John Robbins comments on Soy

April 28, 2006

Since we just talked about Soy, I found this interesting.

Leah

An article titled " The Whole Soy Story, The Dark Side of America's Favorite

Health Food, " by Kaayla T. Daniel, appeared in the May/June 2004 issue of

Mothering Magazine. The article can be read at:

http://www.mothering.com/growing_child/food/soy_story.html Here is the

letter written in response to the article by John Robbins: May, 2004 To

the editor of Mothering Magazine: I’ve been a devoted fan of Mothering, and

read every issue for more than fifteen years. On many occasions I’ve given

subscriptions as gifts to new mothers and families. I’ve always understood why

Mothering readers have so much respect for the magazine, and place so much trust

in it. But the article you printed warning against soy products betrays that

trust. Actually, it wasn’t an article, it was a diatribe. Under the guise of

warning people, and pretending to be a voice of caution, it spreads fears that

are unwarranted, exaggerated, and fictitious. Young mothers don’t have the time

to

investigate the credibility and balance of the articles you print. They trust

you to do that for them. In this case, you failed them big time. I have no

association to the soy industry, but I do have a strong dedication to people

having accurate information about foods. It is difficult in a short letter to

respond to seven pages of biased material, particularly when each page is

crowded with half-truths, statements taken out of context, and conclusions drawn

inappropriately from data. The article’s author, Kaayla Daniel, repeatedly

says that people of China, Japan and other countries in Asia eat very little

soy, so there is no historical precedent for eating the amounts being

recommended by people like Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Christiane Northrup. This is

a misleading half truth. It is true that in parts of Asia, most notably China,

soy consumption has been low. But Asia is a very large area with several billion

people. What’s important is not the average soy

consumption for the whole of Asia, but the soy consumption in those parts of

Asia which demonstrate the highest levels of human health. And there is no

question about where that is. The elder population of Okinawa (a prefecture of

Japan) have the best health and greatest longevity on the planet. This is

important because the highest soy consumption in the world is in Okinawa. Many

North Americans know of Okinawa only for being the site of one of the longest

and bloodiest battles of World War II, and for now housing U.S. military bases.

But the people of Okinawa have repeatedly been shown to be the healthiest and

longest-lived people in the world. This has been demonstrated conclusively by

the renowned Okinawa Centenarian Study, a 25-year study sponsored by the

Japanese Ministry of Health. How much soy have the elder Okinawans eaten

throughout their lives? The Okinawa Centenarian Study included an extremely

thorough analysis of food consumption in the prefecture. The

principle investigators and authors of the study (Makoto Suzuki, M.D., Bradley

J. Willcox, M.D., and D. Craig Willcox, Ph.D.) state: “Okinawan elders eat an

average of two servings of flavonoid-rich soy products per day.” This is about

20 times more than the amount of soy Kaayla Daniel claims “Asians really eat.”

When she says “there is no historical precedent for eating the large amounts of

soy food now being consumed,” she is incorrect. Soy makes up twelve percent of

the diet of Okinawan elders. The authors of the Okinawan Centenarian Study

analyzed the diet and health profiles of Okinawan elders and compared them to

other elder populations throughout the world. They conclude that high soy

consumption is one of the main reasons that Okinawans are at extremely low risk

for hormone–dependent cancers, including cancers of the breast, prostate,

ovaries, and colon. Compared to North Americans, they have a staggering 80

percent less breast cancer and prostate cancer, and

less than half the ovarian cancer and colon cancer. This enormously reduced

cancer risk arises in part, the study’s authors say, from the Okinawans large

consumption of isoflavones from soy. This is an important finding. The lowest

cancer rates in the industrialized world are found in the Okinawans who consume

the most soy. Other studies have confirmed the link between soy consumption

and reduced cancer risk. The Japan Public Health Center Study found the lowest

breast cancer rates in those prefectures where women ate the most soy products.

And a recent study published in the British medical journal Lancet showed that

women who ate the most flavonoids (mostly isoflavones from soy products) had a

substantially lower risk for breast cancer than those who had lower flavonoid

intake. The reason the ardently pro-pharmaceutical FDA wound up affirming that

soybeans are a food that can prevent and even help cure disease was not, as

Kaayla Daniel says, because the agency is

in bed with the soy industry, but because the evidence was so convincing. The

reason the FDA now allows food manufacturers to talk about the benefits of

heart-healthy soy in their products is because the substantiating data are

overwhelming. Indeed, the authors of the 25-year Okinawa Centenarian Study

state that high soy consumption in Okinawa is one of the primary reasons elder

Okinawans have 80 percent fewer heart attacks than North Americans do. Their

high soy consumption is also why, if Okinawans do suffer a heart attack, they

are more than twice as likely to survive. These are staggering numbers. The

study’s authors state that if North Americans lived more like the elder

Okinawans, and ate the amount of soy they do, we “would have to close 80 percent

of the coronary care units and one-third of the cancer wards in the United

States, and a lot of nursing homes would also be out of business. By 1990,

Okinawan life expectancy figures had even surpassed the absolute

limits of population life expectancy assumed by the Japan Population Research

Institute. Limits had to be revised upwards simply to account for the phenomenal

longevity of the Okinawans.” It is not an accident that in Okinawa, home to

the highest soy consumption in the world, heart disease is minimal, breast

cancer is so rare that screening mammography is not needed, and most aging men

have never heard of prostate cancer. The three leading killers in the West —

coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer — occur in Okinawans with the lowest

frequency in the world. There’s also the fact that elder Okinawans have much

stronger bones than we do, and less than half the hip fractures that we do. The

authors of the Okinawa Centenarian Study attribute the increased bone strength

and health in Okinawa to soy consumption. Many other studies confirm the

connection between increased soy consumption and reduced osteoporosis. I am

very sorry that Mothering printed the article by

Kaayla Daniels because it is so full of bias and fallacies. Its authoritative

tone may sway some people to unnecessarily avoid soy, and that would be a shame.

For most people, consumption of the levels of whole soy foods recommended by

authors like Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Christiane Northrup, which correspond to

the levels eaten by the Okinawans, are not only safe, but tremendously helpful

to disease prevention and the creation of vibrant and resilient wellness. Of

course if you are allergic to any food, then you shouldn’t eat it. But dairy

products, for which soy products are often substituted, are more likely to

produce allergic reactions than soy. And by the way…

Cow’s milk provides more than nine times as much saturated fat as soy

beverages, so is far more likely to contribute to heart disease.

Soy beverages provide more than 10 times as much essential fatty acids as

cow’s milk, and so provide a healthier quality of fat.

Soy beverages are cholesterol-free, while cow’s milk contains 34 mg of

cholesterol per cup, which again means that cow’s milk is far worse for your

heart and cardiovascular system.

Soy beverages lower both total and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels, while

cow’s milk raises both total and LDL cholesterol levels, providing yet more

reasons soymilk is better for your health.

Soy beverages contain numerous protective phytochemicals that may protect

against chronic diseases such as heart disease and osteoporosis. Cow’s milk

contains no phytochemicals.

Men who consume one to two servings of soymilk per day are 70 percent less

likely to develop prostate cancer than men who don’t.

I do not understand why Mothering would allow its pages to be used for such a

misleading article. I hope that you allow more balanced voices substantial space

in the future to undo the damage you’ve done. Mothering’s readers expect and

deserve sane and helpful articles, especially about subjects like nutrition.

They don’t need more fear mongering. We’ve got quite enough of that in our

society today. Readers who want further information about health and longevity

in Okinawa can see the excellent book The Okinawa Program. And readers who

want to see a balanced response to many of the specific allegations made against

soy can visit: http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about_soy.htm John Robbins

Author, Diet For A New America, May All Be Fed, and The Food Revolution

Mail goes everywhere you do. Get it on your phone.

April 29, 2006

I wonder how much ADM stock John Robbins owns?

Tommie

http://www.rawburchard.blogspot.com

rawfood , Leah Morrison <l_morrison2002

wrote:

>

> Since we just talked about Soy, I found this interesting.

>

> Leah

>

> An article titled " The Whole Soy Story, The Dark Side of America's

Favorite Health Food, " by Kaayla T. Daniel, appeared in the May/June

2004 issue of Mothering Magazine. The article can be read at: http://

www.mothering.com/growing_child/food/soy_story.html Here is the

letter written in response to the article by John Robbins: May,

2004 To the editor of Mothering Magazine: I've been a devoted fan

of Mothering, and read every issue for more than fifteen years. On

many occasions I've given subscriptions as gifts to new mothers and

families. I've always understood why Mothering readers have so much

respect for the magazine, and place so much trust in it. But the

article you printed warning against soy products betrays that trust.

Actually, it wasn't an article, it was a diatribe. Under the guise of

warning people, and pretending to be a voice of caution, it spreads

fears that are unwarranted, exaggerated, and fictitious. Young mothers

don't have the time to

> investigate the credibility and balance of the articles you print.

They trust you to do that for them. In this case, you failed them big

time. I have no association to the soy industry, but I do have a

strong dedication to people having accurate information about foods.

It is difficult in a short letter to respond to seven pages of biased

material, particularly when each page is crowded with half-truths,

statements taken out of context, and conclusions drawn inappropriately

from data. The article's author, Kaayla Daniel, repeatedly says that

people of China, Japan and other countries in Asia eat very little

soy, so there is no historical precedent for eating the amounts being

recommended by people like Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Christiane

Northrup. This is a misleading half truth. It is true that in parts of

Asia, most notably China, soy consumption has been low. But Asia is a

very large area with several billion people. What's important is not

the average soy

> consumption for the whole of Asia, but the soy consumption in those

parts of Asia which demonstrate the highest levels of human health.

And there is no question about where that is. The elder population of

Okinawa (a prefecture of Japan) have the best health and greatest

longevity on the planet. This is important because the highest soy

consumption in the world is in Okinawa. Many North Americans know of

Okinawa only for being the site of one of the longest and bloodiest

battles of World War II, and for now housing U.S. military bases. But

the people of Okinawa have repeatedly been shown to be the healthiest

and longest-lived people in the world. This has been demonstrated

conclusively by the renowned Okinawa Centenarian Study, a 25-year

study sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Health. How much soy

have the elder Okinawans eaten throughout their lives? The Okinawa

Centenarian Study included an extremely thorough analysis of food

consumption in the prefecture. The

> principle investigators and authors of the study (Makoto Suzuki, M.

D., Bradley J. Willcox, M.D., and D. Craig Willcox, Ph.D.) state:

" Okinawan elders eat an average of two servings of flavonoid-rich soy

products per day. " This is about 20 times more than the amount of

soy Kaayla Daniel claims " Asians really eat. " When she says " there is

no historical precedent for eating the large amounts of soy food now

being consumed, " she is incorrect. Soy makes up twelve percent of the

diet of Okinawan elders. The authors of the Okinawan Centenarian

Study analyzed the diet and health profiles of Okinawan elders and

compared them to other elder populations throughout the world. They

conclude that high soy consumption is one of the main reasons that

Okinawans are at extremely low risk for hormone–dependent cancers,

including cancers of the breast, prostate, ovaries, and colon.

Compared to North Americans, they have a staggering 80 percent less

breast cancer and prostate cancer, and

> less than half the ovarian cancer and colon cancer. This

enormously reduced cancer risk arises in part, the study's authors

say, from the Okinawans large consumption of isoflavones from soy.

This is an important finding. The lowest cancer rates in the

industrialized world are found in the Okinawans who consume the most

soy. Other studies have confirmed the link between soy consumption

and reduced cancer risk. The Japan Public Health Center Study found

the lowest breast cancer rates in those prefectures where women ate

the most soy products. And a recent study published in the British

medical journal Lancet showed that women who ate the most flavonoids

(mostly isoflavones from soy products) had a substantially lower risk

for breast cancer than those who had lower flavonoid intake. The

reason the ardently pro-pharmaceutical FDA wound up affirming that

soybeans are a food that can prevent and even help cure disease was

not, as Kaayla Daniel says, because the agency is

> in bed with the soy industry, but because the evidence was so

convincing. The reason the FDA now allows food manufacturers to talk

about the benefits of heart-healthy soy in their products is because

the substantiating data are overwhelming. Indeed, the authors of the

25-year Okinawa Centenarian Study state that high soy consumption in

Okinawa is one of the primary reasons elder Okinawans have 80 percent

fewer heart attacks than North Americans do. Their high soy

consumption is also why, if Okinawans do suffer a heart attack, they

are more than twice as likely to survive. These are staggering

numbers. The study's authors state that if North Americans lived more

like the elder Okinawans, and ate the amount of soy they do, we " would

have to close 80 percent of the coronary care units and one-third of

the cancer wards in the United States, and a lot of nursing homes

would also be out of business. By 1990, Okinawan life expectancy

figures had even surpassed the absolute

> limits of population life expectancy assumed by the Japan

Population Research Institute. Limits had to be revised upwards simply

to account for the phenomenal longevity of the Okinawans. " It is not

an accident that in Okinawa, home to the highest soy consumption in

the world, heart disease is minimal, breast cancer is so rare that

screening mammography is not needed, and most aging men have never

heard of prostate cancer. The three leading killers in the West —

coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer — occur in Okinawans with

the lowest frequency in the world. There's also the fact that elder

Okinawans have much stronger bones than we do, and less than half the

hip fractures that we do. The authors of the Okinawa Centenarian Study

attribute the increased bone strength and health in Okinawa to soy

consumption. Many other studies confirm the connection between

increased soy consumption and reduced osteoporosis. I am very sorry

that Mothering printed the article by

> Kaayla Daniels because it is so full of bias and fallacies. Its

authoritative tone may sway some people to unnecessarily avoid soy,

and that would be a shame. For most people, consumption of the levels

of whole soy foods recommended by authors like Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr.

Christiane Northrup, which correspond to the levels eaten by the

Okinawans, are not only safe, but tremendously helpful to disease

prevention and the creation of vibrant and resilient wellness. Of

course if you are allergic to any food, then you shouldn't eat it. But

dairy products, for which soy products are often substituted, are more

likely to produce allergic reactions than soy. And by the way…

> Cow's milk provides more than nine times as much saturated fat as

soy beverages, so is far more likely to contribute to heart disease.

> Soy beverages provide more than 10 times as much essential fatty

acids as cow's milk, and so provide a healthier quality of fat.

> Soy beverages are cholesterol-free, while cow's milk contains 34

mg of cholesterol per cup, which again means that cow's milk is far

worse for your heart and cardiovascular system.

> Soy beverages lower both total and LDL ( " bad " ) cholesterol

levels, while cow's milk raises both total and LDL cholesterol levels,

providing yet more reasons soymilk is better for your health.

> Soy beverages contain numerous protective phytochemicals that may

protect against chronic diseases such as heart disease and

osteoporosis. Cow's milk contains no phytochemicals.

> Men who consume one to two servings of soymilk per day are 70

percent less likely to develop prostate cancer than men who don't.

> I do not understand why Mothering would allow its pages to be used

for such a misleading article. I hope that you allow more balanced

voices substantial space in the future to undo the damage you've done.

Mothering's readers expect and deserve sane and helpful articles,

especially about subjects like nutrition. They don't need more fear

mongering. We've got quite enough of that in our society today.

Readers who want further information about health and longevity in

Okinawa can see the excellent book The Okinawa Program. And readers

who want to see a balanced response to many of the specific

allegations made against soy can visit: http://www.foodrevolution.org/

what_about_soy.htm John Robbins Author, Diet For A New America,

May All Be Fed, and The Food Revolution

>

> Mail goes everywhere you do. Get it on your phone.

>

April 30, 2006

I am always so confused when I read reports like these:

I lived in Asia, specifically Taiwan and Hong Kong. Before that, I

had numerous Chinese and Korean friends. My room-mate of the last six

years is Japanese, from Tokyo.

In my experience, the Chinese down quite a bit of soy. They consume

tofu fresh, dried in several forms, baked, and as soy milk. Soy is

laced all through Chinese cooking. Soy sauce is a very basic

condiment, often found on tables in restaurants and homes. The first

place I learned of soymilk was in a Chinese home, and the place I

learned to make it was a Chinese home. The only places I have ever

found to buy fresh soymilk have been Chinese markets.

In my experience with Koreans, I find tofu sitting fresh in tubs of

water in every Korean market I visit. Could it be that Americans are

invading and eating all that tofu? I think not -- it looks unsanitary

to me, although my room-mate likes it. One basic Korean condiment,

found in a number of Korean dishes, is ko-ji-jang, which is soybean

paste mixed with red pepper. A soup called soon-doo-boo, which is

made with big chunks of tofu, is so popular that Koreans have whole

restaurants devoted to it. My Korean students regularly drink

commercial soy milk from bottles with Korean letters on them. I don't

think they have gotten these habits here. In Korean restaurants, soy

sauce is normally on the tables.

Japanese people eat not only tofu, but also fresh soybeans, soy sauce,

and natto, a fermented soy bean product which is popular enough that

some people eat it on a daily basis, believing it to be healthy.

Miso, a fermented soybean paste, is a very basic ingredient in

Japanese cooking. I am not privy to all the wonders of Japanese

cooking, as my room-mate is fascinated by McDonalds, but, when she

cooks, there is some soy product in whatever is on the plate.

As a result of these experiences, which are not by any means anything

which could be called empirical evidence, but which *are* things that

I have seen with my own eyes over a 20 year period, I simply cannot

trust the research which indicates that Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans

do not eat much soy.

The person who conducted this research may also be of the mistaken

belief that Asians do not go gray or bald, and that overweight and

diabetes are not issues in Asian countries -- issues I will address at

some other time.

Margaret

April 30, 2006

Leah - I enjoyed and LOVED this article you quoted from by John Robbins.

I have known for years that soy is very important - more important than our

country

ever told us about. We fed it to the cows in emormous amounts instead of

pushing

it for us Americans to eat. We are the ones that GROW IT and send it to

China and

other countries overseas! What do you think about that!!!!! We NEVER ATE

IT OVER HERE.

Our country advocates and pushes foods that make people sick. That's really

so sad.

I went to Immunologist's nutrition class for 6 years and learned that whole

foods are the most important to feed our bodies with - better than anything

isolated - even oranged juice

is isolated unless you keep all the fiber together with the orange. Dr.

Chen is a person

who studies food - plants and herbs (is anything else really food?) under

the microscope and

sees what they actually do to your cells. Building up our immune system is

one of the most important reasons we eat - so that our OWN bodies can fight

all the junk that is in the air and all around us. SOY IS VERY POWERFUL for

our whole health. She said if you knew what she knew - you would eat it

everyday. You only need a small amount like 1/4 of a cup. She doesn't

advocate tofu or anything that is partially soy. WHOLE FOODS heals and

strengthens our bodies.

blah blah blah.

I am not trying to convince anyone here.

I don't want to get in any argument.

I don't even care to even talk about soy anymore.

I DID enjoy the article that Leah shared. big time.

Eating is everyone's choice.

I love my free agency.

Judy

On 4/28/06, Leah Morrison <l_morrison2002 wrote:

>

> Since we just talked about Soy, I found this interesting.

>

> Leah

>

> An article titled " The Whole Soy Story, The Dark Side of America's

> Favorite Health Food, " by Kaayla T. Daniel, appeared in the May/June 2004

> issue of Mothering Magazine. The article can be read at:

> http://www.mothering.com/growing_child/food/soy_story.html Here is

> the letter written in response to the article by John Robbins: May,

> 2004 To the editor of Mothering Magazine: I've been a devoted fan of

> Mothering, and read every issue for more than fifteen years. On many

> occasions I've given subscriptions as gifts to new mothers and families.

> I've always understood why Mothering readers have so much respect for the

> magazine, and place so much trust in it. But the article you printed

> warning against soy products betrays that trust. Actually, it wasn't an

> article, it was a diatribe. Under the guise of warning people, and

> pretending to be a voice of caution, it spreads fears that are unwarranted,

> exaggerated, and fictitious. Young mothers don't have the time to

> investigate the credibility and balance of the articles you print. They

> trust you to do that for them. In this case, you failed them big time. I

> have no association to the soy industry, but I do have a strong dedication

> to people having accurate information about foods. It is difficult in a

> short letter to respond to seven pages of biased material, particularly when

> each page is crowded with half-truths, statements taken out of context, and

> conclusions drawn inappropriately from data. The article's author, Kaayla

> Daniel, repeatedly says that people of China, Japan and other countries in

> Asia eat very little soy, so there is no historical precedent for eating the

> amounts being recommended by people like Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Christiane

> Northrup. This is a misleading half truth. It is true that in parts of Asia,

> most notably China, soy consumption has been low. But Asia is a very large

> area with several billion people. What's important is not the average soy

> consumption for the whole of Asia, but the soy consumption in those parts

> of Asia which demonstrate the highest levels of human health. And there is

> no question about where that is. The elder population of Okinawa (a

> prefecture of Japan) have the best health and greatest longevity on the

> planet. This is important because the highest soy consumption in the world

> is in Okinawa. Many North Americans know of Okinawa only for being the site

> of one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War II, and for now

> housing U.S. military bases. But the people of Okinawa have repeatedly

> been shown to be the healthiest and longest-lived people in the world. This

> has been demonstrated conclusively by the renowned Okinawa Centenarian

> Study, a 25-year study sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Health. How

> much soy have the elder Okinawans eaten throughout their lives? The Okinawa

> Centenarian Study included an extremely thorough analysis of food

> consumption in the prefecture. The

> principle investigators and authors of the study (Makoto Suzuki, M.D.,

> Bradley J. Willcox, M.D., and D. Craig Willcox, Ph.D.) state: " Okinawan

> elders eat an average of two servings of flavonoid-rich soy products per

> day. " This is about 20 times more than the amount of soy Kaayla Daniel

> claims " Asians really eat. " When she says " there is no historical precedent

> for eating the large amounts of soy food now being consumed, " she is

> incorrect. Soy makes up twelve percent of the diet of Okinawan elders. The

> authors of the Okinawan Centenarian Study analyzed the diet and health

> profiles of Okinawan elders and compared them to other elder populations

> throughout the world. They conclude that high soy consumption is one of the

> main reasons that Okinawans are at extremely low risk for hormone–dependent

> cancers, including cancers of the breast, prostate, ovaries, and colon.

> Compared to North Americans, they have a staggering 80 percent less breast

> cancer and prostate cancer, and

> less than half the ovarian cancer and colon cancer. This enormously

> reduced cancer risk arises in part, the study's authors say, from the

> Okinawans large consumption of isoflavones from soy. This is an important

> finding. The lowest cancer rates in the industrialized world are found in

> the Okinawans who consume the most soy. Other studies have confirmed the

> link between soy consumption and reduced cancer risk. The Japan Public

> Health Center Study found the lowest breast cancer rates in those

> prefectures where women ate the most soy products. And a recent study

> published in the British medical journal Lancet showed that women who ate

> the most flavonoids (mostly isoflavones from soy products) had a

> substantially lower risk for breast cancer than those who had lower

> flavonoid intake. The reason the ardently pro-pharmaceutical FDA wound up

> affirming that soybeans are a food that can prevent and even help cure

> disease was not, as Kaayla Daniel says, because the agency is

> in bed with the soy industry, but because the evidence was so convincing.

> The reason the FDA now allows food manufacturers to talk about the benefits

> of heart-healthy soy in their products is because the substantiating data

> are overwhelming. Indeed, the authors of the 25-year Okinawa Centenarian

> Study state that high soy consumption in Okinawa is one of the primary

> reasons elder Okinawans have 80 percent fewer heart attacks than North

> Americans do. Their high soy consumption is also why, if Okinawans do suffer

> a heart attack, they are more than twice as likely to survive. These are

> staggering numbers. The study's authors state that if North Americans lived

> more like the elder Okinawans, and ate the amount of soy they do, we " would

> have to close 80 percent of the coronary care units and one-third of the

> cancer wards in the United States, and a lot of nursing homes would also be

> out of business. By 1990, Okinawan life expectancy figures had even

> surpassed the absolute

> limits of population life expectancy assumed by the Japan Population

> Research Institute. Limits had to be revised upwards simply to account for

> the phenomenal longevity of the Okinawans. " It is not an accident that in

> Okinawa, home to the highest soy consumption in the world, heart disease is

> minimal, breast cancer is so rare that screening mammography is not needed,

> and most aging men have never heard of prostate cancer. The three leading

> killers in the West — coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer — occur in

> Okinawans with the lowest frequency in the world. There's also the fact

> that elder Okinawans have much stronger bones than we do, and less than half

> the hip fractures that we do. The authors of the Okinawa Centenarian Study

> attribute the increased bone strength and health in Okinawa to soy

> consumption. Many other studies confirm the connection between increased soy

> consumption and reduced osteoporosis. I am very sorry that Mothering

> printed the article by

> Kaayla Daniels because it is so full of bias and fallacies. Its

> authoritative tone may sway some people to unnecessarily avoid soy, and that

> would be a shame. For most people, consumption of the levels of whole soy

> foods recommended by authors like Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Christiane

> Northrup, which correspond to the levels eaten by the Okinawans, are not

> only safe, but tremendously helpful to disease prevention and the creation

> of vibrant and resilient wellness. Of course if you are allergic to any

> food, then you shouldn't eat it. But dairy products, for which soy products

> are often substituted, are more likely to produce allergic reactions than

> soy. And by the way…

> Cow's milk provides more than nine times as much saturated fat as soy

> beverages, so is far more likely to contribute to heart disease.

> Soy beverages provide more than 10 times as much essential fatty acids

> as cow's milk, and so provide a healthier quality of fat.

> Soy beverages are cholesterol-free, while cow's milk contains 34 mg of

> cholesterol per cup, which again means that cow's milk is far worse for your

> heart and cardiovascular system.

> Soy beverages lower both total and LDL ( " bad " ) cholesterol levels,

> while cow's milk raises both total and LDL cholesterol levels, providing yet

> more reasons soymilk is better for your health.

> Soy beverages contain numerous protective phytochemicals that may

> protect against chronic diseases such as heart disease and osteoporosis.

> Cow's milk contains no phytochemicals.

> Men who consume one to two servings of soymilk per day are 70 percent

> less likely to develop prostate cancer than men who don't.

> I do not understand why Mothering would allow its pages to be used for

> such a misleading article. I hope that you allow more balanced voices

> substantial space in the future to undo the damage you've done. Mothering's

> readers expect and deserve sane and helpful articles, especially about

> subjects like nutrition. They don't need more fear mongering. We've got

> quite enough of that in our society today. Readers who want further

> information about health and longevity in Okinawa can see the excellent book

> The Okinawa Program. And readers who want to see a balanced response to

> many of the specific allegations made against soy can visit:

> http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about_soy.htm John Robbins Author,

> Diet For A New America, May All Be Fed, and The Food Revolution

>

> Mail goes everywhere you do. Get it on your phone.

>

April 30, 2006

would be interesting to know what the Asian rate for osteoporosis is.

Shari

April 30, 2006

This is VERY interesting to me because my daughter has been losing her hair for

the past 2 years. We have been SAD for most of their lives and vegetarian

intermittently. I am now trying to incorporate raw foods into our diet. At

first I went to a chiropracter and she did a hair analysis. Told me that soy

was poison and to eat low carb organic meat. Well, my daughter is still loosing

her hair. Obviously the meat was not the cure all. She also gave Hannaha

supplements that she was deficient in. From this perspective a mostly or raw

diet only makes sense. Why take the supplements when she can get the real deal?

Her traditional doctors say that nutrition has nothing to do with her hair loss.

If Alopecia Areata is an autoimmune disease, how can it be denied that nutrition

plays a part in a healty immune system? It's all very maddening but I am glad I

found this group because I have felt much better since cleaning up my diet. I

am still not 100% yet but I can tell

you that my nails don't chip anymore and they are alot stronger!

Heather

Judy Cozza <judycozza wrote: