Is Soy Healthy?

Let’s just jump into one of the most controversial food subjects on the planet.  First, let me remind you that here in the United States, if something is good, we want a lot of it.  If twenty french fries are good, then we are going to supersize them.  I truly believe this is what happened to soy.  Soy is consumed in Asian cultures and has been for centuries, the difference being it is very seldom anything more than a condiment.  It is not eaten daily as an entrée or as a replacement for meats and fishes. Today we are consuming soy in almost everything – read your labels!  Just try to get away from soy products and you will see that we are incorporating soy into everything!

Soy has some very interesting issues. Let’s start with these:

  • Soy foods increase the human body’s requirement for Vitamin D.
  • Soy’s Vitamin B12 is not absorbed by the human body and actually increases the need for Vitamin B12.
  • Soy phytoestrogens are among some of the most potent plant estrogens.  They have a great effect on the thyroid (toward hypothyroidism).  Phytoestrogens can be as misused just as synthetic chemical hormones have been. 
  • Xenoestrogens are estrogens from external sources (other than your body) that disrupt your natural balance of hormones. The human endocrine system responds to chemicals as small as one trillionth of a gram.  Investigate for yourself the facts on “Hormone Disruptors.”
  • Women in states of estrogen dominance, pregnancy, and infertility or with histories of
    cancer should certainly stay clear of excess hormones – both externally and internally.  Check out your skin and hair products – you will see soy proteins in most all of them.  Estrogens equate to youth.  They give shine, elasticity and promote new growth to tissue
    and hair – so they are prolific in products for women.
  • Significant studies are showing decreased fertility in both sexes, lowering of testosterone
    and smaller penis size in males.
  • Studies are being done that continue to show soy interferes with protein digestion.
    In test animals fed soy, there has been stunted growth.
  • A study done at Brigham Young University showed that animals fed with soy showed elevated estrogen in the brain and a decrease in calcium-protein binding for brain function. 
  • Soy studies have show that soy may be responsible for blocking other essential nutrient absorption.

  • The soy industry has vast wealth behind it and with that wealth has produced amazing amounts of marketing. Marketing can be very biased. 

I hope I have fueled questions in your mind, maybe even made you angry—one way or the other.  Do not take my words as your truth—find books or get online and find out for yourself what
soy is really about. Here are a few good non-biased sources of information:

www.Westonaprice.org 

www.mercola.com/2005/feb/26/soy_myths.htm

www.townsendletter.com

Remember, everything is about balance. Balance in all things is good. These are my personal opinions, research and clinical observations. I truly wish you only wellness.

— Joan    © 2007  Joan Goodman

Joan Goodman, CTN, MH
1950 Eldridge Parkway, Suite #5101
Houston, TX  77077

281-493-9473 

All articles are copyrighted by Joan Goodman. They may only be reprinted with her express permission.

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