07/25/2006: Ted from Bangkok, Thailand: "For years I have tolerated growing onslaught of misinformation about Soy even though most studies relating to soy is quite positive. Today, I am angry and decided to post this myself.

If you don't believe me that soy is good for you, you don't have to! You can prove this for yourself! I will tell you how! The secret is here.

Do this: go to www.pubmed.org and do a search using the following keyword as follows:

• soy cancer
• soy dht
• soy testosterone
• soy estrogen
• soy osteoporosis

You will then learn the truth and you don't even have to believe me. I have done this for you already, and here are the summaries in case you don't have time! True information that I will post the research citations verbatim directly from research studies as follows:

1. DHT hormones (dihydrotestosterone) are the major cause of male hormone baldness. When lack of testosterone does not generate that much DHT stays on your head. The only known substance to reduce that is DHT.

2. Phytoestrogen has no effect on estrogen levels or hormone levels or even testosterone.

3. Soy helps with osteoporosis.

4. Soy reduces cancer and is used to treat cancer victims.

I will post the medical abstracts verbatim below.

Now the reason why such a relentless attack on soy is that there are ulterior motives from certain interest groups such as

1. Decreasing milk cows sales.
2. the use of genetically modified cows
3. the use of bovine growth hormones injected into cows which we drink and may cause obesity
4. The prevalence of mad cow's disease
5. The findings of a chemical toxins and toxic vaccines and might be found in cow's milk.

I am an Asian, here where I live we actually consume more soy milk then even fermented soy products. And it has kept us relatively low of osteoporosis.

Because of so much bombardment against soy, I will not put any thing here besides research abstract below. Ted"

Nope: soy does not effect testosterone:

Serum prostate-specific antigen but not testosterone levels decrease in a randomized soy intervention among men.

Maskarinec G, Morimoto Y, Hebshi S, Sharma S, Franke AA, Stanczyk FZ.

1Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA.

Background: Low prostate cancer incidence and high soy intake in Asian countries suggest a possible protective effect of soy foods against prostate cancer. The goal of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility of a randomized, crossover soy trial among men and to investigate the effects of daily soy intake on serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and testosterone levels.Methods:We randomized 24 men to a high or a low soy diet for 3 months. After a 1-month washout period, the men crossed over to the other treatment. During the high soy diet, the men consumed two daily soy servings; during the low soy diet, they maintained their usual diet. During the entire study each man donated four blood samples and five overnight urine samples. Dietary compliance was assessed by soy calendars, 24-h dietary recalls, and urinary isoflavone excretion measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection. Blood samples were analyzed for serum testosterone and PSA by radioimmunoassay. When necessary, variables were log transformed. Two sample t-tests compared the two groups before each study period. Mixed models incorporating the repeated measurements were used to evaluate the effect of the soy diet on urinary isoflavone excretion and serum analytes.Results:Twenty-three men aged 58.7+/-7.2 years completed the study. The compliance with the study regimen was high according to self-reported soy food intake and urinary isoflavone excretion. No significant between-group and within-group differences were detected. During the high soy diet, dietary isoflavone intake and urinary isoflavone excretion increased significantly as compared to the low soy diet. A 14% decline in serum PSA levels (P=0.10), but no change in testosterone (P=0.70), was observed during the high soy diet in contrast to the low soy diet.Conclusion:The high adherence as shown by three measures of compliance in this pilot trial demonstrated the feasibility of an intervention based on soy foods among free-living men.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 14 June 2006; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602473.

PMID: 16775579 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Asians have less osteporosis because of soy milk consumption! We consume more soy milk then the so called fermented things that Dr. Mercola claims!

Osteoporosis prevention education programme for women. Chan MF, Ko CY.

School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China. hsmfchan@inet.polyu.edu.hk

AIM: This paper reports an evaluation of a nurse-initiated education programme on four specific osteoporosis prevention behaviours which led to their adoption or to positive attitude changes.

BACKGROUND: In the past, osteoporosis was a serious health concern that most commonly affected women in Northern Europe and the United States of America, but was less commonly seen in Asian women. However, in Hong Kong, osteoporosis is currently among the top five conditions causing disability and prolonged hospital stay for older people. From an economic perspective, the most cost-effective approach is to focus on primary prevention via education, and nurses often have the responsibility of providing such educational programmes.

METHOD: A randomized controlled study was conducted from July 2004 to March 2005 with 76 women (38 cases and 38 controls) recruited in two private beauty clinics in Hong Kong. Pre-, post- and follow-up education data were compared regarding attitudes and adoption frequency before and after the education programme. RESULTS: The results showed statistically significant increases for each behaviour: consumption of soy foods (P < 0.001), milk (P < 0.001), more exercise (P = 0.01) and vitamin D/exposure to sunlight (P < 0.001) for the case group compared with the control group. Most participants either disagreed (n = 15, 39.0%) or strongly disagreed (n = 23, 61.0%) that there was not enough information provided in the education programme to motivate them to change. They rated the nurse's performance as either satisfactory or very satisfactory on presentation, ability to answer their questions and ability to describe each behaviour clearly.

CONCLUSION: Although positive results with a nurse-initiated education programme were demonstrated, future research examining the effects of education and occupation on these four adoption behaviours should focus on more diverse populations with respect to age, income or ethnicity. The findings suggest the value of creative approaches in future health education for the prevention of osteoporosis, and the need for a critical appraisal of current strategies and a re-evaluation of services and funding.

PMID: 16553702 [PubMed - in process]

A rat study confirms improved bone when fed with soy

Soy affects trabecular microarchitecture and favorably alters select bone-specific gene expressions in a male rat model of osteoporosis.

Soung DY, Devareddy L, Khalil DA, Hooshmand S, Patade A, Lucas EA, Arjmandi BH.

Department of Nutrition, Food & Exercise Sciences, Florida State University, 436 Sandels Bldg, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306-1493, USA, arjmand@okstate.edu.

We have recently reported that soy isoflavones particularly when provided in the context of soy protein are capable of preventing loss of bone mineral density due to orchidectomy in F344 rats. We hypothesize, that soy isoflavones also exert beneficial effects on bone microstructural properties, in part, by enhancing bone formation. Therefore, in the present study, we examined the dose-dependent effects of soy isoflavones on femoral bone microarchitectural properties and select bone-specific gene expressions in the same rat model. Seventy-two, 13-month old rats were either orchidectomized (ORX; 5 groups) or sham-operated (Sham; 1 group) and immediately placed on dietary treatments for 180 days. Four of the ORX groups were fed either casein- or soy protein-based diets each with one of two doses of isoflavones either 600 or 1200 mg/kg diet. Rats in the remaining ORX control and Sham groups were fed a control casein-based diet. Soy protein at the high isoflavone dose, and to a lesser extent with the lower dose, reduced the magnitude of the ORX-induced decreases in trabecular bone volume (BV/TV) and trabecular number (Th.N) and increase in trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) at the femoral neck site. These modulations of trabecular microstructural properties by isoflavones may be due to increased mRNA levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), collagen type I (COL), and osteocalcin (OC), which are associated with enhanced bone formation. These findings confirm our earlier observations that the modest bone protective effects of soy isoflavones are due to increased rate of bone formation.

PMID: 16830200 [PubMed - in process

Soy reduces dangerous DHT that causes you to go bald But yet had no effect on good hormones!

1: J Nutr. 2005 Mar;135(3):584-91.
Soy protein isolates of varying isoflavone content exert minor effects on serum reproductive hormones in healthy young men.

Dillingham BL, McVeigh BL, Lampe JW, Duncan AM.

Department of Human Biology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.

Inverse associations between soy and prostate cancer and the contribution of hormones to prostate cancer prompted the current study to determine whether soy protein could alter serum hormones in men. Thirty-five men consumed milk protein isolate (MPI), low-isoflavone soy protein isolate (SPI) (low-iso SPI; 1.64 +/- 0.19 mg isoflavones/d), and high-iso SPI (61.7 +/- 7.35 mg isoflavones/d) for 57 d each in a randomized crossover design. Twenty-four-hour urine samples indicated that urinary isoflavones were significantly increased by the high-iso SPI relative to the low-iso SPI and MPI. Serum collected on d 1, 29, and 57 of each treatment revealed that dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and DHT/testosterone were significantly decreased by the low-iso SPI [9.4% (P = 0.036) and 9.0% (P = 0.004), respectively] and the high-iso SPI [15% (P = 0.047) and 14% (P = 0.013), respectively], compared with the MPI at d 57. Other significant effects included a decrease in testosterone by the low-iso SPI relative to the MPI (P = 0.023) and high-iso SPI (P = 0.020) at d 29; an increase in dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate by the low-iso SPI relative to the MPI at d 29 (P = 0.001) and relative to the MPI (P = 0.0003) and high-iso SPI (P = 0.005) at d 57; and increases in estradiol and estrone by the low-iso SPI relative to the MPI at d 57 (P = 0.010 and P = 0.005, respectively). In conclusion, soy protein, regardless of isoflavone content, decreased DHT and DHT/testosterone with minor effects on other hormones, providing evidence for some effects of soy protein on hormones. The relevance of the magnitude of these effects to future prostate cancer risk requires further investigation.

PMID: 15735098 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Soy is used in cancer treatment!! Cancer causing? You have been lied to by the Cow's milk consortium! Yes it protects against Prostate Cancer!

Effects of a diet rich in phytoestrogens on prostate-specific antigen and sex hormones in men diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Dalais FS, Meliala A, Wattanapenpaiboon N, Frydenberg M, Suter DA, Thomson WK, Wahlqvist ML.

International Health and Development Unit, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of diets rich in soy and linseed compared with a control diet on biochemical markers of prostate cancer in men diagnosed with prostate cancer. METHODS: Twenty-nine men diagnosed with prostate cancer and scheduled to undergo a radical prostatectomy were randomized to one of three groups: soy (high phytoestrogen), soy and linseed (high phytoestrogen), or wheat (low phytoestrogen). A bread was specially manufactured to incorporate 50 g of heat-treated (HT) soy grits or 50 g of HT soy grits and 20 g of linseed as part of the study participant's daily diet. Baseline and preoperative levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), free PSA, testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, free androgen index, and dihydrotestosterone were measured. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were detected between the HT soy grits group and the control wheat group for the percentage of change in total PSA (-12.7% versus 40%, P = 0.02) and the percentage of change in free/total PSA ratio (27.4% versus -15.6%, P = 0.01); and between the HT soy grits group and the HT soy grits and linseed group for the percentage of change in free androgen index (16.4% versus -15.5%, P = 0.04) and the percentage of change in free/total PSA ratio (27.4% versus -10%, P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: The data from this study indicate that a daily diet containing four slices of a bread rich in HT soy grits favorably influences the PSA level and the free/total PSA ratio in patients with prostate cancer. This work provides some evidence to support epidemiologic studies claiming that male populations who consume high phytoestrogen diets have a reduced risk of prostate cancer development and progression.

PMID: 15351581 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Genistein and daizein is o.k.

Genistein and daidzein downregulate prostate androgen-regulated transcript-1 (PART-1) gene expression induced by dihydrotestosterone in human prostate LNCaP cancer cells. Yu L, Blackburn GL, Zhou JR.

Nutrition/Metabolism Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Epidemiologic investigations and laboratory studies suggest that bioactive soy phytochemical components may be used as an effective dietary regimen for prevention of prostate cancer. Studies designed to identify new genes that are responsive to androgens and are sensitive to the prevention of prostate cancer using soy bioactive components have become a research priority. In this study, we determined the effect of soy isoflavones on the expression of prostate androgen-regulated transcript 1 (PART-1), a newly discovered androgen-induced gene that may represent a novel androgen-dependent prostate cancer tumor marker. In an androgen-depleted cell culture system, 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) induced expression of PART-1 transcript in androgen-sensitive LNCaP, but not in androgen-independent DU 145 or PC-3 human prostate cancer cells. The soy isoflavones genistein and daidzein dose-dependently inhibited DHT-induced expression of the PART-1 transcript. Genistein at 50 micro mol/L completely inhibited expression of the PART-1 transcript in LNCaP cells induced by DHT at 0.1 and 1.0 nmol/L. Daidzein was less potent than genistein, whereas glycitein at the same levels as genistein or daidzein did not inhibit DHT-induced PART-1 transcript expression. Our studies suggest that use of the PART-1 gene as a biomarker for evaluating the efficacy of soy isoflavones on androgen-dependent prostate cancer warrants further investigation.

PMID: 12566472 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]"

02/17/2012: Cat from Tauranga, New Zealand: "However, this was not my actual question; which concerns whether soy products are really as healthy as the food industry likes to portray them? The main principle lies in the amount, because too much is unhealthy, as you always say.

Basically soy is a high-quality plant protein in which Isoflavones are also contained in large quantities in the form of phytoestrogens. Nevertheless, the protein and the Isoflavones, as well as other substances of soy, are in no way harmless. In particular with long-term consumption of large quantities, the Isoflavones effect the hormone balance quite critically.

However, all the other soy substances are not harmless either, which is why they should be used as food only with sufficient caution or not at all. In particular no kind of food for children should contain any soy products at all, because with regard to the Isoflavones, especially the health of babies, toddlers and adolescents is impaired by soy products and in other respects health is seriously damaged. Already less than one quarter of a milligram of Isoflavones per one kilogram of body weight per day can cause very bad and irreparable health defects in children of every age, namely in relation to consciousness activity, the brain, the intelligence, the world of thought and feeling, the psyche, the physical body and the behaviour pattern etc.

If pregnant women consume soy products it can lead to heavy and irreparable damages to the foetus' body, limbs, nerves, cerebrum and muscles as well as to body deformations. More than a quarter of a milligram of Isoflavones per kilo of body weight should not be given to babies and toddlers under any circumstances.

Said with easy and generally understandable words and concepts, soy products of all kind, because of their toxic ingredients, in larger quantities are even capable of impairing the health of strong adults and to cause serious damage, which can lead to growth of tumours, respectively cancer and to the fostering of brain-, consciousness and behavioural disorders, personality changes and to infertility.

Especially breast cancer in women and men is often caused by soy products, as well as depression and Parkinson's, namely in particular when a hereditary disposition exists for it. Also Alzheimer's and dementia can be results of an excess of the Isoflavones, as well as an impairment of eyesight, the taste buds, the ability to concentrate, the moral balance and various other important life factors.

Then what ought to be the amount of soy that the adult may take? The quantity depends on the concentration of Isoflavones, of which a person should consume no more than half a milligram per kilo of body weight daily if he does not want to be impaired toxically. This means that a person of 70 kilograms of body weight should not consume soy products that exceed 35 milligrams of Isoflavones. However, with soy consumption this amount is reached very quickly.

This is indeed the case, because already a normal soy drink of 2.5 dl in size contains about 30 milligrams of Isoflavones.

And what is the case with drugs made of soy respectively concerning their Isoflavones? Such drugs are in no way recommend, if, on one hand, they are not adjusted for the body weight, and, on the other hand, are taken for too long a time, or if the person is especially susceptible with regard to Isoflavones

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3513607.stm

I recall reading somewhere that tofu, miso etc (the fermented types of soy) are safe and that's why Asians have no problems with their consumption of soy. It's really only the western world that has decided to include soy in so many products (canned tuna for instance) and this is where the problems lies. Check the labels in your pantry and you'll be amazed at how much soy we're consuming, to our detriment!!!"

12/29/2011: Debbie from Melbourne, Australia : "I came across this article on the dangers of soy being hidden in our foods. I think everyone should read it. It says that soy is high in antrinutrients and blocks nutrients being digested in the digestive tract. It can affect masculinity and drive down fertility. Women eating large quantities of soy can experience hair thinning amongst other things. Consumption can according to the article lead to thyroid disfunction.

It certainly is getting harder to try to avoid getting very sick these days and it is hidden using various names in most processed foods. Along with MSG and aspartame you wonder what Governments are doing to the worldwide population.

No wonder our kids minds are being turned to mush. I would be interested in others thoughts on this.

http://www.justmindpower.com/Soy.html"