~Ask Granny Earth~

www.grannyearth.com

Soybeans

Ask Granny Earth

After drinking soymilk for about three years, I now am finding out that I have a malfunctioning thyroid gland. A Naturopath Doctor tells me that its from drinking all that soy milk. What do you think? Yes, it seems that all that hype about soy milk being so good for us, could have been just that - a lot of hype. I expect that Im going to get some flack here from some of you, but please let me share what Ive learned: Archer Daniels Midland is one of the leading manufactures of soy products. Now if that doesnt send shivers up and down your spine, nothing will! Monsanto is another name you should know - they manufacture the popular herbicide, Roundup, which profits them millions each year. (I hate Roundup, do you?) They have produced several transgenic crops that resist Roundup. Soy is one of them. Being resistant to this powerful herbicide, farmers are able to spray more of it on their crops, resulting in higher levels of toxins in the harvested product. Sprayed soybean crops have an elevated xeno-

estrogen level, much higher than the soybeans already high levels of natural estrogen. Okay, so how might this effect you, say - if you dont drink soymilk? Well, a lot of soybeans are used for food for dairy and beef cows in this country. So the cows are eating soybeans, which already have natural estrogen properties. Then the soybeans are sprayed with herbicides, which produce even more estrogen compounds. This together with the use of BGH (Bovine Growth Hormone - another Monsanto multi-million dollar product), now brings the elevated estrogen levels to a dangerously high level. In a recent pediatric study, investigators found that - 1% of all girls in this country now show signs of puberty, such as breast development or pubic hair before the age of THREE: by age eight, 14.7% of Caucasian girls and a whopping 48.3% of African-American girls had one, or both of these characteristics (Price-Pottinger, Sally Fallon). In the U. S. there are hardly any regulations placed on biotechnology industry giants, such as Archers Daniel Midland (ADM) or Monsanto. Okay, so you dont have children and say youre a vegetarian; no meat and no cow milk - how could this affect you? You buy your Soymilk from your local grocer - even Wall Mart carries Soymilk now. Surely they wouldnt sell it if it wasnt good for us, would they? Dr. Daniel Sheenhan, director of the Estrogen Base Program at the National Center for Toxicological Research states that, There is abundant evidence that some of the isoflavones (in soy products), including genistein are toxicants. Additionally, isoflavones are inhibitors of thyroid peroxidase, which makes T3 and T4. Inhibition (of T3 and T4) can be expected to generate thyroid abnormalities including goiter and autoimmune thyroiditis. While isoflavones may have beneficial effects at some ages or circumstances, this cannot be assumed to be true of all ages. Isoflavones are like other estrogens in that they are two-edged swords, having both benefits and risk. Dr. Sheenhan believes that The addition of isoflavones to foods needs to be considered just as would the addition of estrogen to foods, which is a bad idea. Infants who are being fed soy formulas are at risk in a large and uncontrolled human infant experiment. (Soy: Too good to be true, Susan DeSimone and Brandon Finucan). Dr. Mike Fitzpatrick, a biochemist and former Auckland University professor has carefully analyzed the safety of soy isoflavones and presented his findings in an article, Soy Iso-flavones: Panacea or Poison (Price-Pottinger Nutrition Foundation- Vol. 22, 3). He concluded that, ADMs document (seeking GRAS-generally recognized as safe status from the FDA) claims that these isoflavones have been consumed in Asia for hundreds of years. What ADMs report fails to say is that soy did not form a significant part of the Asian diet until the discovery of fermentation techniques, during the Chou dynasty. These foods were fermented products like tempeh, miso and soy sauce.

The Chinese DID NOT eat unfermented soybeans, because the soybean contains large quantities of natural toxins or anti-nutrients, such as enzyme inhibitors that block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors cause enlargement and cancer of the pancreas. They also contain haemagglutinin, a clot-promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together. The fermentation process (for tempeh, miso and soy sauce) deactivates trypsin inhibitors and haemagglutinin. Furthermore, the traditional soybean was quite different from the soybean as we know it today. (Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, Tragedy and Hype- 3rd International Soy symposiumwww.mercola.com). So, while we have been inundated with stories and news clips over the years about the amazing health benefits of soy food products and soy/isoflavone supplements, we have not been told about the downside of heavy, regular, or long-term use of soy products. This is very important: Soy products increase the risk of thyroid disease. They act as potent antithyroid agents and are capable of suppressing thyroid function and causing or worsening hypothyroidism; a great concern for infants on soy formula. (www.thyroid-info.com/articles/soydangers.htm). As always, I encourage you to do your own research and read, read, read!