In the rush to embrace soy foods some inconvenient facts are becoming more apparent. In particular soy foods have are been promoted as a safe alternative protein source for men.
In 2007 , scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health concluded ” that higher intake of soy foods and soy isoflavones is associated with lower sperm concentration.” This conclusion was reached after an experiment they conducted showed that men eating just half cup of soy foods per day resulted in 41 million fewer sperm per milliliter than men not consuming soy in their study.
I’ve addressed some gross inaccuracies made by Dr. Ian Smith in the interview above:
So called natural soy foods he claims are safer (soy milk, edamame, and tofu). In reality these are the foods that provided high levels of the sperm-reducing isoflavones. Especially if you are a vegan or vegetarian. The real take home message is to avoid them period!http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/dangersisoflavones.html
Asian have been eating fermented soy foods in relatively small amounts. Mostly in the form of condiments as soy sauce. Also this was never the main source of food only in times of famine or in isolated places like their monasteries. Soy was also eaten in the context of a traditional diet that had high levels of minerals which offsets soy’s negative impact. Take home message: Americans overeat soy foods and Asians never had the variety of fake soy foods as we have access to.Avoid them!
Soy lowers cholesterol: This claim approved by the FDA “relied largely on a 1995 meta-analysis by Dr. James Anderson, sponsored by Soy Protein International and published in the New England Journal of Medicine” Meta-analysis has come under fire for potentially supporting very unscientific claims . “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. Ronald M. Krauss, MD calls research that ties soy to lower levels of cholesterol “incredibly immature,” who is Senior Scientist Director, Atherosclerosis Research at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute. Take home message: Don’t believe the hype!
Dr. Smith claims that 25-50 grams of soy is considered healthy. Well research shows that just 30 grams of soy daily resulted in significant suppression of thyroid function as measured by the rise of thyroid stimulating hormone.Y.Ishizuki, et al, “The effects on the thyroid gland of soybeans administered experimentally in healthy subjects”Nippon Naibunpi Gakkai Zasshi 1991,767:622-629
Take home message: Keep your soy consumption to a minimum if at all.
Soy’s negative effects are not limited to sperm counts. In a study called ” Impact of Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors in utero and in childhood on Adult Reproduction” the authors found that high levels of the genistein ( the plant estrogen found in soy) had feminizing effects on men. This included breast development, and reduced sex drive due to a decrease in androgen’s.
The answer to this marketing hype is a dose of real food. Food that humans have thrived on for millennia, grass-fed beef, free range chickens, eggs, butter, raw milk and a variety of produce.
Just in case you thought it was fine to eat Genetically Modified foods (better identified as “FrankenFoods”), along comes a study which makes it clear that you are eating this make believe non-food at your own peril. In fact, the US has been trying for years to prevent the labeling of GM foods and seed in international trade to emulate its domestic policy which prohibits any label indication that foods contain GM ingredients, as 75-80% of all foods sold in the US do.
Morgellon’s Disease was first described when a woman’s 3 year old son developed rashes and intensely itchy sores which produced weird multicolor fibers emerging from his skin. She put up a website about the condition in 2001 and named it “Morgellons Disease” after a 17th century report of a similar affliction.
A study of the fibers shows that they contain DNA from both a fungus and a bacterium which are used in the commercial preparation of genetically modified foods and non-food crops (such as cotton). The fibers themselves are primarily cellulose, which the human body cannot breakdown or manufacture. So GM technology apparently has found a way to animate the non living. These fibers twist and twine, grow and divide. In short, living beneath the skin of people, they form parasitic lesions out of what should be non-living material
The symptoms are so unbearable that a number of people suffering from the disorder have committed suicide rather than deal with the unbearable pain, constant feeling of something very much like an insect crawling without stop beneath the skin and unbearable itching any longer. Of course, it is possible to speculate that the attitude of most physicians that the condition is a mental aberration rather than a physical one may not have helped these poor souls to cope with their affliction.
How wide spread is Morgellon’s Disease? Some registries have 1200 or more people but these registrants only represent those who have access to the internet and have stumbled across the registry sites. The disease produces material unlike anything most people have ever seen.
Many parents wonder if it is safe to feed their babies raw milk. The answer is an emphatic YES, as long as you know the raw milk comes from a clean and reliable source.
It is also best if the milk comes from cows that eat a more natural diet of green grass, hay and root vegetables.
While mother’s milk is the most ideal for your baby, raw cow’s milk produced safely is not dangerous in spite of what public health propagandists have lead you to believe. Raw milk actually contains enzymes and antibodies that make it less susceptible to bacterial contamination than pasteurized milk, while many toxins that cause diarrhea and other ailments survive the pasteurization process. Raw milk is easier for your baby to digest than pasteurized and less likely to cause cramps, constipation and allergies.
Many doctors warn that feeding cereal grains to babies too early can lead to grain allergies. Because your baby’s digestive system is better equipped to supply enzymes for digestion of fats and proteins rather than carbohydrates, baby’s first solid foods should be animal foods.
Some experts recommend feeding an egg yolk per day, starting at four months. Eggs from pasture-fed hens are rich in the omega-3 long-chain fatty acids that may be lacking in cow’s milk. These fatty acids are essential for brain development.
Cod liver oil can also be added to baby’s foods for additional omega-3s and vitamin D.
Around 10 months of age, you can introduce meats such as grass-fed beef liver, and mashed fruits and vegetables, and raw buttermilk or yogurt. Avoid fruit juices, as they are mostly sugar.
Of course your baby will come in contact with processed junk foods sooner or later. But if you help your child develop a taste for nutritious foods in infancy then he or she will make better food choices for a healthier future.
There is a new soy based food bar on the market. Perhaps you’ve seen it…touting many benefits.
Well, their claims are only part of the story. My commentary below is in bold.
Rich in bone-building calcium, zinc, magnesium and iron.
High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc.
Only plant-based protein with all the essential amino acid.
Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
Contains isoflavones, which have antioxidant properties.
Isoflavones disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
This marketing hype is only part of the story for more info see the links below.
Early Americans understood the importance of eating fermented foods. In fact, early American traditions included foods such as pickled beets, watermelon rind, and cucumber relish, which were originally lacto-fermented.
Many cultures around the world still use lacto-fermentation as a healthful method of preserving foods today.
In Russia and Poland, they eat pickled green tomatoes and peppers. The peoples of Japan, China and Korea enjoy pickled cabbage and eggplant, as well as fermented soy products like miso and tempeh. Cultured raw milk yogurts and cheese have been popular in India and Europe for centuries. Fermented sour dough bread, wine, artichokes, olives, sauerkraut and grape leaves are still staples in the European diet today.
What is lacto-fermentation?
Thousands of years ago, people learned to preserve fruits and vegetables for long periods of time using lacto-fermentation. This process creates lactic acid, a natural preservative that inhibits putrefying bacteria. The starches and sugars in foods are converted into lactic acid when combined with lactic-acid-producing bacteria and allowed to ferment, usually with just pure water and sea salt.
Benefits of fermented foods.
Fermented foods are loaded with amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Fermented milk is a great source of B vitamins and fermented vegetables are a great source of vitamin C.
Lactic acid promotes the growth of healthy flora (probiotics) in the intestines, which aids in digestion and strengthens the immune system. Getting these bacteria from fermented foods is more beneficial than popping a pill or eating commercially prepared foods — and it costs less too.
Unfortunately in today’s Western world we are taught to be afraid of bacteria. Most commercially processed “pickled” or cultured foods are pasteurized, use vinegar for a standardized taste and are not created with the healthful methods our ancestors used.
But that is changing as more lacto-fermented products become available on the market and Americans learn to make fermented foods at home.
Along with naturally fermented foods, be sure to include farm fresh organic grass-fed beef, free-range poultry, organic eggs and produce in your diet.
