It's ironic that soy has become so accepted as a health food when, as Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of the groundbreaking book The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food, states, thousands of studies link soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility--even cancer and heart disease. This important issue is the premise behind her book, which is really a powerful exposé that reveals the truth about the soy myths that have infiltrated our culture.

Below Dr. Daniel shares some important soy insights with us in an exclusive interview.

Anyway, I've bought less than 5 lbs of processed soy in my life, including the 2 lb faux turkey on sale two years ago. This total doesn't include soy milk which I no longer drink since lactose reduced organic cow milk has become available. Even when I was a vegetarian, tofu was a last resort rather than a first choice for alternative protien. I always thought soy was pretty awful and am glad to have some authority to justify my feeling that it just can't be good for you.

I have a new lady friend who has subsisted on soy products and who has been undergoing reconditioning from me away from soy products in such quantities, even the organic ones. Hope she doesn't read this thread. :)

Anything you're willing to share about this new lady friend, Marshall? ((Nosey, nosey, nosey.))

She's a lovely woman of nearly appropriate age and with a similar educational background as mine; intelligent and inquisitive and affectionate and very private. There! Is that better?

What would you like to know?

http://nutrition.ucdavis.edu/briefs/Issues/JulAug04.htm

Food dyes related to hyperactivity in preschoolers

With all of the processed snack foods currently available on the market, many parents wonder whether certain artificial ingredients might be harmful for their young children. Some clinical studies suggest that food additives, specifically dyes and preservatives, might have adverse effects on the behavior of young children. However, most of these studies have focused on the effects among of children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder or other behavioral problems (ADHD). Thus, the implications for the general population are unclear. To date, no studies have examined the question, using a carefully controlled clinical trial in a population-based sample. The purpose of this study was to determine whether food dyes and a preservative (sodium benzoate) influence behavior of 3-year old children.

The study design involved a randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial. The sample was randomly recruited from the population of all 3 year-olds who were born between 1994-1996 and living on the Isle of Wright, U.K. From a total eligible population of 2878 children, 277 completed the clinical trial. The clinical trial lasted 4 weeks, during which time all children were given diets free of artificial colorings and preservatives. During the second and fourth weeks, the children drank a mixed juice that contained either 20 mg of artificial colorings and 45 mg sodium benzoate (active challenge) or only juice (placebo). Thus, all children participated in both the active challenge and placebo phases. In a pilot test of the methods, adults who drank the two beverages were unable to tell which one contained the artificial ingredients. Parents completed questionnaires weekly on changes in their child’s behavior to assess the level of inattention, hyperactivity, fidgetiness, and impulsivity, which are all behaviors captured on the Weiss-Werry-Peters Activity scale (WWPA). In addition, research psychologists used the WWPA to assess the child’s behavior during a free play session in the clinic each week The overall design of the study also took into account whether or not the children had hyperactive behavior or allergies (determined by skin prick testing) at the beginning of the study.

Parents reported greater increases in hyperactivity behavior during the active challenge phase, compared to the placebo phase (p< 0.007). Hyperactivity or allergy at baseline did not influence the results. In other words, the results suggest that additives affect all children equally and have a general pharmacological, rather than immunological, effect on behavior. Interestingly, the psychologists’ ratings of the child’s behavior did not vary across the weeks of the study. One limitation is that parents rated "changes in behavior", whereas the psychologists only scored behaviors at each time point. Thus, although the overall design of the study was very strong, reliability and/or sensitivity of the methods to assess the child’s behavior may be less than ideal.

Conclusions/Implications: The authors concluded that artificial food colorings and sodium benzoate have an adverse effect on child behavior, detectable only by parents. More studies are needed in other populations to confirm these findings.
Note: Health professionals may anticipate some questions from parents about food additives and behavior, due to an article based on this study that will soon appear in a popular parenting magazine.

Source: Bateman B, Warmer JO, Hutchinson E, Dean T, Rowlandson P, Grant C, Grunday J, Fitzgerald C, and Stevenson J. The effects of a double-blind, placebo controlled, artificial food colourings and benzoate preservative challenge on hyperactivity in a general population sample of preschool children. Arch Dis Child 2004; 89: 506-511

Has anybody read the link Marshall cited? Mercola is talking about highly refined products, soy protein and soy oil, and at one point says:

I personally eat old-fashioned fermented soy products such as miso, tempeh, natto, shoyu and tamari and believe they can be healthy in the context of a varied diet. Tofu is a precipitated product and less healthy, but I still enjoy it occasionally at vegetarian potlucks. Edamame--the green immature soybeans--contains fewer of the toxins found in the mature beans and so can be eaten occasionally. People who are not allergic or sensitized to soy can consume these whole soy products safely at the levels eaten traditionally in Asia, which is to say in small amounts as condiments, not staples.

Tofu is good when it's cooked well.

I like tempeh & miso. If there is tofu in something when I'm dining out or at a friends, I eat it.

The argument that soy formula makes a bad diet for babies, and that middle-aged western men shouldn't eat soy food entrees twice a week - those I'll buy, but the evidence doesn't support the belief that soy is evil. Saying so - at least that seemed the tone taken on this thread - seemed quite a leap, one I suspect has a pro-meat agenda. A leap-taking agenda. We eat tofu a couple times a month, soy sauce often - Bragg's when we can get it, although it's very salty for a condiment with no salt in the ingredients list - and tempeh occasionally. Miso - blechh. I respect foods that are thousands of years old, though. Same with cheese. Overall I think it's a good thing that westerners are looking to forms of protein other than meat. Protein is way overrated in the western diet anyway - an idea from Diet for a Small Planet that made sense and has stuck in my memory (unlike the recipes).

There likely are agenda directed against soya; but given that agribusiness dominates the field, I don't see this sort of criticism coming mainly from meat-producers. In Asia there are hundreds, if not thousands of varieties of soy bean, many cultivated for specific uses in specific places and seasons. OTOH major Westernized commercial production relies on relatively few "industrial grade" varieties now increasingly engineered to withstand assaults by bugs and herbicides. Human palatability can be enhanced by food technologists generating the many products containing soya.

In past years I posted material reporting unexpected mutations in gm soya, toxic levels discovered before the varieties were commercialized. There are folks who react badly to soya products even at "acceptable" levels of components known to induce allergic and other reactions.

Yours, and your post Althea, remind me we live in very different situations. We're far removed from agribusiness here, let alone much in the way of arable land, and even further from health food stores. Being unemployed (temporarily I hope) also gives me lots of room to think about how and why the world is going to hell in a handcart. Overconsumption of meat is one the reasons IMO. The 'soy business' is news to me - in fact I've learned a lot from your posts.

Our choices at the grocery store are very limited - for example we can buy cheddar and mozzarella cheese any time of year, but brie is only available at Christmas. Forget about feta or gorgonzola or radicchio or whole nuts in the shell (I'm starting to get teary-eyed). Thus the suspicion about underlying agendas. Tofu and tempeh are treats for us.

I commiserate over that lack of choices and will refrain from gloating over the abundance of food and other choices here in California. If there is no local demand, you won't find much choice. So grow your own, encourage local producers, and in a pinch buy on-line.

I also run a organic market garden (urban farm) to assure my own supply of seasonal produce and hopefully make some money while selling healthy food directly to individuals, families, caterers, health clinics and other specialty outlets.

Anyone want a link to our website, send me an e-mail. I'd rather not post the link here without the permission of the site's owner.

Also Paul, do you have any interest in meeting a friend of mine who will be traveling to NS this summer? I would have have sent you na email regarding this but, your email address isn't posted on your member page. Mine is.

I second Marshall's autobiography.

Here's what we had last night:
Tempeh made from organically grown soybeans by Noble Bean, R.R.#1, MacDonalds Corners, Ontario, "Culturing Fine Tempeh since 1979"

What's not to like?

Again, very salty for a product that doesn't list salt as an ingredient.

CarrieTx

As a vegetarian/vegan for the past 30 years, I've been asked many times "but where do you get your protein?" and the simplest answer is that protein is in everything; if you are getting enough calories and not eating junk food, you are getting enough protein. Protein is a nonissue for vegetarians, and in fact many of the common chronic diseases can be traced to an overrich diet too high in protein.

In my experience, it is often new vegetarians and people who are trying to accommodate vegetarians who overdo the soy protein thing. I've done a vegan Thanksgiving with a friend for a few years, and she has insisted on having a Tofurkey at least a couple times, in addition to an abundance of wholesome vegan food. If it happens again, I think I will politely turn down the Tofurkey (it is just barely edible, as far as I'm concerned). Last year I had to change the pumpkin pie recipe at the last minute when I heard she was doing the Tofurkey -- from an easy one using tofu to a make-ahead pie using cornstarch; next time I'll look for a recipe using all whole foods. (Or even better, be proactive and start educating her now about overdoing soy.)

My one soy indulgence is White Wave Silk soy yogurt, which is wonderful with breakfast oatmeal and raspberries, but I eat it more as a condiment.

The article below is from Dr. John McDougall's newsletter.

How may prefer fresh veggies and fruits to cooked meals? We do tend to do a grazing sort of thing where we 'snack' on veggies or fruit with one 'real' meal only some days.

We hope to take cooking lessons to learn some vegetarian cooking.

Maria

Swanz

I will occasionally eat things with soy, primarily soy beans or fermented soy products (miso etc), but in very limited quantities. I think all things in moderation is generally a good rule. My problem came from drinking a couple servings of soy milk a day (one with cereal and one with coffee). I also tend to believe that each person will react differently to soy products. It is just good to be aware of possible issues, so that if something comes up medically you can look to solutions that are simpler then taking more medications that most doctors are quick to prescribe.

The hardest thing for me to find an alternative to that doesn't have soy is a good mutli-vitamin. Read your labels, most multi-vitamins these days have the soy isoflavens.