Some time ago, Sally Fallon and Mary Enig wrote a piece about soy called “Tragedy and Hype” and depicted soy as the worst thing since Hitler. As a result, the controversy concerning soy never ends.
Those against soy say it will depress thyroid function, cause cancer, negatively affect sperm, and on and on and on. The other side says soy will lower cholesterol, reduce hearth disease, and decrease the risk of cancer.
Choosing sides can be hard, especially if you rely on who presents the strongest and most passionate case. What needs to be done is to logically present the pros and cons and then leave it up to individual choice.
We know that soybeans are complete proteins and calorie for calorie have twice as much protein as red meat and cheese and ten times more protein than whole milk. We know that soybeans are a good source of omega-3s and have more iron, calcium, phosphorous and B vitamins than eggs.
Entire civilizations have been eating soy for generations without any ill effects and those civilizations have had lower instances of cancer and heart disease. Most importantly though, most of the studies depicting soy’s negative effects have been conducted on animals and these basically are unreliable because relating the effects on animals to humans is like comparing apples to oranges. Some good cases in point would be that Thalidomide tested safe in animals but caused devastating birth defects in children, Phen-phen tested safe in animals but caused heart abnormalities in humans, and the arthritis drug Opren tested safe in animals but killed humans.
But there are adversities as well. None of those civilizations ate soy in the quantities that we eat now, nor in such highly processed forms.
Basically, they ate tofu, tempeh, miso and the soybeans themselves. Today, we eat soy “meats”, “cheeses”, “ice creams”, supplements, and soybean oil, which is prevalent in tons of processed foods.
Then there’s Monsanto giving us genetically modified soy to the tune of 90% of the total soy crap, uh, crop produced and paying off their buddies in the Fraud and Drug Administration to make sure that GM soy is not labeled.
Okay, so when we eat soy and we only eat organically grown soy, why is there such drama? Basically, it’s all focused on the isoflavlones and the phytoestrogens, which are the chemical compounds found in soybeans and other plant foods as well. The safety of these has been questioned because the isoflavones and the phytoestrogens structurally resemble human estrogens.
But, in the studies conducted by those that are opposed to soy, they used an isolated, concentrated amount of soy isoflavones that are way more what a normal person would consume. And again, the studies showing negative effects were conducted on animals that metabolize soy differently than we do. For example, we love to eat chocolate. But, give it to a dog and it dies.
Also, when you take certain components of foods and isolate them and test them, they could prove to be harmful. However, if you eat them as part of the complete food, they are perfectly safe.
Previously we just started to get into the fact that many foods contain substances that could be harmful when consumed in isolation but perfectly fine when consumed as a whole food.
Mushrooms, broccoli, lentils, grapefruits, peanuts, spinach, chard, and celery are all examples of this. There are pesticides that occur naturally in grapefruit, lentils and broccoli that if you eat in isolation can cause mutations.
Peanuts contain cancer-causing aflatoxin. Spinach and chard contain an acid that can diminish calcium absorption and celery contains toxins that can damage the immune system.
But, when these foods are eaten whole, they are health promoting and the sum of their parts offer protection from the possible dangers from an isolated component.
So, when you start playing around with their chemistry you will discover “dangers”. Dose a mouse with a thousand milligrams of soy isolavones and it develops breast cancer cells.
Let’s talk about the accusation that soy negatively impacts thyroid function. This arose due to one study done in Japan over 15 years ago. Yet, the more recent studies done in the U.S. that did not support the Japan study failed to get as much blaring publicity.
What happened was that 17 people ate pickled, roasted soybeans every day for three months and half of them experienced a thyroid enlargement of hypothyroidism symptoms like fatigue or constipation.
So, does the fact that eight or nine people, some experiencing fatigue or constipation, prove that soy has a negative effect on thyroid function?
Maybe some of the soy negativity is nonsense. On the other hand, could it be that soy is a wonder bean that will reverse baldness, make your eyebrows thicker or give you a ripped “six pack”? Who cares?
The point is that tests could be conducted to produce a desired result. Does anyone in their right mind eat 10 servings of soy a day? No. Do people go out of their way to take soy supplements? Doubtful. Do most people see soy as a miracle food or drug? Hardly. But, do people eat soy products? Yes.
We know there is still much to be learned about soy, but the majority of research has shown it to safe and nutritious when consumed sensibly – maybe one or two servings daily. Do your own research if you feel compelled to. Just don’t give in to someone else’s’ research which could be biased. Remember, many anti-soy “medical” studies have been funded by the dairy and meat industries. Not long ago, the dairy industry petitioned the Fraud and Drug Administration to prevent the word “milk” from following the word “soy”. Soymilk anyone?
If you are basically a flesh eater and you decide to eat soy products, know one thing: it’s not going to taste like what you are used to eating. If you concentrate on getting rid of your flesh addiction and experiment with various soy products, it may take a few weeks or a month to figure out which products suit you. But, it is still a processed food and should be consumed in moderation. Why? Because the more processed, the less wholesome. You know you can be really healthy by not eating soy or flesh. It just takes a bit of common sense.
All you need for good health is a balanced diet of fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fresh juices, smoothies and some super foods like chlorella and spirulina. Then add avocados, olive oil, coconut oil and flax and chia seeds and you’ll get your essential fatty acids. It’s not rocket science. It’s just using your intelligence and making informed choices.
Aloha!
To learn more about Hesh, listen to and read hundreds of health related radio shows and articles, and learn about how to stay healthy and reverse degenerative diseases through the use of organic sulfur crystals and other amazing superfoods, please visit www.healthtalkhawaii.com, or email me at [email protected] or call me at (808) 258-1177. Since going on the radio in 1981 these are the only products I began to sell because they work.
Oh yeah, going to www.asanediet.com will allow you to read various parts of my book – “A Sane Diet For An Insane World”, containing a wonderful comment by Mike Adams.
Just to put things in perspective, after I graduated from Weequahic High School and before going to Seton Hall University, I had a part-time job working for a butcher. I was the delivery guy and occasionally had to go to the slaughterhouse to pick up products for the store. Needless to say, I had no consciousness nor awareness, as change never came then despite the horrors I witnessed on an almost daily basis.
After graduating with a degree in accounting from Seton Hall, I eventually got married and moved to a town called Livingston. Livingston was basically a yuppie community where everyone was judged by the neighborhood they lived in and their income. To say it was a "plastic" community would be an understatement.
Livingston and the shallowness finally got to me. I told my wife I was fed up and wanted to move. She made it clear she had to be near her friends and New York City. I finally got my act together and split for Colorado.
I was living with a lady in Aspen at the end of 1974, when one day she said, " let's become vegetarians". I have no idea what possessed me to say it, but I said, "okay"! At that point I went to the freezer and took out about $100 worth of frozen, dead body parts and gave them to a welfare mother who lived behind us. Well, everything was great for about a week or so, and then the chick split with another guy.
So here I was, a vegetarian for a couple weeks, not really knowing what to do, how to cook, or basically how to prepare anything. For about a month, I was getting by on carrot sticks, celery sticks, and yogurt. Fortunately, when I went vegan in 1990, it was a simple and natural progression. Anyway, as I walked around Aspen town, I noticed a little vegetarian restaurant called, "The Little Kitchen".
Let me back up just a little bit. It was April of 1975, the snow was melting and the runoff of Ajax Mountain filled the streets full of knee-deep mud. Now, Aspen was great to ski in, but was a bummer to walk in when the snow was melting.
I was ready to call it quits and I needed a warmer place. I'll elaborate on that in a minute.
But right now, back to "The Little Kitchen". Knowing that I was going to leave Aspen and basically a new vegetarian, I needed help. So, I cruised into the restaurant and told them my plight and asked them if they would teach me how to cook. I told them in return I would wash dishes and empty their trash. They then asked me what I did for a living and I told them I was an accountant.
The owner said to me, "Let's make a deal. You do our tax return and we'll feed you as well". So for the next couple of weeks I was doing their tax return, washing their dishes, emptying the trash, and learning as much as I could.
But, like I said, the mud was getting to me. So I picked up a travel book written by a guy named Foder. The name of the book was, "Hawaii". Looking through the book I noticed that in Lahaina, on Maui, there was a little vegetarian restaurant called," Mr. Natural's". I decided right then and there that I would go to Lahaina and work at "Mr. Natural's." To make a long story short, that's exactly what happened.
So, I'm working at "Mr. Natural's" and learning everything I can about my new dietary lifestyle - it was great. Every afternoon we would close for lunch at about 1 PM and go to the Sheraton Hotel in Ka'anapali and play volleyball, while somebody stayed behind to prepare dinner.
Since I was the new guy, and didn't really know how to cook, I never thought that I would be asked to stay behind to cook dinner. Well, one afternoon, that's exactly what happened; it was my turn. That posed a problem for me because I was at the point where I finally knew how to boil water.
I was desperate, clueless and basically up the creek without a paddle. Fortunately, there was a friend of mine sitting in the gazebo at the restaurant and I asked him if he knew how to cook. He said the only thing he knew how to cook was enchiladas. He said that his enchiladas were bean-less and dairy-less. I told him that I had no idea what an enchilada was or what he was talking about, but I needed him to show me because it was my turn to do the evening meal.
Well, the guys came back from playing volleyball and I'm asked what was for dinner. I told them enchiladas; the owner wasn't thrilled. I told him that mine were bean-less and dairy-less. When he tried the enchilada he said it was incredible. Being the humble guy that I was, I smiled and said, "You expected anything less"? It apparently was so good that it was the only item on the menu that we served twice a week. In fact, after about a week, we were selling five dozen every night we had them on the menu and people would walk around Lahaina broadcasting, 'enchilada's at "Natural's" tonight'. I never had to cook anything else.
A year later the restaurant closed, and somehow I gravitated to a little health food store in Wailuku. I never told anyone I was an accountant and basically relegated myself to being the truck driver. The guys who were running the health food store had friends in similar businesses and farms on many of the islands. I told them that if they could organize and form one company they could probably lock in the State. That's when they found out I was an accountant and "Down to Earth" was born. "Down to Earth" became the largest natural food store chain in the islands, and I was their Chief Financial Officer and co-manager of their biggest store for 13 years.
In 1981, I started to do a weekly radio show to try and expose people to a vegetarian diet and get them away from killing innocent creatures. I still do that show today. I pay for my own airtime and have no sponsors to not compromise my honesty. One bit of a hassle was the fact that I was forced to get a Masters Degree in Nutrition to shut up all the MD's that would call in asking for my credentials.
My doing this radio show enabled me, through endless research, to see the corruption that existed within the big food industries, the big pharmaceutical companies, the biotech industries and the government agencies. This information, unconscionable as it is, enabled me to realize how broken our health system is. This will be covered more in depth in the Introduction and throughout the book and when you finish the book you will see this clearly and it will hopefully inspire you to make changes.
I left Down to Earth in 1989, got nationally certified as a sports injury massage therapist and started traveling the world with a bunch of guys that were making a martial arts movie. After doing that for about four years I finally made it back to Honolulu and got a job as a massage therapist at the Honolulu Club, one of Hawaii's premier fitness clubs. It was there I met the love of my life who I have been with since 1998. She made me an offer I couldn't refuse. She said," If you want to be with me you've got to stop working on naked women". So, I went back into accounting and was the Chief Financial Officer of a large construction company for many years.
Going back to my Newark days when I was an infant, I had no idea what a "chicken" or "egg" or "fish" or "pig" or "cow" was. My dietary blueprint was thrust upon me by my parents as theirs was thrust upon them by their parents. It was by the grace of God that I was able to put things in their proper perspective and improve my health and elevate my consciousness.
The road that I started walking down in 1975 has finally led me to the point of writing my book, “A Sane Diet For An Insane World”. Hopefully, the information contained herein will be enlightening, motivating, and inspiring to encourage you to make different choices. Doing what we do out of conditioning is not always the best course to follow. I am hoping that by the grace of the many friends and personalities I have encountered along my path, you will have a better perspective of what road is the best road for you to travel on, not only for your health but your consciousness as well.
Last but not least: after being vaccinated as a kid I developed asthma, which plagued me all of my life. In 2007 I got exposed to the organic sulfur crystals, which got rid of my asthma in 3 days and has not come back in over 10 years. That, being the tip of the iceberg, has helped people reverse stage 4 cancers, autism, joint pain, blood pressure problems, migraine headaches, erectile dysfunction, gingivitis, and more. Also, because of the detoxification effects by the release of oxygen that permeates and heals all the cells in the body, it removes parasites, radiation, fluoride, free radicals, and all the other crap that is thrust upon us in the environment by Big Business.
For more, please view www.healthtalkhawaii.com and www.asanediet.com.
Namaste!
