-Caveat Lector-
Soy - Wonder Food Or Health Hazard?
By Suzannah Olivier
The Times - London
http://www.foxnews.com/health/101000/soy.sml
10-11-00
Soy has been hailed as a wonder food for several
conditions, including heart disease, breast cancer,
prostate cancer, menopausal symptoms and bone
health.
Yet recent media reports suggest that it may be
harmful, a view spearheaded by an article in Nexus
magazine. The piece was critical of soy products,
though the data on which it was based referred
mainly to whole soy beans rather than soy products
such as tofu and soy milk. Most soy-based products
are processed, which destroys or minimises the
"anti-nutrients discussed in the article.
The report denounced soy protein isolates (SPIs),
which are processed differently from tofu and are
used by the food industry as "hidden bulking agents
for many foods, including baby formulas. SPIs have
been criticised for high aluminium levels because of
the way that they are processed. Good-quality
brands of soy products such as milks, desserts and
yoghurt have low levels of aluminium; in soy milk it
is less than that found in water and in cow,s milk.
It is worth understanding why soy is supposed to be
so beneficial. The British Nutrition Foundation
(BNF) says that compounds in soy, isoflavones,
have been shown to have oestrogenic and
anti-oestrogenic effects. They vie with a human
oestrogen, oestradiol, to bind with the oestrogen
receptors in cells, but on binding they fail to
stimulate a full oestrogenic response, and evidence
is building that this may offer protection against a
range of hormone-related conditions, including
breast, bowel, prostate and other cancers and,
possibly, menopausal symptoms.
Isoflavones also have strong antioxidant properties,
and soy is a source of soluble fibre that can lower
cholesterol levels.
Some experts believe that "foreign oestrogens to
which we are exposed in our environment " the
xenoestrogens that come from plastics, pesticides
and dioxins " can be crowded out by soy
isoflavones, rendering them less capable of creating
the hormone havoc of which they are suspected.
In her book Our Stolen Future, Theo Colborn
accuses these environmental oestrogens of being
involved in breast and other cancers, as well as
lowered sperm counts in men and malformed
genitals in baby boys.
After menopause, when fewer oestrogens are
available " increasing the risk of osteoporosis and
heart disease " isoflavones are thought to act as
weak hormone replacement therapy because of
their mildly oestrogenic effect, which seems to
improve the prognosis for these conditions.
The US Food & Drug Administration has approved a
health claim on foods that contain 6.25g of soy
protein per serving. US manufacturers are allowed
to state that eating 25g of soy protein a day, as part
of a diet low in fat and cholesterol, may reduce the
risk of heart disease.
The FDA declined to say that isoflavones were
responsible for aiding heart health, but instead
agreed that the whole soy protein conferred
protection.
So what about the criticisms? While isoflavones
have excited the most research, it is probable that
other compounds in the soy bean are partially
responsible for the overall effect.
Probably the main criticism is of claims by
supplement manufacturers extolling the virtues of
isolated soy isoflavones for conditions such as
breast cancer, heart disease and menopausal
symptoms. Shelves in health-food shops are laden
with such supplements.
In fact, there is concern that these supplements
could actually increase the risk of breast cancer if
taken to excess, and some supplement
manufacturers have marketed high-dose isoflavone
supplements for breast enhancement, which is
patently a bad idea. To be on the safe side, and in
the absence of solid research evidence, it is safest
to advise those with breast cancer not to take
supplements that contain isolated isoflavones.
Professor Keith Griffiths is researching the effects of
isoflavones on prostate cancer at the Tenovus
Cancer Research Centre at the University of Wales
College of Medicine. "Isoflavones stand out as
compounds that stop prostate cancers developing
into their aggressive form, he says. "But we use
complete soy protein in the research because, while
we believe isoflavones are the interesting
compounds, we might be missing something if we
use them in isolation. Similar factors are involved in
breast and prostate cancer.
The point has been made that while Japanese and
other Eastern cultures enjoy substantially lower
incidences of breast cancer, their diet is so different
from that in the West that many other factors must
be considered. In my book about diet and breast
cancer, eating soy is the fifth of 12 points covered. I
recommend eating fruit and vegetables, oily fish and
pulses and changing the fats in the diet, and only
then eating around 100g (4oz) of tofu (or similar)
five times a week (equivalent to 70g daily). A bit of
what you fancy may do you good, a lot may do the
opposite.
Stephen Terrass, the director of Solgar Vitamins
and a nutrition expert, says: "If future research were
to corroborate recent safety concerns, it would likely
be relative to the quantity of soy consumed rather
than inherent problems with isoflavone-rich foods.
No food can be consumed in unlimited quantities.
There have also been suggestions that soy is linked
to suppressed thyroid function, increased risk of
Alzheimer,s disease, mineral deficiencies and
possible effects on fetuses. Pointing out that much
of the research cited to support these claims has
been based on work with animals rather than
human beings, the BNF regards them as
"speculative and unproven.
The authors of a paper on tofu consumption and
brain aging published in the Journal of the American
College of Nutrition note in their conclusions that
the men who ate the most tofu were more likely to
have spent their childhood in Japan and in greater
poverty, and that a nutritionally deprived childhood
was more likely to be responsible for ageing of the
brain than tofu intake.
Some people are sensitive, or allergic, to soy and
there is no rule that we must obtain isoflavones from
just this source. Other foods rich in these
compounds include chickpeas, beans, pulses,
grains, nuts, vegetables and fruits, and isoflavone
levels are also higher in the Mediterranean diet,
which features these foods.
But if soy agrees with you, eating a moderate
amount as part of a mixed diet is likely to do more
good than harm. I had breast cancer 12 years ago
and still eat it.
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