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

[Guest guest]

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)