SOY
The following information on the dangers of soy is contained in the first chapter of Take Control of Your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry. To purchase, please visit: www.doctorsaredangerous.com
Fasten your seatbelt, and hang on, for this is going to be a bumpy read! You are going to be exposed to ideas that refute the propaganda the "experts"have been spewing for decades. They have used us as dupes and guinea pigs.
The food industry and the drug manufacturers have been unconscionable in their zeal to earn hundreds of billions of dollars, aided and abetted by scientists who have been handsomely paid to fudge, and even falsify, test results. I promise you that not one of the biochemists, physicians and scientists quoted in this book is in the employ of multinational corporations. They are dedicated men and women whose conclusions are based upon sound science, not upon the propaganda, the power and the coercion of the legal drug industry. Because they are free to speak their minds, they are the only scientists I trust. Their opinions rarely find their way into the establishment media which is, like much of the world, under multinational domination.
But you and I are not under multinational domination. At least not completely, and not yet. We are still free to refuse to be poisoned by their dangerous drugs. We are still free to refuse to eat their health-destroying "foods". We are still free to avoid their staph-filled hospitals by living according to the laws of nature. We are still free, at least some of us, to think for ourselves and remain uninfluenced by their persuasive television and glossy magazine ads. We are still free to question physicians who learned all they know in medical schools that are financed by the companies that manufacture the drugs that are killing us.
I'm angry! I guess you noticed that. My anger and disgust drove me to write this book, and I hope it will inspire you, and many like you, to join our crusade. For those of you who are tempted to dismiss what I write, just remember what a wise man said years ago: "Contempt, prior to complete investigation, will enslave a man to ignorance. "
This chapter will deal with four sacred cows of advertising, starting with one of the most aggressively promoted products in the western world: Soy
"There is a distinct herd instinct among people 'who work in science 'which makes it easy to believe whatever sounds plausible, if a lot of other people are saying it is true. Sometimes powerful economic interests help people to change their beliefs. For example, two of the biggest industries in the world, the estrogen industry and the soy bean industry, spend vast amounts of money helping people to believe certain plausible-sounding things that help them sell their products."
Raymond Peat, MA, PhD
University of Oregon
Endocrine Physiologist
February 1999
You will read a lot about Dr. Peat 's research in the pages of this book. He can be trusted.
The public relations machine extolling the virtues of soy has been global and relentless. It has to be --there are at least 100 million acres of soy under cultivation in the United States, much of it genetically engineered, and most controlled by multinationals, Monsanto owning the lion's share. A market must be found, increased and maintained. To this end, the producers contribute approximately US$80 million per year to finance what is one of the most effective propaganda campaigns ever known. Because of this high-powered publicity blitz, "news"stories about soy's benefits are everywhere.
It's been my experience, over years of observing and studying health issues, that the more extensive advertising there is for a product, the more likely it is to be useless, or even dangerous. It's a good rule of thumb to be sceptical of any product which "everyone" says is great. "Everyone"is almost always wrong, because they are being led down the garden path by unscrupulous companies, and the scientists they pay to falsify trial results. The good things are rarely advertised: there are no full page advertisements depicting an appealing head of lettuce, or a juicy peach.
Thumb through any health magazine and you will find four or five "impartial" references to soy all reverential. But wait --thumb through again and take note of the many full page, full colour soy advertisements these magazines contain. Does this make you just a bit suspicious of their motives?
Even governments have gotten into the act, via influence peddling by deep pocket multinationals. Law firms in the U. S. lobbied, successfully, for favourable government regulations. One success was when they had a law overturned which limited soy to no more than 30%in school lunches. Now soy may be used in unlimited amounts on children, who are more at risk from it than adults. Caring parents need to question school authorities, or send their children to school with nourishing food from home.
More lobbying persuaded the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to finance soy processing plants abroad, and huge campaigns have been mounted to sell soy to unsuspecting people who have never had it in their traditional diets, and can ill afford the breakdown in health it will create. Even worse, soy forms the basis of many food giveaway programs funded by governments. The lobbyists saw to that.
When evaluating health writers and health professionals, whether allopathic or alternative, I am unfavourably impressed if they push soy products. The more they extoll the benefits of the phytoestrogens, isoflavones, genistein and diadzen soy contains, the faster I back off. It makes me question any other advice they may give, because it is clear that they haven't done their homework. Simple research, using data of corporate-neutral scientists, would unearth such damning information about these "buzz" chemicals that they would advise their patients to shun soy. It would be apparent to them that, as early as the 1950s, these chemicals were linked to increased cancer, infertility, leukaemia and endocrine disruption. As a tragic example, babies fed soy formulas receive the oestrogenic equivalent of five birth control pills per day, and there is compelling evidence that this lays the foundation for serious health problems later in life.
Charlotte Gerson, of the Gerson Cancer Clinic in the U. S. A., wrote the following in the Gerson Healing Newsletter:"Soybeans contain Hemagglutinin, a clot-promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together. These clustered blood cells are unable to properly absorb oxygen for distribution to the body 's tissues, which can damage the heart. "In his classic book, A Cancer Therapy ?Results of 50 Cases, (p. 237) Dr. Gerson put soy and soy products on the forbidden list of foods for Gerson Therapy patients.
"Genistein, a component of soy, is more carcinogenic than DES. "(Cancer Research, June 1, 2001 ?61 (11) :4325-8) And we all know about the death and misery this drug caused countless women.
In recent years, several studies have been made regarding the soybean 's effect on human health. The results of those studies, underwritten by various factions of the soy industry, were of course overwhelmingly in favour of soy. The primary claims about soy's health benefits are based purely on bad science. Although arguments for cancer patients to use soy focus on statistics showing low rates of breast, colon and prostate cancer among Asian people, there are obvious facts being utterly ignored.
While the studies boast that Asian women suffer far fewer cases of breast cancer than American women do, they neglect to point out that these Asian women eat a diet that is dramatically different from their American counterparts. The standard Asian diet consists of more natural products, and greater amounts of vegetables and more fish. Their diets are also lower in chemicals and toxins, as they eat far fewer processed foods. It is likely these studies are influenced by the fact that cancer rates rise among Asian people who move to the U. S. and adopt American diets. Ignoring the remarkable diet and lifestyle changes, to assume only that reduced levels of soy in these American-Asian diets is a primary factor in greater cancer rates, is bad science.
Eight thousand Japanese-American men from Hawaii were assessed for mid-life tofu consumption and its relation to brain function and structural changes in later life. These researchers performed radiologic brain neuro-imaging, extensive cognitive function studies, and postmortem follow-ups. Among the subjects of the study, an increased level of tofu consumption was found to be associated with indications of brain atrophy and cognitive impairment in later life. They even found, at autopsy, swelling of the brain cavities and a decrease in brain weight among heavy tofu eaters. This study was reported in Journal Of The American College Of Nutrition, APRIL 2000, and reprinted in Dr. William Campbell Douglass' Second Opinion Newsletter.
A widely circulated article, written by Jane E. Allen, AP Science Writer, titled, "Scientists Suggest More Soy in Diet", cites in the course of a symposium, numerous speakers discussing the probable advantages of soy under the title, "Health Impact of Soy Protein ". However, the article states that the $50, 000 symposium "was underwritten by Protein Technologies International of St. Louis, a DuPont subsidiary that makes soy protein!"
Other popular arguments in support of soy state that fermented products like tempeh or natto contain high levels of vitamin B12 . However, these supportive arguments fail to mention that soy's B12 is an inactive B12
analog, not utilised as a vitamin in the human body. Some researchers speculate this analog may actually serve to block the body 's B12 absorption. It has also been found that allergic reactions to soybeans are far more common than to all other legumes. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics admits that early exposure to soy through commercial infant formulas may be a leading cause of soy allergies among older children and adults.
Many of the things I tell students about during my lectures at Hippocrates Health Centre are controversial. There are always some who disagree, but they accept these findings when presented with evidence. The soy controversy, however, is another matter, and some simply can't accept what I say. Their arguments always centre on their perception that "everyone"says soy is good; glowing press releases on soy;what health professionals have told them;and the "fact"that the Asians do so well on soy food and have few problems with menopause or osteoporosis. And there's the rub:the bitter truth is that in parts of China where the people are too poor to get other forms of protein, their intake of soy has created, according to scientists who went there and studied the situation, 100 million cretins. This has occurred due to the goitrogens in soy, which depress the thyroid gland and can create brain damage.
As for the osteoporosis/menopause protection myth, it is absurd to infer that soy protects Asian women. As mentioned above, their habits and diets are totally different from Westerners', containing little junk food. Further, they rarely smoke or drink, and have not replaced vitamin
D-containing butter with the damaging soy oil margarine so popular with misguided Westerners.
Except in poverty and during times of famine, Asians consume soy in tiny amounts --7 to 8 grams per day --and most of this has been fermented. The fermentation process reduces the growth depressants in all soy products, but not entirely. The Japanese eat a small amount of tofu and miso as part of a mineral-rich broth, and this is followed by meat or fish, which offsets some of the dangers. Dr. Raymond Peat, however, says that tofu is associated with dementia. Asians, unlike Westerners, do not guzzle soy protein isolate as a milk substitute. Milk is not a part of their culture.
Eating soy in order to promote hormonal health is not only dangerous, it is futile. Consider this quote from Nexus Magazine: "Celibate monks living in monasteries and leading a vegetarian lifestyle find soy foods quite helpful because they dampen libido."
As information regarding the dangers of soy started leaking out, the public relations machine went into overdrive, churning out stories about how the "baddies" known to be in soy are removed during processing. Yet another untruth, which has been refuted by many studies.
My anti-soy sentiments started in 1965, when I put a protein powder into fruit shakes and, after a few days, got such bad gout that I could barely move my fingers. When I took the can to my doctor he said soy was known to cause gout and advised me to throw it in the bin. But he was ahead of his time.
Gout is a common side effect of soy ingestion, and is often mistaken for arthritis, with victims suffering for years, taking strong pain killers and even steroids, when all they need to do is stop the soy and drink lots of water to flush out the toxins. It was a painful lesson for me, which I repeated stupidly a few years later when lecithin became the rage. It also caused my joints to seize up, and I suffered for a week until I asked questions and found that lecithin is a by- product of soy processing, is always rancid, and is famous for causing joint pains. Small wonder: lecithin is extracted from the sludge left after the oil is removed from the beans. It contains large levels of solvents and pesticides. And they call it a health product! If you want lecithin, get it from free range eggs, nuts, seeds and avocados.
During many years as a natural health advocate, I have warned countless people who thought they had incurable arthritis. Their doctors prescribed strong drugs, without discussing improvement through diet. All reported cessation of symptoms after quitting soy, and/or lecithin, but it requires time, and lots of water. Heavy consumption of grains can also contribute to arthritis/gout. (See Remedies. )
Few people are aware that most soil contains aluminium. It is one of the most prevalent minerals, but it doesn't affect most crops. Soy, however, has an affinity for aluminium and extracts it from the soil and concentrates it in the beans. This contamination is exacerbated by the aluminium tanks which are used in the acid wash soy is subjected to. So, when you ingest soy in any form, you also ingest aluminium, known for causing many health problems.
Soy milk contains 100 times more aluminium than raw cow's milk. And, while on the subject of so-called soy milk, no one has ever seen a soy cow. You cannot milk a soy bean in order to obtain that pure looking, inviting stream of white, pictured so appealingly in the ads, many processes are needed. It is necessary to grind the beans at high temperature, and then extract the remaining oils with dangerous solvents, some of which remain in the meal. Then the meal is mixed with an alkaline solution and sugars, in a separation process designed to remove fibre. Then it is precipitated and separated, using an acid wash.
In each process soy is subjected to, a tiny amount of poison remains. Government regulators say it's so small an amount that it doesn't count. But do you want to eat even a tiny amount of poison each day, perhaps several times a day, until you have a serious health problem? During research I came across twelve chemicaals that are added after these processes, most of them unpronounceable, and the majority known to be dangerous, if not deadly. I won't bore you with the names but, trust me, you wouldn't want them anywhere near you, much less in your body.
Claims that soy products are a good source of calcium are fraudulent. Because soy contains more phytic acid than any other grain or pulse, and because phytic acid impairs absorption of all minerals, especially calcium, soy actually strips your body of calcium. The enzyme inhibitors in soybeans block trypsin and other enzymes which are essential for health. This can produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion, and chronic deficiencies in amino acids. In serious cases, soy can cause pancreas enlargement and even cancer. Your thyroid gland, which is vital for health, can be severely damaged.
Scientists have known for years that isoflavones in soy products can depress thyroid function, causing autoimmune thyroid disease and even cancer of the thyroid. But these scientists, who are not in the pay of the multinationals, are like voices in the wilderness. Their papers appear only in obscure journals, or off-beat publications, such as Nexus Magazine, which did an excellent, four- page denunciation of soy in their April/May 1997 issue. We are indeed fortunate to have such a magazine in Australia (also published in the US and the UK), one which doesn't shy from telling it like it is, even if huge companies are offended. Three years later, in their April/May 2000 issue, they printed a superb article written by Mary Enig, PhD, and Sally Fallon, two highly-qualified scientists who have been fighting the soy pushers for years. I highly recommend that people find these issues and read them, as they contain a great deal of information, too lengthy for this essay.
In order to maintain health, it is essential to avoid all soy products. This is easier said than done, because it is used extensively in breads and is a cheap and popular filler for many manufactured foods. In Australia and in the US, if soy flour is used in bread it is on the label. Our Canadian readers tell us that they have no way to protect themselves because labelling laws there are so poor. If you must eat bread, and I certainly don't recommend it, bake your own from stone ground flour. And, please, if you care for your pets NEVER feed them prepared pet food. It is chock full of ghastly ingredients, principally soy, and it will KILL them! Years ago we never heard of a dog having cancer or arthritis, and it is now commonplace. These terrible, money making pet foods are to blame.
Nexus Magazine told of a New Zealand couple, Richard and Valerie James, who breed tropical birds, and their experience when they switched to bird feed which was based on soy protein. In short, it was a disaster, with "deformed, stunted and stillborn babies and premature deaths among females, with the result that the total population in the aviaries went into steady decline. "The poor birds had bone and beak deformities, immune system
disorders and goitre. Autopsies revealed "digestive organs in a state of disintegration. "The breeders then realised that the symptoms suffered by their birds were similar to the symptoms suffered by their children, who had been fed soy formula.
Needless to say, Mr. and Mrs. James were deeply disturbed by what soy had done to their children and their birds, and they enlisted the aid of toxicologist Mike Fitzpatrick, PhD. Dr. Fitzpatrick researched, and found evidence of soy's link to disruption of the endocrine system, increased cancer, infertility and infantile leukaemia. He found that the phytoestrogens, isoflavones, genistein, and diadzen (the very chemicals which are touted as "good for menopause") were the culprits. The flock of birds slowly returned to health after the soy-based feed was discontinued. As for the children, who knows? It will no doubt take years to assess the damage, but I don't like the chances of any child who had the misfortune to be fed on soy formulas. Nor do I like the chances of women who drink soy milk because they have been told the isoflavones assist hormonal health. The damage this chemical did to the birds quickly (because they are tiny and delicate), it will do to women slowly.
While preparing the sixth edition of this book, I rang Valerie and Richard James in Whangarei, New Zealand, to introduce myself and ask a favour. I needed a paragraph on the reaction of the soy industry and the New Zealand Government to their nine-year crusade against feeding babies soy formula. As Richard said, "It's impossible to compress years of fear and a constant feeling of menace into a paragraph." So they sent me, instead, a huge envelope stuffed full of the most horrifying information, and now I have a feeling of menace.
Even I, with my knowledge of cozy industry/government connections, was shocked. The Jameses enclosed a copy of the beautifully researched scientific proof they had presented to the government. This document is so damning that I was astonished they had been unable to persuade the government to even consider the problem. They enclosed hair-raising details of industry/government threats, lies from officials who were and are protecting the soy industry, and details of careers that were destroyed, grants withdrawn, and research papers censored or not published.
The pressure on one of the scientists they worked with was so great that his assistant suffered a nervous breakdown and had to flee the country. Probably the worst of all is that the government was and is prepared to go to any lengths to protect the soy industry and their multi-billions in annual profits. Even the so-called Health Minister was firmly aligned behind the baby killers!
Valerie told me heartbreaking stories of girl babies who showed signs of early maturation, such as underarm odour, breast development, body hair and menstruation as early as two, three and four years of age! (As mentioned elsewhere, this is not surprising, since soy formula-feeding gives babies the equivalent of five birth control pills each day. ) The risk appears to be greatest in girls who ingest soy formula for nine months or more. In boy babies, 12 months of soy feeding can lead to gross effects by the age of 11 or 12. Breasts appear and testicles do not develop. Of course, this does not happen to all soy- fed babies, but are you prepared to take such a chance?
The Jameses are the best sort of modern day heroes --gladiators fighting a David and Goliath battle against the forces of evil. In this case, unfortunately, these evil forces happen to be their own government.
I'm confused. How did it happen that governments throughout the English- speaking world (which are supposed to protect us, not big business) have become so powerful and so arrogant? Some dare to use taxpayer-funded agencies (Health Ministries and Legal Aid) to stifle people who are trying to tell the truth about soy, as well as many other dangerous products backed by multinational companies. This is exactly what happened to the Jameses. Amazingly, their own government actually allowed a soy producer to use government-funded Legal Aid to sue the Jameses for telling the truth about their product! The Jameses, of course, had to fund their own crippling legal defence.
This courageous couple are being pilloried for trying to save millions of babies from the crippling effects of soy formula! They should be thanked, instead of being sued and threatened. It's depressing. It would seem that there is no way decent people can win against the multinationals when these corporations are backed by governments. We don't have a chance. There is little we can do, since the media is under the control of the "bad guys". Word of mouth and the internet are our only hope. I give everyone who reads this book permission to photocopy these pages on soy. Please give a copy to your health professional. Give copies to all your friends.
Ask each friend to tell at least ten more people the truth, and ask those ten to tell another ten, and so on. it is extraordinary what people power can do. Go for it! (See the James website: www.soyonlineservice.co.nz. )
Dr. Fitzpatrick, mentioned above, wrote a paper on the dangers of soy isoflavones, which he submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration. This paper was reprinted in the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation Journal. It's five pages long, and frightening. Following are just a few of the things he has to say:
"The toxicity of isoflavones to animals first raised the awareness of the scientific community to the fact that soy isoflavones are endocrine disruptors... There have been profound negative endocrine effects in all animal species studied to date."
Translated, this means that your glandular system can be damaged by soy, and if your glands don't function properly, your health will suffer drastically. There is more: "Soy isoflavones increase the risk of breast cancer... Soy isoflavone disrupts the menstrual cycle during, and for up to three months after, administration... Dietary concentration of genistein may stimulate breast cells to enter the cell cycle... Concern was expressed that women fed soy protein isolate have an increased incidence of epithelial hyperplasia.
"An epidemiological study in China has shown that high soy intake is not protective against breast cancer... There have been several similar studies, which have refuted the theory that soy helps prevent breast cancer. "
Soy oil fares no better. It becomes rancid when subjected to the high temperatures necessary to remove the oil from the bean. Hexane and other dangerous solvents are always used, and traces inevitably remain.
My least favourite multinational, Monsanto Corporation, has 45 million acres of genetically modified soybeans growing in the United States. American law permits these crops to be mixed with a small amount of organic soybeans, and the resultant combination may then be labelled organic!
In Australia, in order to accommodate these genetically engineered soya beans, the John Howard Government has raised the allowed residue levels of the herbicide Glyphosate by 200 times! According to the New England Journal of Medicine, this herbicide has been linked with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a severe cancer of the lymph system. This, alone, is a compelling reason to shun soy!
Hundreds of people have told us horror stories about physical damage done to them by soy products. The worst are those told by distraught mothers who blame themselves for destroying the health of their babies. One woman, who drank soy milk during pregnancy, then fed her baby soy formula, described the terrible menstrual problems her 12-year-old daughter is suffering. From birth, the poor baby was on a hormonal roller coaster because the soy oestrogens in her formula gave her the equivalent of five birth control pills each day. Then, when she was 12, their physician prescribed more birth control pills to "regulate" her hormones. What are they thinking of! According to Mary Enig, PhD, and judging by our experiences at the health centre, these stories are commonplace. Also commonplace are serious gastrointestinal disturbances suffered by babies on soy formula. With all this compelling evidence, how can it be that physicians are still prescribing soy formula?
If you or a family member have been damaged by soy, please send us all details. Include your address and phone number, and whether or not you wish to join a class action lawsuit we are in the process of instigating.
For our New Zealand readers, there is now a class action being prepared there, for reproductive or thyroid damage due to soy foods and/or formula.
Please contact Roger Chapman, Esq., of Johnston Lawrence, P.O. Box 1213, DX
SP 20004, Wellington, NZ, or roger@johnlaw.co.nz.
This is a mess! The few people who are speaking out about soy are overwhelmed by the vast wealth of faceless multinationals, and the government agencies they are able to buy. I feel like stumping the country, haranguing anyone who will listen, and urging them to join in the fight. But the establishment press won't print anti-soy or anti-Aspartame (another Monsanto product) news! The facts can only be spread through occasional articles, such as those in Nexus Magazine, and by word of mouth.
Eventually, as with asbestos, the truth will come out, in spite of all the efforts of manufacturers and governments, but by then it will be too late for the millions who have been damaged. What do the companies care? They are more powerful and wealthier than most countries, and they are raking in billions from soy each year. They can afford to shrug off a little negative press ten years down the line. Ethics and conscience don't enter into the equation.
Another multinational, Nestle Carnation, is a major soy advertiser. You may remember them as the company which brought infant formula to third world countries, discouraging breast feeding and killing, according to the World Health Organization, one and one-half million babies each year. Well, they're still at it, still flogging their soy milk formulas in spite of all the evidence that it is deadly. One wonders how management of these huge companies manage to get a good night's sleep.?
This information on the dangers of soy is contained in the first chapter of Take Control of Your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry. Please share this with as many people as you can - it is our only weapon against the multinational corporations who are trying to kill us in the name of profit.
To purchase, please visit: www.doctorsaredangerous.com
or phone: Ph: +61 7 5530 2939
Fax: +61 7 5569 0884