New truth about soy

I’ve been sharing what I know about nutrition for decades, trying to keep up with this ever more enlightened field. What we know – what studies are now showing – is so much different than what we used to believe.

Soy is a great example. For many years we cautioned women not to eat soy as it would contribute to breast cancer and other estrogen-positive cancers. We cautioned men and boys not to eat soy as we believed the phyto or plant estrogens would give them enlarged breasts.
Boy were we wrong. We were just going with the knowledge of the time and that knowledge has changed.
We now know – due to many well-documented studies – that soy is a Super-Food and women especially should be eating it every day.

Turns out the phyto-estrogens in soy actually block the cells receptors for certain cancers. We now know that you have 2 receptors for estrogen – alpha and beta.  Alpha attracts cancer cells.  With 16000%  more affinity the phytoestrogens in soy bind to Beta receptors. When beta receptors are activated, the alpha receptors are shut down. Also – soy deactivates aromatase so there is less conversion of fat cells to cancer cells. 

The Shanghai Study of 73,000 Chinese women compared soy consumption and risk of cancer. Those who ate more soy had a 58% reduction in post-menopausal cancers.

Another study followed 6200 women with breast cancer for 9 years. They ate at least one serving of soy per week. Results showed a 21% drop in deaths, a 51% drop in estrogen negative cancers and 32% drop in estrogen driven cancers. Dr. Kristi Funk recommends 2-3 servings of non-GMO soy per day. This can be edamame, tempeh, tofu, soy milk or miso. Try to stick with the less processed soy products.

And MEN who eat 2-3 servings of soy per day showed an increase in fertility and a reduced risk of prostate cancer. This is huge because recent studies have shown a major decline in male fertility over the past decade leading to dire predictions of the end of our species. Eat more soy please!!

Here’s a tasty recipe to get you started. https://www.thespruceeats.com/vegan-tofu-lasagna-with-spinach-recipe-3377165

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