Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Soy

A friend asked me about consuming a lot of soy and all the controversy about it. I pulled the following studies. I think based on these studies that soy is like any other healthy food. For instance, Vit -D is good for you right? Eat too much and you die. It is simple. Though, most healthy foods do not kill you. You would not fair well if you ate the same thing day in and day out.

Human's are designed to eat a balanced diet to the best of their ability. One goat was meant to feed a family of 10 (small portions). On the other hand everyone may of had their fill of potatoes. But we are at our best when we eat a balanced meal. So, I have no problem with my family having a couple servings of soy each day. But mix it up. If your family drinks a lot of soy milk, serve rice based ice creme. On days when you serve soy tofu and soy sauce, hand out glasses of rice milk, hemp milk, oat milk, almond milk or water. In my house we are big soy milk drinkers and soy yogurt consumers. But our cheese is goat, sheep or cow and our icecreme (usually do not have desert) is dairy. From what I have read, soy is a problem if you eat a lot of processed foods. The soy is not the real problem, but the delusion held by consumers, thinking a processed food still may contain the healthy goodness the adds claim, though it no longer resembles the original soy bean. In addition if you have cancer, back off the soy...I would eat as many fruits and veggies as I could if cancer was an issue. No cancer = eat soy, Have Cancer = run the other way.


NON Fermented Soy - (Soy milk, Soy bean nuggets, Soy bergers, proceded foods, etc)


Soy Milk Lowers Blood Pressure - Journal of Nutrition (2002;132:1900–2)

Drinking soy milk regularly may lead to substantial reductions of blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition (2002;132:1900–2). Matt Brignall, ND is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Bastyr University.

No to Soy Supplements - Georgetown University

"meta-analysis does not find enough benefits to recommend use of soy supplements according to Leena Hilakivi-Clarke, Ph.D., a professor of oncology at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive cancer Center who studies the role of food-based estrogens in cancer prevention. She cautions against overuse of soy supplements, particularly by women at high risk for breast cancer or by breast cancer survivors."

Soy milk and Tofu (curd) - Cancer Research UK

"Researchers from Cancer Research UK, the National University of Singapore and the National Cancer Institute found that consumption of soy milk and tofu (soybean curd) may reduce the risk of breast cancer by as much as 60 percent, reports the Nando Times." Novemebr 2002

"Many cases of cancer are largely caused by the way estrogen acts on breast tissue, and the researchers speculate that the isoflavones in soy may block estrogen in the breast. "

Effect of soy milk consumption on serum estrogen concentrations in premenopausal Japanese women - 1998

Department of Public Health, Gifu University School of Medicine, Japan.

RESULTS: At the end of the study period, estrone and estradiol levels were decreased by 23% and 27%, respectively, in the soy milk-supplemented group and were increased by 0.6% and 4%, respectively, in the control group. The changes for each hormone between the two groups were not statistically significantly different. In the soy milk-supplemented group, menstrual cycle length was increased by nearly 2 days, and, in the control group, it was decreased by approximately 1 day, a difference that was not statistically significant. A subgroup analysis restricted to subjects who provided follicular-phase blood samples on the same day or 1 day apart in menstrual cycles 1 and 3 showed a reduction in serum estrone levels in the soy milk-supplemented group that was of borderline statistical significance (P = .07 for change in serum estrone level in soy milk -supplemented group versus control group).

CONCLUSION: Much larger studies will be required to confirm the ability of soy products to reduce serum estrogen levels.

Interesting Person: Lee-Jane Lu, PhD, associate professor, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

The following link is to Lu's profile page which includes studies she is working on.

http://www.utmb.edu/pmch/Divisions/nutrition/Lu/Lu.htm

Soy protein has a greater effect on bone in postmenopausal women not on hormone replacement therapy, as evidenced by reducing bone resorption and urinary calcium excretion

"Recent reports suggest that soy protein may reduce the risk of osteoporosis in peri- and postmenopausal women. The objective of this study was to examine whether soy supplementation exerts beneficial effects on serum and urinary biomarkers of bone metabolism in postmenopausal women, regardless of whether or not they are on hormone replacement therapy (HRT)"

Departments of Nutritional Sciences (B.H.A., D.A.K., B.J.S., E.A.L., S.J.) and Statistics (M.E.P.), Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078; and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (R.A.W.), University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73190


Say no to soy if you have cancer

"Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently announced results of research suggesting that the highly purified soy foods and soy supplements marketed in the United States may promote the growth of some pre-existing breast cancers. The study results, to be published in a future issue of the journal Carcinogenesis, showed that breast tumors in mice grew when the animals were fed highly processed soy products missing some of the natural components of whole soybeans."