Soy: The Harmful Effects of one of the US’s leading health foods

Audrey Lefebvre
Mrs. Munson
Honors English
6 March 2010
Soy: The Harmful Effects of one of the US’s leading health foods
Unfermented soy is not the health food that everyone makes it out to be. Eating unfermented soy products could kill you. Soy causes many health problems. In infant formula it causes harm to infant, low weight, soy is void of cholesterol; it causes a lower brain development rate than that of infants that were fed whole milk or breast milk. Soy products are a contributing factor to many forms of cancer. The American Dietetic Association has warned women to limit their soy intake because of increased cell multiplication which is the precursor to breast cancer. Soy is not fit for human consumption. The soybean contains hemaglutinin, a clotting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together.

Many health problems are caused by soy. Soy doesn’t protect against heart disease. “In some people, consumption of soy foods will lower cholesterol, but there is no evidence that lowering cholesterol with soy protein improves one's risk of having heart disease” (Price). Soy is not safe and beneficial for women to use in their postmenopausal years. It can cause breast and uterine cancer at a much faster rate than those who have abstained from eating a lot of unfermented soy products. Certain organizations have done research and have tried warning the public but the government is censoring this information. The reason for this being that it seems in most places including America we no longer have our Freedom of Speech. “Soy foods can stimulate the growth of estrogen-dependent tumors and cause thyroid problems. Low thyroid function is associated with difficulties in menopause” (Price). It also does not prevent osteoporosis like once believed. “In one recent study, soy consumption seemed to attenuate bone loss from the spine in premenopausal women when measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. However, in another study soy did not prevent bone loss when measured at autopsy in female monkeys who had had their reproductive organs removed” (Enig). Soy formula is most definitely not safe for infants.

“Soy milk formulas are often given to babies with milk allergy; but allergies to soy are almost as common as those to milk. Soy formulas lack cholesterol which is absolutely essential for the development of the brain and nervous system; they also lack lactose and galactose, which play an equally important role in the development of the nervous system. A number of unnecessary and questionable substances are added to soy formulas including carrageenan, guar gum, sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), potassium citrate monohydrate, tricalcium phosphate, dibasic magnesium phosphate trihydrate, BHA and BHT. Nitrosamines, which are potent carcinogens, are often found in soy protein foods, and are greatly increased during the high temperature drying process. Similar results have been observed in children on macrobiotic diets which include the use of soy milk and large amounts of whole grains. Children brought up on high-phytate diets tend to be thin and scrawny” (Fallon-Morrell, Enig).

Soy is a contributing factor to most cancers. The America Dietetic Association has warned women to limit their soy intake.

"Cornell explained that researchers once thought that soy phytoestrogens would block the effects of endogenous estrogens in the body to reduce breast cancer risk but are now seriously concerned about the mounting evidence that high-soy diets cause greater cell multiplication in the breast. Increased cell multiplication is a widely acknowledged risk factor for the development of breast cancer. Then, just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reported that high intake of soy may increase breast cancer risk and that "health professionals should take an active role in communicating and clarifying such information" (Daniels).

Soy inhibits topoisomerase II (Topo II), another essential enzyme, causing DNA distortion and breakage, resulting in chromosomal alterations. The four types of alterations of chromosome structure are deletion, duplication, inversion, and reciprocal translocation. Deletion is the loss of one or more nucleotides from a gene by mutation; the loss of a fragment of a chromosome. Duplication is repetition of a part of a chromosome resulting from fusion with a fragment from a homologous chromosome. Duplication can result from an error in meiosis or from mutagenesis. Inversion is a change in a chromosome resulting from reattachment of a chromosome fragment to the original chromosome, but in a reverse direction. Mutagens and errors during mesosis can cause inversions. Translocation is the attachment of a chromosomal fragment to a nonhomologous chromosome.

“Leukemia is reported in detail as caused by Topo II inhibitors. In 2004, the US Department of Environmental Molecular Medicine reported soy causation of oxidative DNA damage, which can lead to tumor initiation and cell proliferation. Soy is reported as capable of causing leukemia, testicular, breast, uterine, bladder, stomach, colon, intestinal, pancreatic and kidney cancers as well as lymphomas. Oncologists often suggest the elimination of soy products during cancer treatment due to soy’s estrogenic ability to promote cancers or to interfere with chemotherapy” (Elbek).

Soy is not fit for human consumption. Soy has many toxins in it; Toxins that are not deactivated in the cooking process but rather through fermentation.
“The Chinese did not eat the soybean as they did other pulses (legumes) such as the lentil because the soybean contains large quantities of a number of harmful substances. First among them are potent enzyme inhibitors which block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. These "antinutrients" are not completely deactivated during ordinary cooking and can produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors cause enlargement and pathological conditions of the pancreas, including cancer. The soybean also contains hemaglutinin, a clot promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together. Trypsin inhibitors and hemaglutinin have been rightly labeled "growth depressant substances. They are deactivated during the process of fermentation. In precipitated products, enzyme inhibitors concentrate in the soaking liquid rather than in the curd: Thus in tofu and bean curd, these enzyme inhibitors are reduced in quantity, but not completely eliminated” (Fallon-Morell, Enig).

Soybeans are high in phytic acid or phytates. This is an organic acid, present in the hulls of all seeds, which prevent the uptake of essential minerals-calcium, magnesium, iron and especially zinc-in the intestinal tract. Although not a commonplace word, phytates have been extensively studied. Scientists are in general agreement that grain and legume based diets high in phytates contribute to ubiquitous mineral deficiencies in third world countries. Analysis shows that calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc are present in the plant foods eaten in these areas, but the high phytate content of soy and rice based diets prevents their absorption. The soybean has a phytate content that exceeds that of any other grain or legume that has been studied. It also seems to be highly resistant to many phytate reducing techniques such as long, slow cooking. Only a long period of fermentation will significantly decrease the phytate content of soybeans. Thus fermented products such as tempeh and miso provide nourishment that is easily assimilated.

In conclusion, you can see that soy can be detrimental to your health. Consuming them can kill you. Even a casual examination of ingredient lists will show you that it is difficult to avoid soy. Almost every loaf of bread on the supermarket shelves has soy flour in it, along with countless other products. The American people feed these poisons to our infants everyday; thinking they are helping them. Consuming them can kill you. Consuming unfermented soy cause many serious health problems. It has been tested and proved that soy does not prevent osteoporosis or heart disease like once thought be true. It can an also be a contributing factor to many forms of cancer. At one point researchers thought that soy phytoestrogens would block the effects of endogenous estrogens in the body to reduce breast cancer risk but are now seriously concerned about the mounting evidence that high-soy diets cause greater cell multiplication in the breast tissue. It is also not fit for human consumption. The government doesn’t want the general public to know so much because it benefits them [the government]. As a result of the government withholding this information, private doctors and researchers have to do research. They can’t get any government funding or the government will skew the results and allow them [doctors and researchers] to only research certain areas and do studies on the government’s terms.

Works Cited
Daniel, Kaayla. "Bad News for the Soy Industry." Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts Fall 2005: Print
Elbek, Gail."Why Babies Should Not be Fed Soy." Weston A. Price. 10 Feb 2010. Weston A. Price Foundation, Web. 6 Mar 2010. <www.westonaprice.org/Why-Babies-Should-Not-be-Fed-Soy.html>.
Enig, Mary. "The Soy Controversy." Weston A.Price. 26 May 2004. Weston A Price Foundation, Web. 6 Mar 2010. <http://www.westonaprice.org/The-Soy-Controversy.html>.
Fallon-Morrel, Sally, and Enig, Mary. "The Ploy of Soy." 2010. Weston A. Price Foundation, Web. 5 Mar 2010. <http://www.westonaprice.org/The-Ploy-of-Soy.html>.
Price, Weston. "The Myths and Truths about Soy.” Weston A. Price. 5 Mar 2010. Weston A. Price Foundation. <http://www.westonaprice.org/Myths-Truths-About-Soy.html>.