Are Soy Products Good For You? By Kevin Richardson, NYC Personal Trainer

Soy Products- The New ‘Health Food’

A common question among my new personal training clients is that of the health benefits of soy and soy products. Soy products have fast become a mainstay in American health food circles, marketed as an organic and wholesome protein alternative for vegetarians and as a wonder food that is the main reason for the longevity and good health of Asian populations. Soy contains fiber, vitamin B12 and omega-3 essential fatty acids, and is touted having a complete protein profile, containing all the essential amino acids required for human protein synthesis, basically a wonder food that all of us should consider adding to our dietary regimes. In the late 90’s the American Heart Association endorsed soy as being ‘heart friendly’ after several studies validated that it does indeed lower LDL cholesterol levels (the bad cholesterol) and the FDA allowed it to be labeled as such as well. However, as is so often the case in a capitalist based society, there are several driving forces behind the promotion of soy as a wonder food, and unfortunately all of them are profit based and do not have much regard for the well being of the consumers’ health.

The FDA’s endorsement of the health benefits of soy came largely as a response to lobbying from the DuPont Corporation, which had recently acquired Protein Technologies International Inc., one of the country’s leading soy producers and the 27 clinical studies submitted for review to the FDA that demonstrated soy protein’s value in lowering levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein were in fact underwritten by the soy industry, and neglected several important detrimental aspects about soy products in general. In fact it took the findings of an extensive British government report in 1998 on the potential dangers and failure to find any evidence of benefit as well as petitions from many researchers in the U.S. who found that the isofavones in soy are toxic, to bring about a change in labeling, and the FDA no longer allows anti cancer and heart health claims with soy, an unthinkable change in policy, and one that brings the inner workings of the Food & Drug Administration, (an agency tasked with protecting consumers) into question.

Considering the formidable companies such as Monsanto that not only produce soy, but also the genetically modified soy seeds and proprietary pesticides for genetically modified soybeans, as well as Cargill Foods and Soy Life and the powerful lobby groups from soybean councils in several states that emerged after the realization that this crop could be immensely profitable here in North America, it is not at all shocking that negative information regarding soy products is still hard to come by in the mainstream media.

The Soy Marketing Giant

Soybean producers pay a mandatory marketing fees in the order of 80 million dollars a year from 0.5% to 1% of the net market price of soybeans sold to support programs such as the United Soybean, which is aimed to "strengthen the position of soybeans in the marketplace and maintain and expand domestic and foreign markets for uses for soybeans and soybean products." The industry spends millions on public relations firms to get positive articles that you read into magazines, television and newspapers, using soy funded studies as a scientific foundation for the claims made. In Washington, lobbyists work with law firms to garner favorable government regulations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gives money to soy producing industries overseas, and implements free trade agreements that allow for an easy stream of soy products to be shipped to here in the U.S. and around the world. In short, almost everything that you may have heard about soy was probably the result of a public relations campaign, and had little to do with anything else but increasing sale, and it worked.

Soy Does Not Provide A Full Protein Profile For The Human Body

Soy milk is one of the biggest selling soy products, with $300 million in sales in the year 2001, up from a mere $2 million in 1980, due in part to the advertising of its potential benefits. Vegetarianism itself, has become profitable for companies to promote as a result, and more and more people are trading soy over animal based proteins largely as a result of the overwhelmingly present push towards soy being a superior food source, with soy protein used for a wide variety of vegetarian friendly products. In fact you would be hard pressed to find someone that did not believe that soy was good for the body after such an extensive and pervasive campaign, but no matter how many people call an arm a leg, it still remains a leg.

Soy does not provide the full array of essential amino acids required by the human body, as the processing required to make it safe for consumption denatures much of its useable amino acids, especially lysine. In fact, soy products are not as natural as one might think, since they are contain inherently harmful toxins such as phytic acid and protease inhibitors.

Soy And Phytic Acid- Why Commercial Products Can Be Hazardous To Your Health

The phytic acid levels are reduced by processing but remain in soy products nevertheless. Phytic acids in soy products have in fact been shown to reduce assimilation of calcium, which given the prevalence osteoporosis should be cause for concern for all. Unfortunately phytic acid in soy has been show to do far more as it also reduces magnesium, copper, zinc and iron absorption. Major concerns for anyone with anemic tendencies.

Cooking and other preparation methods do not remove the phytic acid content, and while this alone may be reason enough to question adding soy to your diet, there is far more to its potential detrimental attributes. Soy also contains high levels of enzyme inhibitors, chemicals that prevent and block the uptake of enzymes required for protein digestion. So instead of being a high quality protein source, it is in reality more of an anti-protein source.

The vitamin B12 levels in soy have also come into question as studies have shown the b12 in soy is not as biologically available to the human body and may increase the body's Vitamin D requirements. This is of particular concern to anyone pursuing a vegan soy based diet, as many vegetarians rely on soy as a major source of B12.

Soy Products And Hormonal Abnormalities

There is also the hormonal problem stemming from soy consumption. Soy is high in isofavones, also known as phytoestrogens, since the mimic to a large degree the effects of the female hormone, estrogen. Studies have linked phytoestrogens to endocrine disruption, infertility in both men and women as well as an increased risk of breast cancer, especially in post menopausal women. There is some debate however on the correlation between soy and breast cancer, as some studies have found conflicting findings. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)in Germany found that there was a lack of evidence to substantiate the supplemental soy products marketed to post menopausal women available having a positive effect on bone density and a reduced risk of breast cancer, but that there was evidence that the soy products could indeed bring about breast cancer, and bring about negative changes in the thyroid.

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