs. Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 7,
Number 3 (April-May 2000) COMMENT: Sally Fallon and Dr. Enig are to be highly commended for this
much needed soy update. Together they have compiled the most definitive document to date on why one
should avoid soy. This is a MAJOR work and I am hoping to promote it for the national media
attention that it deserves. ENDNOTES:
22. Program for the Third International Symposium on the Role of Soy in Preventing and Treating
Chronic Disease, Sunday, October 31, through Wednesday, November 3, 1999, Omni Shoreham Hotel,
Washington, DC.
23. Houghton, Dean, "Healthful Harvest", The Furrow, January 2000, pp. 10-13.
24. Coleman, Richard J., "Vegetable Protein - A Delayed Birth?" Journal of the American Oil
Chemists' Society 52:238A, April 1975.
25. See www/unitedsoybean.org.
26. These are listed in www.soyonlineservice.co.nz.
27. Wall Street Journal, October 27, 1995.
28. Smith, James F., "Healthier tortillas could lead to healthier Mexico", Denver Post, August 22,
1999, p. 26A.
29. "Bakery says new loaf can help reduce hot flushes", Reuters, September 15, 1997.
30. "Beefing Up Burgers with Soy Products at School", Nutrition Week, Community Nutrition Institute,
Washington, DC, June 5, 1998, p. 2.
31. Urquhart, John, "A Health Food Hits Big Time", Wall Street Journal, August 3, 1999, p. B1
32. "Soyabean Milk Plant in Kenya", Africa News Service, September 1998.
33. Simoons, Frederick J., Food in China: A Cultural and Historical Inquiry, CRC Press, Boca Raton,
1991, p. 64.
34. Katz, Solomon H., "Food and Biocultural Evolution: A Model for the Investigation of Modern
Nutritional Problems", Nutritional Anthropology, Alan R. Liss Inc., 1987, p. 50.
35. Rackis, Joseph J. et al., "The USDA trypsin inhibitor study. I. Background, objectives and
procedural details", Qualification of Plant Foods in Human Nutrition, vol. 35, 1985.
36. Van Rensburg et al., "Nutritional status of African populations predisposed to esophageal
cancer", Nutrition and Cancer, vol. 4, 1983, pp. 206-216; Moser, P.B. et al., "Copper, iron,
zinc and selenium dietary intake and status of Nepalese lactating women and their breastfed
infants", American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 47:729-734, April 1988; Harland, B.F. et al.,
"Nutritional status and phytate: zinc and phytate X calcium: zinc dietary molar ratios of lacto-
ovovegetarian Trappist monks: 10 years later", Journal of the American Dietetic Association 88:1562-
1566, December 1988.
37. El Tiney, A.H., "Proximate Composition and Mineral and Phytate Contents of Legumes Grown in
Sudan", Journal of Food Composition and Analysis (1989)
37:1.
38. Ologhobo, A.D. et al., "Distribution of phosphorus and phytate in some Nigerian varieties of
legumes and some effects of processing", Journal of Food Science 49(1):199-201,
January/February 1984.
39. Sandstrom, B. et al., "Effect of protein level and protein source on zinc absorption in humans",
Journal of Nutrition 119(1):48-53, January 1989; Tait, Susan et al., "The availability of
minerals in food, with particular reference to iron", Journal of Research in Society and Health
103(2):74-77, April 1983.
40. Phytate reduction of zinc absorption has been demonstrated in numerous studies. These results
are summarised in Leviton, Richard, Tofu, Tempeh, Miso and Other Soyfoods: The 'Food of the
Future' - How to Enjoy Its Spectacular Health Benefits, Keats Publishing, Inc., New Canaan, CT,
USA, 1982, p. 1415.
41. Mellanby, Edward, "Experimental rickets: The effect of ce

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Scopophobic) said:

I kinda like it. Any health risks associated with drinking a half gallon or more a day?

Yes. It is *quite* caloric. I try to buy the soy milk with the highest percentage of protein and the
lowest percentage of carbs. The mfrs use sugar to hide the "beany" taste of soy milk. However, when
mixed with chocolate protein powder, it tastes very malty. MmmmmMmm.

Look carefully at the labels, there's significant variance between brands. Don't buy the "light"
kind -- you can add water and get the same result.

My usual breakfast is a mix of fat-reduced milk (with acidophilus because I like it that way), soy
milk, and protein powder. I don't care for solid food when I wake up, and that's a good compromise.

--
_Deirdre deirdre.netdeirdre.netOpen ↗ "Dogs may have kept us company on the hunt, but it was the cats who
insisted we invent houses and discover fire." -- Khiem Tran

[email hidden] (Deirdre Saoirse Moen) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]

(Scopophobic) said:

I kinda like it. Any health risks associated with drinking a half gallon or more a day?

Yes. It is *quite* caloric. I try to buy the soy milk with the highest percentage of protein and
the lowest percentage of carbs. The mfrs use sugar to hide the "beany" taste of soy milk. However,
when mixed with chocolate protein powder, it tastes very malty. MmmmmMmm.

Look carefully at the labels, there's significant variance between brands. Don't buy the "light"
kind -- you can add water and get the same result.

My usual breakfast is a mix of fat-reduced milk (with acidophilus because I like it that way), soy
milk, and protein powder. I don't care for solid food when I wake up, and that's a good
compromise.

Is your protein powder made from soy as well or whey protein? Just curious. What is the % of fat in
your fat-reduced milk? I haven't seen any milk with acidophilus. Do they specifically say *that* on
the label?

"amanda" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Deirdre Saoirse Moen) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Scopophobic)

Quoted message said:

I kinda like it. Any health risks associated with drinking a half

gallon or

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

more a day?

Yes. It is *quite* caloric. I try to buy the soy milk with the highest percentage of protein and
the lowest percentage of carbs. The mfrs use sugar to hide the "beany" taste of soy milk.
However, when mixed with chocolate protein powder, it tastes very malty. MmmmmMmm.

Look carefully at the labels, there's significant variance between

brands.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't buy the "light" kind -- you can add water and get the same result.

My usual breakfast is a mix of fat-reduced milk (with acidophilus

because

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I like it that way), soy milk, and protein powder. I don't care for

solid

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

food when I wake up, and that's a good compromise.

Is your protein powder made from soy as well or whey protein? Just curious. What is the % of fat
in your fat-reduced milk? I haven't seen any milk with acidophilus. Do they specifically say
*that* on the label?

fat reduced = 2% Acidophilus is normally in the 2 quart paper cartons in my part of the country. You
may need to change stores.

Yes, the say it on the front label.