Burros: Doubts Cloud Rosy News on Soy - NYT 01/26/2000

[Guest guest]

Haribol

 

Rice and dal give you complete protein. In India milk is not the source of

protein . certainly not soy. Dal and rice staple diet will keep you very

strong. There is over emphasis on protein in USA. ys Labangalatika dasi

 

-

Noma T. Petroff <npetroff (AT) bowdoin (DOT) edu>

Noma Petroff <npetroff (AT) bowdoin (DOT) edu>

Cc: Cow (Protection and related issues) <Cow (AT) pamho (DOT) net>

Sunday, May 08, 2005 12:17 AM

Burros: Doubts Cloud Rosy News on Soy - NYT 01/26/2000

 

 

> One key document in the controversy about soy products is this New York

Times

> article from January 2000 by Marian Burros. Below is the first half of

the

> article, just to give an idea about some of the worries being presented.

The

> article is a little long, but I can send the complete article to anyone

who is

> interested.

>

> What does all this have to do with cow protection? The answer is: the

problem

> of protein. We must have protein to build and maintain muscles in our

bodies.

>

> 1. Ideal solution: work the oxen and protect cows, then drink milk from

the

> cows.

>

> Unfortunately this solution is not available to most people right now.

> Alternatives:

>

> 2. Eat meat. Objection: cruely to animals, bad karma, unhealthy for a

number

> of reasons.

>

> 3. Drink milk from commercial cows. Objection: exploitation of cows in

modern

> dairy practice (including slaughter and inhumane treatment), pollutants in

> modern milk

>

> 4. Eat legumes such as soy beans. Be a vegan. Objection: Vegan diet is

> unnatural. There is no history of a vegan community in the world before

the

> 20th century -- because vegan diet does not provide vitamin B12 needed for

> brain and nerve tissue. In moder times artificial alternatives can be

> produced. Not enough vitamin D for strong bones. New Objection: Dangers

of

> soy, such as dangers of soy isoflavones.

>

> 5. Combination of various paths above, mixing the dangers of several.

>

> ANSWER: There appears to be no clear cut answer to this whole dilemma.

>

> It almost seem like anyone who feels they have a smug answer to this

situation

> is either not in tune to the realities of life for most people, is

ignorant, or

> simply arrogant. What do others think?

>

> your servant,

>

> Hare Krsna dasi

>

> ************************************

>

> New York Times 1/26/2000

>

> Doubts Cloud Rosy News on Soy

>

> By Marian Burros

>

>

> OVER the last several years, millions of Americans who had turned a deaf

ear to

> the virtues of soy have had a change of heart. Sales of the lowly bean,

which

> has been a staple of the Asian diet for millennia, have been skyrocketing

> because preliminary research suggested that soy has many life-enhancing

> benefits, from preventing bone density loss to easing some symptoms of

> menopause.

>

>

> In October, the federal government put its imprimatur on soy when it

allowed

> food companies to make the claim that soy protein reduces cholesterol and

the

> risk of heart disease. The other claims are still unproved, even though

soy in

> all its forms, from tofu and veggie burgers to shakes and supplements, is

being

> heavily promoted by its sellers as a panacea. The news media, too, have

been

> almost unanimous in praising its safety and efficacy.

>

>

> Against the backdrop of widespread praise, however, there is growing

suspicion

> that soy -- despite its undisputed benefits -- may pose some health

hazards.

> The scientific world is divided over many of the claims for efficacy and

over

> some safety issues, but there are two points on which there is agreement.

Soy

> is useful for reducing cholesterol. And there may be an increased risk of

> cancer associated with consuming the components of soy called isoflavones

in

> supplement form, particularly for post-menopausal women; and for these

women,

> there may also be hazards in adding soy foods to their diets.

>

>

> Isoflavones, particularly genistein and daidzein, are phytoestrogens.

These

> plant chemicals, which have estrogen-like hormonal effects on the body,

occur

> naturally in soybeans and foods made from them. Compared with chemical

> estrogens, the kind taken by women to reduce the symptoms of menopause,

> phytoestrogens are weak, but they act the same way: they can both inhibit

and

> stimulate the growth of certain types of cells.

>

>

> Not one of the 18 scientists interviewed for this column was willing to

say

> that taking isoflavones was risk free. Some particularly cautioned against

it.

> Dr. Margo Woods, an associate professor of medicine at Tufts University

School

> of Medicine, who specializes in nutrition and breast cancer, said: "As a

food,

> soy does a lot of great things, but once you start looking at different

> components like phytoestrogens, you are talking about pharmacological

things.

> It's wiser to talk about soy and soy foods. A whole food behaves very

> differently in the body than when you take one compound. We are looking

into

> the components, but we haven't been studying in the area long enough. I

would

> not recommend to anyone that they take isoflavones."

>

>

> Even before the Food and Drug Administration approved the

cholesterol-lowering

> health claim for soy, sales were booming. In 1998, 770,000 metric tons of

> soybeans were sold in this country to be turned into food products; in

1999 the

> figure rose to 1.007 million metric tons. Total sales of soy foods in

> supermarket chains during the 12 months ending in October were almost $420

> million, up 45 percent from the previous year's, according to Spins, a

natural

> products market research company in San Francisco. In natural food stores,

> sales in the six months ending in October were up 37 percent from the

previous

> six-month period. Many large companies like Kellogg's, General Mills,

Campbell

> Soup and ConAgra are developing new soy products in response to the

demand.

>

>

> The biggest jump has been in soy supplements, the isoflavone pills, whose

sales

> were up 246 percent in the 12 months ending in October. But the carefully

> worded health claim the Food and Drug Administration permits for

cholesterol

> reduction is for soy protein, not for isoflavones. To have that health

claim on

> its label, a food must be low in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol and

contain

> 6.5 grams of soy protein per serving. For the cholesterol-lowering effect,

25

> grams of soy protein must be added daily to a diet low in saturated fat

and

> cholesterol.

>

>

> The scientists are worried that the public is interpreting the approval of

soy

> protein as a recommendation to take soy supplements, which generally have

> higher levels of isoflavones than occur naturally in food. The highest

levels

> of naturally occurring isoflavones are found in soy beverages, cooked

soybeans

> and tempeh, and the range is wide. Some processed products, like sports

bars,

> have added isoflavones. Supplements can contain more than 85 milligrams of

> isoflavones in a single pill, and some manufacturers advise taking two

pills a

> day. There are soy protein concentrate powders with as much as 160

milligrams

> of isoflavones in a single serving.

>

>

> "People don't distinguish isoflavones from soy protein," said Dr. Daniel

> Sheehan, a research biologist at the F.D.A.'s National Center for

Toxicological

> Research in Jefferson, Ark. He also directs a program that studies

endocrine

> disrupters, which are chemicals like isoflavones with hormonal activity

that

> disrupts the endocrine system. "The approval of soy protein for

cardiovascular

> disease is going to lead to tremendous increase in the use of isoflavones,

and

> this rachets up concern levels," he added. For that reason, Dr. Sheehan

opposed

> the Food and Drug Administration's health claim label... (article

continues for

> 10 more paragraphs)

>

>

>

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