Saturday, February 04, 2006

Soy Might Impair Your Fertility and Hormone Balance

A lot of hype has gotten Americans consuming soy products in large quantities, in addition to the hidden additives of soy to many processed foods. But soy has hormonal affects and can be disruptive to your endocrine system, primarily interfering with thyroid function but it also may impair your ferility. Check out these links to learn more.

"Processed soy (actually, ANYTHING processed) is indeed bad. But, why soy? Three reasons: (a) contains chemicals that 'pull down' the thyroid (leads to hypothyroidism); (b) contains phyto-estrogens that block important minerals like Zinc and Magnesium from being absorbed into the body (2 VERY important minerals especially for women since having a deficiency in either one can cause numerous problems due to an estrogen/progesterone imbalance); and (c) does not contain essential amino acids. Soy products are commonly linked to weight gain and other hormone imbalances for these very reasons. It's also among the top allergens in this country, (the other top allergens include wheat, corn, dairy, chocolate, eggs, shellfish, and citrus). Many people have food allergies to soy and don't even know it. "
From: http://www.allergydir.com/Article692.php

"Soy foods couldn't possibly have a downside because Asians eat large quantities of soy every day and consequently remain free of most western diseases. In fact, the people of China, Japan, and other countries in Asia eat very little soy. The soy industry's own figures show that soy consumption in China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan ranges from 9.3 to 36 grams per day.1 That's grams of soy food, not grams of soy protein alone. Compare this with a cup of tofu (252 grams) or soy milk (240 grams).2 Many Americans today think nothing of consuming a cup of tofu, a couple glasses of soy milk, handfuls of soy nuts, soy "energy bars," and veggie burgers. Infants on soy formula receive the most of all, both in quantity and in proportion to body weight."
Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food

Chemical Found in Soy Products, Legumes Could Damage Sperm, Impair Fertility, Study Says

"The estrogen receptor beta is also known to respond to environmental and dietary chemicals that can mimic the effects of estrogen and stimulate the body's natural hormones. One example is genistein, a common component of soy products. These new studies by Korach and colleagues suggest that such environmental exposures could interact with estrogen receptor beta and possibly alter ovarian function in women."
from: New Discovery May Help Doctors Treat Infertility

Uterine adenocarcinoma in mice treated neonatally with genistein

It's not just that but most soy beans are genetically modified nowadays:

"Genetically modified soy has been on the market just five years. Yet it already accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. soybean harvest. Soy products are used in hundreds of processed foods, often to add texture and protein. So the biotech beans end up in pancake mix and baby formula, chicken soup and margarine, crackers and salad dressing, ice cream and granola bars."
From: Long Article on Roundup Ready Soybean Controversy

Some people say what choice do we have, but really there is a choice but we've not been given the chance to give our opinion. I remember listening to some FDA guy on the radio a few years ago as they debated GMO/GE crops and he said that the American public didn't care about the controversy and that they were fine with it. But, they didn't tell us that they were putting these products into the market, they just snuck them in. But other countries around the world weren't asleep and their press and public took action and blocked the use of these crops/products pending further scientific evaluation.

Corn is another crop that's largly GE these days in the States. It's hard to find any manufactured food items that don't contain corn or some corn-derivative. You have to look for products made overseas.

If you are interested in more info sign up for the Organic Consumers Association email newsletter -- http://www.organicconsumers.org

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes! Diet is so important for fertility (and practically everything else!) Soy has been really questionable when it comes to fertility. Check this out http://fertilitytesting.co.uk/infertility/natural/diet-and-fertility.html