I had a conversation with a very dear friend today about health. Melissa is a raw food pioneer, and we talked about some of the food products and ingredients we would never consume. Very interestingly, we agreed on the same four.

While writing this article I realized I needed to share a lot of information, so I am going to make this a four part series and devote an entire article to each one.

What is The Ultimate Unhealthy “Health Food”?

Soy. I’m sure soy may come as a big surprise to some of you, as it did to me, about 9 years ago.  I have been a soy consumer for many years.  I loved tofu, soy milk, soy cream, soy ice cream, soy cheese, tofu burgers, etc.  Several years ago, when a sales person at a local health food store informed me that, “Soy isn’t fit for human consumption,” I was stunned and argued vehemently with her.  She stood her ground and told me to do some research on the topic.

I didn’t believe her until a couple of weeks after my unwanted soy revelation, while researching and writing a protocol for hypothyroidism,  much to my shock, I discovered a lot of research about the toxic impact of soy on our health.  I was blown away to learn that consuming as little as 1 ounce a day of soy for a month caused clinical hypothyroidism in healthy Japanese adults. And after halting its consumption, the thyroid function returned to normal within 1-2 weeks!

I’d forgotten that I’d heard my relatives discuss that people shouldn’t eat soy, only farm animals.  Soy is filled with phytoestrogens that disrupt the endocrine system, and hormonal balance of most people who consume it.

Also, soy contains numerous chemicals that inhibit mineral and nutrient absorption and interfere with normal thyroid function.   Also, soy consumption was linked to an increased incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, and the abnormal development of baby boys’ genitals, to the point that a few countries, beginning with New Zealand, put warning labels now on soy milk!

  1. I also discovered that estrogen is a stimulating hormone, and too much soy intake can cause insomnia.
  2. Kaayla T. Daniels, Ph.D., wrote her thesis on soy—and it became the, The Whole Soy Story

Soy is linked to the following medical problems, according to the findings of hundreds of clinical, epidemiological and lab studies:

  • Malnutrition
  • Cancer
  • Thyroid dysfunction
  • Cognitive decline (Alzheimer’s Disease)
  • Reproductive disorders
  • Infertility
  • Birth defects
  • Immune system breakdown
  • Heart disease
  • Digestive distress
  • Premature sexual development (in girls)
  • Abnormal sexual development (in boys)
  • Asthma
  • Hyperactivity

I know this is very hard to believe, as it was for me.  I’d consumed a lot of soy and have experienced its consequences.  Now I read all processed food labels, before I buy them. If you start reading your labels, you’ll find soy popping up in the most unexpected foods-as soybean oil, hydrogenated soy bean oil, hydrolyzed protein, and textured vegetable protein.

Here’s a link to an article published in 2007 in the Utne Reader the Dark Side of Soy:

http://www.utne.com/2007-07-01/Science-Technology/The-Dark-Side-of-Soy.aspx

http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=20000501001338

http://blog.wholesoystory.com/

PART 2: SWEET POISON