Letters to the Editor

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  Oct, 2001  

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Soy Controversy: Reply to Mr. Bill Sardi

Editor:

On March 26, 2001, following the publication of our reply to his comments in the Townsend Letter, I received an email from Mr. Bill Sardi requesting a "timely" response to 12 questions, including some that the best medical minds have been unable to answer. (e.g. Why do 11% of Americans have kidney stones and what is the antidote? Why do 12% of Americans have mitral heart valve condition and what is the antidote?) Wary that my answers might be misinterpreted or quoted out of context, I invited Mr. Sardi to submit his questions to the Townsend Letter so that they could be answered in an open forum. I also suggested that he engage the professional services of Dr. Mary Enig to do the research that some of his questions required. His subsequent email reply was rude, threatening and unprofessional.

One of Mr. Sardi's 12 questions was a request for entire citations for several studies we referred to in our earlier letter. They are as follows:

Connolly JM, Lui XH, Rose DP. Effects of dietary menhaden oil, soy, and a cyclooxygenase inhibitor on human breast cancer cell growth and metastasis in nude mice. Nutrition and Cancer 1997;29(1):48-54.

Wang C, Kurzer MS. Phytoestrogen concentration determines effects on DNA synthesis in human breast cancer cells. Nutrition and Cancer 1997;28(3):236-47.

Hilakivi-Clarke L, Cho E, Clark R. Maternal genistein exposure mimics the effects of estrogen on mammary gland development in female mouse offspring. Oncology Reports 1998 May-Jun;5(3):609-16.

(The last reference was erroneously attributed to the Cancer Research, for which our apologies.)

It is the industry that wants to have it both ways, promoting highly processed imitation foods and calling them "natural." Soy is processed in factories in order to remove a number, of components that the industry itself recognizes as toxic -- otherwise, why would they go to the expense of removing them -- but it does not remove them completely. Levels of protease inhibitors, for example, vary greatly among various soy products, but are never completely absent. Soy isoflavones can be removed by alcohol washing but this process adds to the cost of the finished product so it is rarely done, not even for the soy protein added to infant formula. Instead, the industry has chosen to promote the phytoestrogens as beneficial.

Nature does not favor shortages of calcium and iron. Shortages of calcium and iron result in debilitating diseases like anemia and osteoporosis. Unfortunately, the modern diet does not provide sufficient amounts of the fat-soluble nutrients the body needs to assimilate these minerals properly. The plaque that blocks the arteries is full of calcium but calcium restriction is not being promoted as a way of preventing heart disease. Rather than restrict mineral intake, we need to adjust the diet so that the minerals are used properly, and not deposited in the soft tissues.

Mr. Sardi agrees with us that vitamin D is required in amounts much larger than the US RDA, but he continues to criticize our recommendation that humans consume vitamin-D-rich foods -- butter, shrimp, lard, organ meats, eggs, seafood and cod liver oil. He agrees with us that vitamin D helps prevent cancer, osteoporosis, hypertension, autoimmune disease and mental depression. Why then is he promoting soy, which raises the body's requirements for vitamin D? He says that humans cannot get optimal levels of vitamin D from foods -- now determined to be about 4000 IU per day. How, then, did the human race survive before the age of vitamin pills? A traditional diet containing generous amounts of seafood, and fats and organ meats from grass-fed animals, can provide about 2000 IU per day. In .the summer months, exposure to the sun would stimulate the body to produce additional vitamin D. During the winter months and in colder climates, people ate other. vitamin-D-rich foods such, as blubber, bear fat, intestines, ins ects, head cheese, scrapple, sausage, cracklings, cod liver oil and high-fat cheese.

In cultures that consume grains, the grains are either refined (as in the case of rice in Asia, which is eaten as white rice); or mostly prepared by soaking and fermented to remove phytic acid. I say "mostly" because the exceptions point to the recognition that phytic acid in grains may have benefits as a chelator when taken for short periods. The most obvious example is the short period of consumption of unleavened bread during Passover among Jews. When I lived in Iran,. I was given a rough porridge of whole grains when I was sick with an intestinal disorder, but most of the time white rice was served. People often do feel better initially when they switch to phytate-rich foods; but problems develop over the long term, including digestive disorders and mineral deficiencies. The human body requires a plentiful supply of minerals at all ages -- along with the fat-soluble activators necessary for the absorption of these minerals. With soaking of whole grains, humans can benefit from all the nutrients they cont ain without suffering from the negative effects of phytic acid and other problematic compounds. Unfortunately, neither soaking nor slow cooking remove the phytates from soy.