Post by Katie on Sept 25, 2004 12:09:43 GMT -5
Source: Better Nutrition Magazine
THE TRUTH ABOUT SOY
Terry Adams
Source: Better Nutrition Magazine
Perhaps, in these distrustful times, a backlash was to be expected: Thirty years after being introduced as the miracle food in North America and 5,000 years after it's discovery in Asia as an important source of protien the once-unasuming soybean is suddenly the subject of controversy. For example, one book warns of the ploy of soy, implying sinister motives on the part of those who grow, market and defend it. Contrary to popular opinion, the naysayers assert, soy can actually be harmful.
Fortunately, this just isn't so, as any reasonably objective survey of the evidence attests. Not even the critics doubt that soy packs a wide-ranging nutritional wallop and furnishes superior protein.
Reduced to its simplest terms, the case against soy such as it is, is rooted in the fact that soy is high in phytoestrogen, or plant-based estrogen, and that high estrogen levels are a risk factor for breast cancer. But the latest studies demonstrate that cautions about too much soy are groundless.
Protein Power
Repeatedly lost in all this talk about soy's risks lies a basic fact: Soy is not merely a meat alternative for vegetarians. Research continues to show that soy is nature's only plant source of complete protein. A complete protein provides all eight of the essential amino acids that foods must supply because the human body can't make them itself. Like meat and dairy products, soy furnishes the full protein profile, but with a difference.
Unlike meat and dairy, soy is extremely low in cholesterol and saturated fat, an artery-clogging cause of coronary heart disease, which is North America's leading cause of death. Add in soy's high fiber and vitamin B6 content, and it's clear: Soy is the healthiest protein source. No other plant food can make that claim. In fact, no other food can make that claim.
Wouldn't any bean do? Nope. No other bean offers all eight essential amino acids. And besides offering higher-quality protein, the soybean's protein makes up 35 - 38 percent of its total calories, compared to about 20 - 30 percent for other beans.
Heart Health
Other soy advantages come from its rich source of isoflavones' beneficial, estrogen-like plant hormones. Soy's isoflavones lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol. Isoflavones also decrease thrombosis, or blood clotting. And together, these results reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. In October 1999, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially recognized this health benefit by allowing foods containing at least 6.25 grams of soy per serving to state: "Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein per day may reduce the risk of heart disease." And there's more.
Soy's isoflavones also reduce plaque in arteries, improve blood pressure, increase brain and nerve-cell function and lower high blood pressure. Even people with low cholesterol benefit from soy because it boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol.
Blood Bean
And research that the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Brookline, Massachusetts, reported in November 2002 concluded that a handful of roasted soy nuts daily produces the same reductions in blood pressure that some medications do.
The favorable studies keep piling up. The August 2002 issue of Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association, reported that the essential fatty acid known as omega-6, an essential polyunsaturated fat that must come from the diet because the body cannot make it, protects against strokes. Another essential fat, omega-3, also protects against heart disease. And soy contains both types of omegas.
A study conducted by the University of Toronto and St. Michael's Hospital, both located in Toronto, and published in the December 2002 issue of Metabolism, found that diets combining soy, nuts and oat-based fibers drop LDL levels by a dramatic 29 percent. That matches the reduction that some pharmaceutical drug treatments achieve. This opens up the possibility that diet can be used much more widely to lower blood cholesterol and possibly spare some individuals from having to take drugs, which may cause side effects, said lead author David Jenkins, MD, PhD.
Cancer Concepts
Then there is soy's supposed cancer link. The isoflavones and protein in soy provide antioxidants, which are compounds that neutralize free radicals, the toxic, oxygen-based molecules that damage cell membranes and DNA. Antioxidants reduce free-radical damage, which includes cancer and aging. And soy's soluble fiber reduces the risk of many digestive cancers such as colon and rectal cancer. The water-absorbing fiber may dilute intestinal carcinogens and usher them out of the body, as well as spur growth of bifidobacteria, the good bacteria that help prevent colon cancer.
Isoflavones are the primary ingredients in the "smart bomb," a drug that University of Minnesota scientists believe may cure childhood leukemia. And isoflavones guard the body against many hormone-related cancers such as breast, uterine and prostate cancer.
Numerous early studies showed that consumption of tofu, soybeans and soymilk lowered the incidence of dense breast tissue, which is considered a high risk for breast cancer.
Contrary to the popular soy scare, women who consume soy foods are less susceptible to breast cancer, but the exact mechanism is unknown. Here's one theory: Once digested, the soybean's phytoestrogens mimic the activity of a woman's natural estrogen hormones. Some of the body's receptors accept the phyto estrogens, which are significantly weaker than natural estrogens instead of the body's own estrogens. Thus, a woman's overall estrogen level is lower. Because high estrogen levels are linked to breast cancer, a reduced level lessens a woman's risk of cancer.
Menopause Relief
Holistic health practitioners have long recommended the use of phyto estrogen-filled soy foods to help prevent hormone-related can cers and to aid women in relieving symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes. Some perimenopausal and menopausal wom en receive prescriptions from their physicians for soy-based hormone replacement therapy. These therapies are derived from soy and yam and have the same chemical structure as hormones manufactured by the human body. Because they replicate the behavior of natural estrogen, they are known as bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT).
Taking BHRT is not the same as relying on soy foods alone to aid in symptom relief because BHRT contains a higher concentration of phytoestrogens. Many wo men have had great success with BHRT. Even better, a woman may have a soy allergy but may still be able to tolerate BHRT.
Although men don't produce estrogen, the addition of soy and phytoestrogen to their diets can help improve their cardiovascular health, and soy appears to help prevent prostate cancer by inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. In fact, a key study published in the December 2002 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention concludes that a supplement containing four iso-flavones, two of which are found in soy, causes pre-cancerous prostate cancer cells to die in numbers five times greater than normal. This finding likely explains why soy-consuming Asian men, who get pre-cancerous cells at rates similar to US men, develop only 3.4 percent of the number of prostate cancers that US men do.
(cont'd in next post)
THE TRUTH ABOUT SOY
Terry Adams
Source: Better Nutrition Magazine
Perhaps, in these distrustful times, a backlash was to be expected: Thirty years after being introduced as the miracle food in North America and 5,000 years after it's discovery in Asia as an important source of protien the once-unasuming soybean is suddenly the subject of controversy. For example, one book warns of the ploy of soy, implying sinister motives on the part of those who grow, market and defend it. Contrary to popular opinion, the naysayers assert, soy can actually be harmful.
Fortunately, this just isn't so, as any reasonably objective survey of the evidence attests. Not even the critics doubt that soy packs a wide-ranging nutritional wallop and furnishes superior protein.
Reduced to its simplest terms, the case against soy such as it is, is rooted in the fact that soy is high in phytoestrogen, or plant-based estrogen, and that high estrogen levels are a risk factor for breast cancer. But the latest studies demonstrate that cautions about too much soy are groundless.
Protein Power
Repeatedly lost in all this talk about soy's risks lies a basic fact: Soy is not merely a meat alternative for vegetarians. Research continues to show that soy is nature's only plant source of complete protein. A complete protein provides all eight of the essential amino acids that foods must supply because the human body can't make them itself. Like meat and dairy products, soy furnishes the full protein profile, but with a difference.
Unlike meat and dairy, soy is extremely low in cholesterol and saturated fat, an artery-clogging cause of coronary heart disease, which is North America's leading cause of death. Add in soy's high fiber and vitamin B6 content, and it's clear: Soy is the healthiest protein source. No other plant food can make that claim. In fact, no other food can make that claim.
Wouldn't any bean do? Nope. No other bean offers all eight essential amino acids. And besides offering higher-quality protein, the soybean's protein makes up 35 - 38 percent of its total calories, compared to about 20 - 30 percent for other beans.
Heart Health
Other soy advantages come from its rich source of isoflavones' beneficial, estrogen-like plant hormones. Soy's isoflavones lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol. Isoflavones also decrease thrombosis, or blood clotting. And together, these results reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. In October 1999, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially recognized this health benefit by allowing foods containing at least 6.25 grams of soy per serving to state: "Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein per day may reduce the risk of heart disease." And there's more.
Soy's isoflavones also reduce plaque in arteries, improve blood pressure, increase brain and nerve-cell function and lower high blood pressure. Even people with low cholesterol benefit from soy because it boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol.
Blood Bean
And research that the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Brookline, Massachusetts, reported in November 2002 concluded that a handful of roasted soy nuts daily produces the same reductions in blood pressure that some medications do.
The favorable studies keep piling up. The August 2002 issue of Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association, reported that the essential fatty acid known as omega-6, an essential polyunsaturated fat that must come from the diet because the body cannot make it, protects against strokes. Another essential fat, omega-3, also protects against heart disease. And soy contains both types of omegas.
A study conducted by the University of Toronto and St. Michael's Hospital, both located in Toronto, and published in the December 2002 issue of Metabolism, found that diets combining soy, nuts and oat-based fibers drop LDL levels by a dramatic 29 percent. That matches the reduction that some pharmaceutical drug treatments achieve. This opens up the possibility that diet can be used much more widely to lower blood cholesterol and possibly spare some individuals from having to take drugs, which may cause side effects, said lead author David Jenkins, MD, PhD.
Cancer Concepts
Then there is soy's supposed cancer link. The isoflavones and protein in soy provide antioxidants, which are compounds that neutralize free radicals, the toxic, oxygen-based molecules that damage cell membranes and DNA. Antioxidants reduce free-radical damage, which includes cancer and aging. And soy's soluble fiber reduces the risk of many digestive cancers such as colon and rectal cancer. The water-absorbing fiber may dilute intestinal carcinogens and usher them out of the body, as well as spur growth of bifidobacteria, the good bacteria that help prevent colon cancer.
Isoflavones are the primary ingredients in the "smart bomb," a drug that University of Minnesota scientists believe may cure childhood leukemia. And isoflavones guard the body against many hormone-related cancers such as breast, uterine and prostate cancer.
Numerous early studies showed that consumption of tofu, soybeans and soymilk lowered the incidence of dense breast tissue, which is considered a high risk for breast cancer.
Contrary to the popular soy scare, women who consume soy foods are less susceptible to breast cancer, but the exact mechanism is unknown. Here's one theory: Once digested, the soybean's phytoestrogens mimic the activity of a woman's natural estrogen hormones. Some of the body's receptors accept the phyto estrogens, which are significantly weaker than natural estrogens instead of the body's own estrogens. Thus, a woman's overall estrogen level is lower. Because high estrogen levels are linked to breast cancer, a reduced level lessens a woman's risk of cancer.
Menopause Relief
Holistic health practitioners have long recommended the use of phyto estrogen-filled soy foods to help prevent hormone-related can cers and to aid women in relieving symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes. Some perimenopausal and menopausal wom en receive prescriptions from their physicians for soy-based hormone replacement therapy. These therapies are derived from soy and yam and have the same chemical structure as hormones manufactured by the human body. Because they replicate the behavior of natural estrogen, they are known as bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT).
Taking BHRT is not the same as relying on soy foods alone to aid in symptom relief because BHRT contains a higher concentration of phytoestrogens. Many wo men have had great success with BHRT. Even better, a woman may have a soy allergy but may still be able to tolerate BHRT.
Although men don't produce estrogen, the addition of soy and phytoestrogen to their diets can help improve their cardiovascular health, and soy appears to help prevent prostate cancer by inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. In fact, a key study published in the December 2002 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention concludes that a supplement containing four iso-flavones, two of which are found in soy, causes pre-cancerous prostate cancer cells to die in numbers five times greater than normal. This finding likely explains why soy-consuming Asian men, who get pre-cancerous cells at rates similar to US men, develop only 3.4 percent of the number of prostate cancers that US men do.
(cont'd in next post)