The Soy Conundrum: Part 1

This is a HUGE topic that would take volumes to adequately explore, but I’ll try to give you the highlights. If you’ve been following health trends, you are likely as confused as most Americans about soy. Is it healthy for human consumption? My answer is a tentative maybe. Here’s why...

How Soy is Grown: About 85% of all soy grown is now genetically modified. Even if you don’t care about the genetic material itself, what this tinkering has done has allowed these crops to be even more heavily sprayed with pesticides and herbicides which travel up the food chain. We are seeing more and more research coming in now about how these residues contribute to disease, especially in children.

Health Claims: Most of the health claims are marginal at best. When you actually read through the literature and the research, you’ll find there are small benefits to LDL reduction associated with eating soy (although it’s hard to determine if that is the reason or if it’s because participants traded conventional meats for soy a few meals a week and maybe it was really just the removal of the damaged fats and fat soluble toxins that did the trick). Most of the positive health benefits are found from using fermented soy foods, not from products like “Tofurky” or SPI (soy protein isolate).

Protein Quality: You will hear many proponents of vegetarian and vegan diets claim that soy offers a complete protein source. While it is true on a chemical level that soy offers a broad spectrum of essential amino acids, it also important to understand that soy contains chemicals that slow or prevent the digestion of proteins and significantly impair the bioavailability of their component amino acids.

Human systems simply don’t produce the all the enzymes essential to the complete digestion of soy protein or the breakdown of the “anti-nutrients” that get in the way. When we rely strictly on soy for protein, or have a very high intake of soy products in the diet, we risk long term amino acid and mineral deficiencies that create problems in all our systems including hypothyroidism, anemia and immuno-deficiency.

Anti-nutrients: These are substances that either impair nutrient bioavailability or are chemicals that directly impinge on human systems creating health problems in the long term. One of these problematic substances is phytic acid or phytate. Soy has one of the highest amounts of phytate of any legume or grain studied, and to make matters worse, the phytates in soy are highly resistant to breaking down by heat (unlike phytates found in spinach, for example). Phytic acid blocks the absorption of vital minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc. Because we don’t have the capacity to break down phytates, we have to rely on other mechanisms to do it for us. Happily, bacteria can do this via fermentation. This is why fermented soy products are considered by most nutrition experts to be the best form for human consumption. Fermented soy products include tamari (soy sauce), miso and tempeh.

Unfermented soy also contains enzyme inhibitors that block one of your body’s main proteases: trypsin. This is essential in the digestion and breakdown of proteins. Diets high in trypsin inhibitors can precipitate pancreatitis (and other pathological conditions of the pancreas), amino acid deficiencies and gastric distress as the undigested proteins make their way through the intestines.

If you choose to use soy, please choose organic, non-GMO, fermented products, and rotate your protein sources so you don’t rely exclusively, or even heavily, on soy. It is essential that growing children NOT use soy exclusively as their bodies try to build bones and brains. There are plenty of other legumes out there and when combined with a grain you will have a complete amino acid profile, and a broader spectrum of nutrients.

Get Informed. Get Help if you need it. And Get REAL.

(also published on the Patch.com)

Stress and the Uncommon Cold

Everyone always calls it “the common cold” when in fact that’s a HUGE misnomer. Every cold (and flu) you get is unique, caused by rapidly morphing viruses that make you it’s unwilling host for about 2 weeks. The virus is different every time even though your symptoms may be the same. So really, it’s the uncommon cold and all too common symptoms you experience during the battle back to health.

Speaking from recent unpleasant experience I can tell you that the battle requires constant vigilance and lots of hand washing. Also speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that stress is the ally of that fiendish virus, not you.

Stress and your immunity have an ongoing wrestling match already. The more stress you require your body to endure, the less effective your immunity becomes. Why? When you get stressed out, your body is flooded by a cascade of chemicals designed to induce your ability to run for your life or fight for it. Chemicals that shut down all other systems that are not immediately needed for you to survive the next 20 minutes flow through your bloodstream. Digestion and absorption slow to almost a stop as cortisol shuts down insulin production, and neuro-peptide-Y quickly shunts any recently absorbed fuel to fat storage in the abdomen to be dealt with later. Production of blood cells in the bone marrow screech to a halt while inflammatory compounds rush into circulation in preparation for injury.

Since your immunity is dependent upon the whole host of white blood cells, when you are under chronic stress your ability to fight off infection falls in relationship to your ability to produce white blood cells, and stem inflammation. When the body is chronically on high alert, it uses up resources unwisely. It’s a bit like running out of water by keeping your lawn green in the desert and then watching as your house burns down because the well is dry.

Personally, the sickest I’ve ever been was teaching preschool years ago. I caught the first cold the kids passed around and then just kept getting hit with each new one that came through the school as my immune system struggled to find resources while I fretted constantly about having enough money to pay my bills, went through big changes in my relationship, and skimped on my grocery bills by eating lots of highly processed boxes of mac and cheese. I finally ended up with walking pneumonia and my exasperated doctor threw his hands in the air saying “if you don’t quit your job I’m going to have to admit you to the hospital!”

Now I know better about the food side of things, but I still struggle with chronic stress. I have found that one of the keys is to see “catching a cold” as a signal from my body that it’s time to slow down. De-stress. Nourish myself with whole delicious foods. And spend time each day outside in real air and sun (if possible) to really take a conscious breath. Yes there are supplements and herbs that can help, but nothing works as well as making sure you don’t burn up your resources before you need them.

Get rest. Get nourished. Get REAL.

(also published on The Patch.com)