Research On Why You Should Avoid Soy

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Research On Why You Should Avoid Soy

by Sally Fallon & Mary G. Enig, PhD

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 after puberty,

not only in the development of his sexual organs and other 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 without saying that future patterns of sexual

orientation may also be 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 breakdown

product of DDT) may cause early sexual development in girls.62 In the 1986

Puerto Rico Premature Thelarche study, the most significant dietary association

with premature sexual development was not chicken - as reported 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 with

children of both sexes who were fed soy-based formula, including 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 neurobehavioral attributes, immune function and

sex hormone levels. " The results, he said, " could be nothing or could be

something of great concern...if mom is eating something that can act like sex

hormones, it is 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 interviewed 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:

1. 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.

2. Houghton, Dean, " Healthful Harvest " , The Furrow, January 2000, pp. 10-13.

3. Coleman, Richard J., " Vegetable Protein - A Delayed Birth? " Journal of the

American Oil Chemists' Society 52:238A, April 1975.

4. See www/unitedsoybean.org.

5. These are listed in www.soyonlineservice.co.nz.

6. Wall Street Journal, October 27, 1995.

7. Smith, James F., " Healthier tortillas could lead to healthier Mexico " , Denver

Post, August 22, 1999, p. 26A.

8. " Bakery says new loaf can help reduce hot flushes " , Reuters, September 15,

1997.

9. " Beefing Up Burgers with Soy Products at School " , Nutrition Week, Community

Nutrition Institute, Washington, DC, June 5, 1998, p. 2.

10. Urquhart, John, " A Health Food Hits Big Time " , Wall Street Journal, August

3, 1999, p. B1

11. " Soyabean Milk Plant in Kenya " , Africa News Service, September 1998.

12. Simoons, Frederick J., Food in China: A Cultural and Historical Inquiry, CRC

Press, Boca Raton, 1991, p. 64.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. El Tiney, A.H., " Proximate Composition and Mineral and Phytate Contents of

Legumes Grown in Sudan " , Journal of Food Composition and Analysis (1989) 2:6778.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. Mellanby, Edward, " Experimental rickets: The effect of cereals and their

interaction with other factors of diet and environment in producing rickets " ,

Journal of the Medical Research Council 93:265, March 1925; Wills, M.R. et al.,

" Phytic Acid and Nutritional Rickets in Immigrants " , The Lancet, April 8,1972,

pp. 771-773.

21. Rackis et al., ibid.

22. Rackis et al., ibid., p. 232.

23. Wallace, G.M., " Studies on the Processing and Properties of Soymilk " ,

Journal of Science and Food Agriculture 22:526-535, October 1971.

24. Rackis, et al., ibid., p. 22; " Evaluation of the Health Aspects of Soy

Protein Isolates as Food Ingredients " , prepared for FDA by Life Sciences

Research Office, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (9650

Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20014), USA, Contract No. FDA 223-75-2004, 1979.

25. See www/truthinlabeling.org.

26. Rackis, Joseph, J., " Biological and Physiological Factors in Soybeans " ,

Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society 51:161A-170A, January 1974.

27. Rackis, Joseph J. et al., " The USDA trypsin inhibitor study " , ibid.

28. Torum, Benjamin, " Nutritional Quality of Soybean Protein Isolates: Studies

in Children of Preschool Age " , in Soy Protein and Human Nutrition, Harold L

Wilcke et al. (eds), Academic Press, New York, 1979.

29. Zreik, Marwin, CCN, " The Great Soy Protein Awakening " , Total Health 32(1),

February 2000.

30. IEH Assessment on Phytoestrogens in the Human Diet, Final Report to the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, UK, November 1997, p. 11.

31. Food Labeling: Health Claims: Soy Protein and Coronary Heart Disease, Food

and Drug Administration 21 CFR, Part 101 (Docket No. 98P-0683).

32. Sheegan, Daniel M. and Daniel R Doerge, Letter to Dockets Management Branch

(HFA-305), February 18, 1999.

33. Anderson, James W. et al., " Meta-analysis of the Effects of Soy Protein

Intake on Serum Lipids " , New England Journal of Medicine (1995) 333:(5):276-282.

34. Guy, Camille, " Doctors warned against magic, quackery " , New Zealand Herald,

September 9, 1995, section 8, p. 5.

35. Sander, Kate and Hilary Wilson, " FDA approves new health claim for soy, but

litte fallout expected for dairy " , Cheese Market News, October 22, 1999, p. 24.

36. Enig, Mary G. and Sally Fallon, " The Oiling of America " , NEXUS Magazine,

December 1998-January 1999 and February-March 1999; also available at

www.WestonAPrice.org.

37. Natural Medicine News (L & H Vitamins, 32-33 47th Avenue, Long Island City,

NY 11101), USA, January/February 2000, p. 8.

38. Harras, Angela (ed.), Cancer Rates and Risks, National Institutes of Health,

National Cancer Institute, 1996, 4th edition.

39. Searle, Charles E. (ed.), Chemical Carcinogens, ACS Monograph 173, American

Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1976.

40. Nagata, C. et al., Journal of Nutrition (1998) 128:209-213.

41. Campbell, Colin T. et al., The Cornell Project in China.

42. Chang, K.C. (ed.), Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical

Perspectives, New Haven, 1977.

43. Messina, Mark J. et al., " Soy Intake and Cancer Risk: A Review of the In

Vitro and In Vivo Data " , Nutrition and Cancer (1994) 21(2):113-131.

44. Rackis et al, " The USDA trypsin inhibitor study " , ibid.

45. Petrakis, N.L. et al., " Stimulatory influence of soy protein isolate on

breast secretion in pre- and post-menopausal women " , Cancer Epid. Bio. Prev.

(1996) 5:785-794.

46. Dees, C. et al., " Dietary estrogens stimulate human breast cells to enter

the cell cycle " , Environmental Health Perspectives (1997) 105(Suppl. 3):633-636.

47. Woodhams, D.J., " Phytoestrogens and parrots: The anatomy of an

investigation " , Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of New Zealand (1995)

20:22-30.

48. Matrone, G. et al., " Effect of Genistin on Growth and Development of the

Male Mouse " , Journal of Nutrition (1956) 235-240.

49. Ishizuki, Y. et al., " The effects on the thyroid gland of soybeans

administered experimentally in healthy subjects " , Nippon Naibunpi Gakkai Zasshi

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50. Divi, R.L. et al., " Anti-thyroid isoflavones from the soybean " , Biochemical

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51. Cassidy, A. et al., " Biological Effects of a Diet of Soy Protein Rich in

Isoflavones on the Menstrual Cycle of Premenopausal Women " , American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition (1994) 60:333-340.

52. Murphy, P.A., " Phytoestrogen Content of Processed Soybean Foods " , Food

Technology, January 1982, pp. 60-64.

53. Bulletin de L'Office Fédéral de la Santé Publique, no. 28, July 20, 1992.

54. Keung, W.M., " Dietary oestrogenic isoflavones are potent inhibitors of

B-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase of P. testosteronii " , Biochemical and Biophysical

Research Committee (1995) 215:1137-1144; Makela, S.I. et al., " Estrogen-specific

12 B-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase type 1 (E.C. 1.1.1.62) as a possible target

for the action of phytoestrogens " , PSEBM (1995) 208:51-59.

55. Setchell, K.D.R. et al., " Dietary oestrogens - a probable cause of

infertility and liver disease in captive cheetahs " , Gastroenterology (1987)

93:225-233; Leopald, A.S., " Phytoestrogens: Adverse effects on reproduction in

California Quail, " Science (1976) 191:98-100; Drane, H.M. et al., " Oestrogenic

activity of soya-bean products " , Food, Cosmetics and Technology (1980)

18:425-427; Kimura, S. et al., " Development of malignant goiter by defatted

soybean with iodine-free diet in rats " , Gann. (1976) 67:763-765; Pelissero, C.

et al., " Oestrogenic effect of dietary soybean meal on vitellogenesis in

cultured Siberian Sturgeon Acipenser baeri " , Gen. Comp. End. (1991) 83:447-457;

Braden et al., " The oestrogenic activity and metabolism of certain isoflavones

in sheep " , Australian J. Agricultural Research (1967) 18:335-348.

56. Ginsburg, Jean and Giordana M. Prelevic, " Is there a proven place for

phytoestrogens in the menopause? " , Climacteric (1999) 2:75-78.

57. Setchell, K.D. et al., " Isoflavone content of infant formulas and the

metabolic fate of these early phytoestrogens in early life " , American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition, December 1998 Supplement, 1453S-1461S.

58. Irvine, C. et al., " The Potential Adverse Effects of Soybean Phytoestrogens

in Infant Feeding " , New Zealand Medical Journal May 24, 1995, p. 318.

59. Hagger, C. and J. Bachevalier, " Visual habit formation in 3-month-old

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manipulations of androgen " , Behavior and Brain Research (1991) 45:57-63.

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61. Herman-Giddens, Marcia E. et al., " Secondary Sexual Characteristics and

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environmental factors " , American Journal of Diseases of Children

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