isoflavins in soys

[Guest guest]

Thank you, Jo-Ann, for clarifying this issue, and for being

one of the FEW persons who comment on this issue

to have READ any of the materials.

 

Maynard

 

At 10:29 AM 8/13/00 -0400, LamourDelaVie wrote:

>In a message dated 8/13/00 3:22:54 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

>vegan writes:

>

> >

> > http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,353660,00.html

>

>Okay, I read the article and I see that the problem isnt soya, but the

>ispflavins in soys. So...the next question will be this...can you find soya

>without isoflavins?

>

>Here is that article cut and pasted for convenience...

>

>Jo-Ann

> >

>Soya alert over cancer and brain damage link

>

>Special report: what's wrong with our food?

>

>by Antony Barnett, public affairs editor

>Sunday August 13, 2000

>

>A health warning was sounded last night over the dangers of eating soya after

>two senior American government scientists revealed that chemicals in the

>product could increase the risk of breast cancer in women, brain damage in

>men and abnormalities in infants.

>The disclosure, which sent shockwaves through the multi-billion dollar food

>industry, came after the scientists decided to break ranks with colleagues in

>the US Food and Drug Administration and oppose its decision last year to

>approve a health claim that soya reduced the risk of heart disease. They

>wrote an internal protest letter warning of 28 studies revealing toxic

>effects of soya.

>

>In an interview with The Observer, one of the scientists, Daniel Doerge, an

>expert on soya, said: 'We have very real worries that this health claim will

>be used by the industry as an endorsement of much wider health benefits to

>soya beyond the heart. Research has shown a clear link between soya and the

>potential for adverse effects in humans.'

>

>BSE and other health scares related to meat have led to rocketing sales of

>soya-related products in Britain. But it is not just vegetarian foods such as

>tofu that use soya. It is a key ingredient in products from meat sausages and

>fish fingers to salad creams and breakfast cereals.

>

>The concerns of Doerge and fellow FDA researcher Daniel Sheehan focus on

>chemicals in soya known as isoflavones which have effects similar to the

>female hormone oestrogen.

>

>While these chemicals may help to prevent a range of conditions including

>high cholesterol, they also lead to health problems in animals including

>altering sexual development of foetuses and causing thyroid disorders.

>Although soy is thought to protect against breast cancer, some studies show

>that chemicals in soya may increase the chances of breast cancer which uses

>oestrogen-type hormones for growth.

>

>Their letter to the FDA seen by The Observer states: 'There is abundant

>evidence that some of the isoflavones found in soy demonstrate toxicity in

>oestrogen sensitive tissues and in the thyroid. Additionally, the adverse

>effects in humans occur in several tissues.

>

>'During pregnancy in humans, isoflavones per se could be a risk factor for

>abnormal brain and reproductive tract development.'

>

>This will frighten mothers who increasingly use soya milk for babies. Doerge

>said: 'They are exposing their children to chemicals which we know have

>adverse effects in animals. It's like doing a large uncontrolled and

>unmonitored experiment on infants.'

>

>The soya industry insists that most research shows the health benefits of

>soya outweigh risks and that adverse effects seen in animals do not apply to

>humans.

>

>Richard Barnes, European director of the US Soy Bean Association, said:

>'Millions of people around the world have been eating soya for years and have

>shown no signs of abnormalities or disorders.'

>

>Useful links:

>www.ifrn.bbsrc.ac.uk/public/FoodInfoSheets/soya.html

>Institute of Food Research information sheet on soya