{"id":35,"date":"2010-11-26T05:40:15","date_gmt":"2010-11-26T05:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/11\/to-soy-or-not-to-soy.html"},"modified":"2010-11-26T05:40:15","modified_gmt":"2010-11-26T05:40:15","slug":"to-soy-or-not-to-soy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/11\/to-soy-or-not-to-soy.html","title":{"rendered":"To Soy or Not to Soy…"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the biggest debates in the
\nhealth food-minded world today surrounds the use of soy and soy derived
\nproducts.  Some extol the benefits of soy ranging from healthier skin to
\nbreast cancer prevention, while others condemn the bean as a key contributor to
\nhormone-related cancers.  How can one little legume stir up so much
\ncontroversy?  Actually, it’s one of the more common questions in my
\npractice and one that I am more than happy to address.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The controversy began due to a
\nspecial compound called ‘isoflavone’ found in soy.  Isoflavones belong to
\na larger class of compounds known as ‘phytoestrogens.’  Phytoestrogens are
\ndefined as any plant that mimics the actions of estrogen hormone by binding to
\nthe estrogen receptor.  So, in a nutshell, soy can act like estrogen in
\nthe body.  As we say in Integrative Medicine, individualizing care is
\nessential.  <\/span>So, this natural estrogen
\nresponse of soy can be good for some people and not so good for others. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The first step in understanding the
\nbenefits or risks that soy carries lies in understanding that ‘all soy is not
\ncreated equal’.  A quick examination of your pantry or grocery store can
\nclue you into all of the forms of soy that are used to produce various food
\nproducts.  In fact, try eliminating soy from your diet for a few days.  <\/span>If you’re like most of my patients, you’ll be
\nstartled at the number of times soy passes your lips.  Essentially, it
\nboils down to two details: 1) Whole Soy vs Extracted Soy and 2) the health
\nstatus of the person consuming soy.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Whole soy includes edamame (whole soybeans),
\ntofu, miso, soy milk, soy sauce.  These items represent soy in its natural
\nform, whereas, extracted soy is processed many steps away from the natural
\nbean.  <\/span>Of course, as you process any
\nfood, you start losing the original nutritional value of that food (that’s why
\nwhole foods are so highly touted by anyone clued into nutrition!).  <\/span>Extracted soy includes soy protein isolate
\nand textured vegetable protein.  You’ll find these types of ingredients
\nmost often in protein shakes, cereals and vegetarian imitation ‘meats’. 
\nHere is where the confusion of the controversy gets cleared up for you….right
\nhere…Whole Soy is beneficial; Extracted Soy is not.  <\/span><\/p>\n

                                                                                                                                   <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As a side note, I feel compelled to
\nadd on this little caveat: I always recommend organic soy.  Why?  <\/span>Over 86% of our soy crops are genetically
\nmodified to be pesticide resistant. This pesticide resistance power makes it
\neasier for these soybeans to be overly-treated with toxic chemicals- not what I
\nwant to be serving up to my children.  In my home, it’s organic soy or no
\nsoy.  <\/span>It’s that easy.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

OK, it’s that easy if you are not
\npostmenopausal or if you don’t have a history of breast cancer.  <\/span>People with these conditions have a
\npotentially more risky relationship with soy. 
\n<\/span>Join me on the next post to understand why.  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the biggest debates in the health food-minded world today surrounds the use of soy and soy derived products.  Some extol the benefits of soy ranging from healthier skin to breast cancer prevention, while others condemn the bean as a key contributor to hormone-related cancers.  How can one little legume stir up so much…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":220,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-global-health-wisdom","category-healthy-eating","category-womens-health"],"yoast_head":"\nTo Soy or Not to Soy... - Medicine to Move You<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/11\/to-soy-or-not-to-soy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To Soy or Not to Soy... - Medicine to Move You\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the biggest debates in the health food-minded world today surrounds the use of soy and soy derived products.  Some extol the benefits of soy ranging from healthier skin to breast cancer prevention, while others condemn the bean as a key contributor to hormone-related cancers.  How can one little legume stir up so much…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/11\/to-soy-or-not-to-soy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medicine to Move You\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-11-26T05:40:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Shilpa P. Saxena\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"To Soy or Not to Soy... - Medicine to Move You","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/11\/to-soy-or-not-to-soy.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"To Soy or Not to Soy... - Medicine to Move You","og_description":"One of the biggest debates in the health food-minded world today surrounds the use of soy and soy derived products.  Some extol the benefits of soy ranging from healthier skin to breast cancer prevention, while others condemn the bean as a key contributor to hormone-related cancers.  How can one little legume stir up so much…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/11\/to-soy-or-not-to-soy.html","og_site_name":"Medicine to Move You","article_published_time":"2010-11-26T05:40:15+00:00","author":"Dr. Shilpa P. 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Her latest personal and professional growth step: the Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, founded by Dr. Andrew Weil.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/author\/ssaxena"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/220"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}