Monday, December 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Researchers: Tamiflu may not benefit otherwise healthy people
Researchers found the benefits of Tamiflu were small and that authorities should consider its side effects before using the drug in healthy people.
The common cold and flu -- both the seasonal and the new swine flu -- are caused by different viruses but can have some similar symptoms, making them tough to tell apart. In general, the flu is worse and symptoms are more intense.
COLDS: Usual symptoms include stuffy or runny nose, sore throat and sneezing. Coughs are hacking and productive. It's unusual to have fever, chills, headaches and body aches, or if present, those symptoms will be mild.
FLU: Fever is usually present, along with chills, headache and moderate-to-severe body aches and tiredness. Symptoms can come on rapidly, within three to six hours. Coughs are dry and unproductive, and sore throats are less common.
Sources: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Roche, maker of Tamiflu
LONDON (AP) — British researchers say there is little evidence Tamiflu stops complications in healthy people who catch the flu, though public health officials contend the swine flu drug reduces flu hospitalizations and deaths.
Researchers at the Cochrane Review, an international non-profit that reviews health information, looked at previously published papers on Tamiflu as used for seasonal flu. They found insufficient data to prove whether the antiviral reduces complications like pneumonia in otherwise healthy people but concluded the drug shortens flu symptoms by about a day. The papers were published online Tuesday in the British journal, BMJ.
The researchers said the benefits of Tamiflu were small and that authorities should consider its side effects before using the drug in healthy people. While the reviewed studies only looked at Tamiflu use for seasonal flu, the experts said their conclusions raised questions about the widespread use of the drug in people with any flu-like illness, including swine flu.
Fiona Godlee, BMJ's editor, said the papers cast doubt not only on how safe and effective Tamiflu is, but on the drug regulatory system that approved it. "Governments around the world have spent billions of pounds (dollars) on a drug that the scientific community now finds itself unable to judge," she said in a statement.
But the World Health Organization disagreed. They said data from countries around the world show that when given early, Tamiflu can reduce the severity of swine flu symptoms, though the agency recommends the drug be saved for people at risk of complications, like pregnant women, the elderly, children, and those with underlying medical problems.
"This will not change our (Tamiflu) guidelines," said Charles Penn, a WHO antivirals expert. Penn said that while past studies show Tamiflu only has a modest benefit, when patients with severe illness or at risk of complications are treated early, there are fewer hospitalizations and deaths.
Both the British researchers and WHO said there is little evidence to support the widespread use of Tamiflu in otherwise healthy people — precisely the policy Britain has adopted to fight swine flu.
In addition to recommending Tamiflu be saved for at-risk groups, WHO recommends Tamiflu only be used on a doctor's recommendation.
In Britain, however, Tamiflu is regularly dispensed to healthy people who catch the flu. The drug is given out via a national swine flu hotline by call center workers with no medical training.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The common cold and flu -- both the seasonal and the new swine flu -- are caused by different viruses but can have some similar symptoms, making them tough to tell apart. In general, the flu is worse and symptoms are more intense.
COLDS: Usual symptoms include stuffy or runny nose, sore throat and sneezing. Coughs are hacking and productive. It's unusual to have fever, chills, headaches and body aches, or if present, those symptoms will be mild.
FLU: Fever is usually present, along with chills, headache and moderate-to-severe body aches and tiredness. Symptoms can come on rapidly, within three to six hours. Coughs are dry and unproductive, and sore throats are less common.
Sources: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Roche, maker of Tamiflu
LONDON (AP) — British researchers say there is little evidence Tamiflu stops complications in healthy people who catch the flu, though public health officials contend the swine flu drug reduces flu hospitalizations and deaths.
Researchers at the Cochrane Review, an international non-profit that reviews health information, looked at previously published papers on Tamiflu as used for seasonal flu. They found insufficient data to prove whether the antiviral reduces complications like pneumonia in otherwise healthy people but concluded the drug shortens flu symptoms by about a day. The papers were published online Tuesday in the British journal, BMJ.
The researchers said the benefits of Tamiflu were small and that authorities should consider its side effects before using the drug in healthy people. While the reviewed studies only looked at Tamiflu use for seasonal flu, the experts said their conclusions raised questions about the widespread use of the drug in people with any flu-like illness, including swine flu.
Fiona Godlee, BMJ's editor, said the papers cast doubt not only on how safe and effective Tamiflu is, but on the drug regulatory system that approved it. "Governments around the world have spent billions of pounds (dollars) on a drug that the scientific community now finds itself unable to judge," she said in a statement.
But the World Health Organization disagreed. They said data from countries around the world show that when given early, Tamiflu can reduce the severity of swine flu symptoms, though the agency recommends the drug be saved for people at risk of complications, like pregnant women, the elderly, children, and those with underlying medical problems.
"This will not change our (Tamiflu) guidelines," said Charles Penn, a WHO antivirals expert. Penn said that while past studies show Tamiflu only has a modest benefit, when patients with severe illness or at risk of complications are treated early, there are fewer hospitalizations and deaths.
Both the British researchers and WHO said there is little evidence to support the widespread use of Tamiflu in otherwise healthy people — precisely the policy Britain has adopted to fight swine flu.
In addition to recommending Tamiflu be saved for at-risk groups, WHO recommends Tamiflu only be used on a doctor's recommendation.
In Britain, however, Tamiflu is regularly dispensed to healthy people who catch the flu. The drug is given out via a national swine flu hotline by call center workers with no medical training.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A New Carol by Bill Ward
This is a lovely Christmas song with a slide show of paintings of angels and the Nativity. Bill Ward and the Doerfels perform one of Bill's compositions, The Angels Said It True. This is a cut from the CD ,The Christmas Sessions, which is already on sale on CD Baby. Proceeds from each purchase will help benefit Project Chacocente, an organization which exists to help the extremely poor in Nicaragua. Buy this CD:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bwarddoerfels
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Snow in Western, NY
The snow is falling steady in huge flakes and its looking like one of those old post cards outside tonight.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Rediscovering The Prayer Vigil
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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A 75-year-old man beamed at me. "At home I have trouble praying for five minutes. Here an hour seems too short." As we left our church at dusk, a new believer knelt to begin an hour of prayer. It wasn't always so. Intercessory prayer had been meager, enthusiasm about prayer virtually non-existent. For years I struggled to lead our church members into a richer prayer life. Then, two years ago we discovered a time-tested method of challenging and stretching people in prayer: the prayer vigil.
Just what is a prayer vigil? The idea is many centuries old. "Vigil" indicates a time of "vigilance", wakefulness, a watch, originally "kept on the night before a religious feast with prayer or other devotions."*
Last year we set aside from noon to midnight on Good Friday for our people to pray for an hour at a time in the church sanctuary. The previous Sunday we circulated a sign-up sheet in the shape of 12-hour clock. If an hour or two was vacant, I'd ask someone to shift to one of those less popular times.
Sign-ups are vital to crystallizing commitment, but some may hesitate. "That was hard for me," John confessed, "because I didn't know what I was going to pray about for a whole hour." People often feel so inadequate at prayer, they don't want set themselves up to fail again. To allay these fears, I circulate some suggestions on "How to Spend an Hour in Prayer" (see sidebar). As people begin to visualize themselves actually praying for an hour, they are more willing to risk it. After one successful experience, they're eager to sign up the next time.
Upon entering the sanctuary for their hour, people find several helps on a table. Next to a log-in sheet are brief instructions for first-timers. A globe and letters from our missionaries stimulate prayer for the world. Some use a copy of the church directory in their intercession. Prayer request slips from the previous Sunday's service are found next to a constantly-growing list on which participants enter other needs.
Since only one or two people are usually present at a time, we encourage people to pray the way they feel most comfortable. A kneeler is placed at the front of the church, though most of our people pray sitting with bowed heads. But some walk while they pray. Occasionally someone prays prostrate on the floor.
If several sign up for the same hour, they often worship and pray as a group for a part of the time, then intercede separately for the remainder of the hour. One of our ladies glows as she remembers: "There were two or three people there. We did some singing as well as praying. It brought a closeness we just don't experience ordinarily. I feel like we're still closer today than we would have been otherwise." Strangely, even praying alone brings a sense unity with others. "Knowing that brothers and sisters are all praying about the same thing," Carole comments, "really stirs up my faith. I feel that we're going to receive answers."
"Can't we just pray at home?" some ask. Not if we want certain unique advantages. The specialness of praying in the sanctuary lifts this hour above the sometimes discouraging experiences of daily prayer. "At home," Louise finds, "there seem to be so many distractions and interruptions. You think about all the things that need doing. But when you come to the quiet sanctuary, you really can feel God's presence." Rick, a father of five, explains: "The hour is so refreshing. I sense the Lord's presence in a way I sometimes don't when I'm off to myself for just a few minutes."
Before our first vigil I didn't think most people would be willing to commit themselves to a whole hour. Not so. Embarking on a significant time of prayer with nothing else to do helps people put their busyness aside and concentrate on prayer. After his first vigil, a thirty-year old man told me, "I just lost track of time. To me there was no time. In fact, I was there almost two hours, without realizing it." Cutting the time short-circuits this broadening prayer experience which can permanently enrich the participant's devotional life.
Yet sensitivity to the congregation's present level of commitment is important. Once after successful 24-hour vigils we tried 36 hours. We had trouble getting enough people; it was just too ambitious for the size of our church. We've found it's better to begin small and grow gradually.
We schedule a vigil two or three times a year. Good Friday lends itself naturally to prayer. We've also tried early September before the program year gets underway, and the beginning of the Advent season.
The nice thing about the prayer vigil is simplicity of organization. We circulate a sign-up sheet, provide some prayer resources, open the sanctuary at the beginning of the vigil, and see that the last person locks up.
The benefits endure. Our people have learned to intercede for one another, to care for each other's needs. Having experienced the joys of a full hour, people are praying longer at home. The vigils have renewed our motivation, as well. Instead of praying out of guilt, we're finding a new longing to spend time before the Lord. We've also have seen marked answers to prayer. Relatives have been saved. Physical healings have resulted. An angry neighbor who had threatened a lawsuit against our church has yet to file. Moreover, he's had dozens praying for his salvation.
We still have a long way to go before we're the kind of praying church we ought to be. But the prayer vigil has wedged open the door to a new dimension of prayer, allowing a fresh breeze of the Spirit to blow across the threshold. Next week I expect someone else will ask with a wistful smile, "Pastor, when are we going to have another one of those prayer vigils?"
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Susan Boyle's album is largest ever female debut
(CNN) -- Susan Boyle's dreams continue to come true. The singing sensation who emerged from obscurity on "Britain's Got Talent" is topping the charts, selling the most albums of any artist in a single week this year with the largest ever sales debut for a female artist.
Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" album is on top of the Billboard 200 albums chart with 701,000 copies sold in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"This is a big deal considering some of the superstar acts that came out this year that couldn't get to that number, said Billboard's director of charts Silvio Pietroluongo. The year's previous high-water sales mark came when Eminem's "Relapse" sold 608,000 in its opening week.
Boyle, a 48-year-old churchgoing celebrity who lives in a modest government-owned home in Scotland with her pet cat, captured the world's attention and hearts eight months ago when she performed on the British talent competition.
Now Boyle is competing against two "American Idols" for sales this holiday season. Idol runner-up Adam Lambert's debut "For Your Entertainment" is at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and "Idol" champ Kris Allen is at No. 11.
When it comes to album sales, Boyle is even fiercer than Rihanna, whose fourth album, "Rated R," is in the No. 4 slot on the charts with 181,000 albums sold during the first week.
Boyle's large album sales reflect larger changes happening in the music industry as younger audiences tend to buy single-song downloads, while more mature audiences, who make up Boyle's fan base, still purchase entire albums.
"Hit-driven artists tend to do well on the download side but aren't moving as many albums as they once did," Pietroluongo said. "If you have an artist who resonates with an older audience, you have an artist who can sell more albums."
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Truth About Unfermented Soy and Its Harmful Effects
(NaturalNews) With vegetarianism gaining increasing popularity from the 1970's, reaching its peak in the 1990's, soy has emerged as a 'near perfect' food, with supporters claiming it can provide an ideal source of protein, lower cholesterol, protect against cancer and heart disease, reduce menopausal symptoms, and prevent osteoporosis - among many other things. It seems like a good thing - or is it really?
How did such a 'healthy food' emerge from a product that in 1913 was listed in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) handbook not as a food but as an industrial product?
According to lipid specialist and nutritionist Mary Enig, PhD, "The reason there's so much soy in America is because the soy industry started to plant soy to extract the oil from it and soy oil became a very large industry." There was a lot of soy oil and with it came a lot of soy protein residue as a left over by-product, and since they couldn't feed it to the animals, except in small amounts, they had to find another big market which, of course, was human consumption.
This excess soy production and its protein residue was the motivation for the multi-million dollars spent on advertising and intense lobbying of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which resulted in about 74 percent of U.S. consumers believing that soy products are healthy. Australia has traditionally prided itself as being a dairy consuming nation, due to the fact that we have such abundant supply of cattle. However, lactose intolerance is becoming a health concern recognised by the medical profession; accordingly, soy is becoming very popular as an alternative to dairy, following in the footsteps of US consumers in believing that all soy-based products have health benefits. In reality, the research that has concluded that all soy products are healthy is far from accurate, and very much skewed by economic motives.
Let's examine why soy products are far from healthy:
For greater clarity, soy products are classified into two main groups: fermented and unfermented. There are also another two sub-groups: organic and Genetically Modified (GM). The GM soy is to be avoided at all costs, as the hazards of GM are some of the worst innovations of modern day bio-technology. Not only are all GM products unhealthy to humans and animals but also to the normal plants that grow in the surrounding area, due to the natural process of winds causing cross-pollination, resulting in mutated species of what were once natural variations of plants. This topic is too vast to cover in this article but for more research, visit (http://www.non-gm-farmers.com) .
The unfermented soy category is a most problematic one. It includes soy products, such as tofu, bean curd, all soy milks, soy infant formulae, soy protein powders and soy meat alternatives, such as soy sausages/veggie burgers, made from hydrolysed soy powder.
So what is wrong with unfermented soy products?
Soy belongs to the family of legumes. Other members of the legume family include beans - such as adzuki, red kidney, navy, barlotti, etc., as well as chickpeas. Peanuts are included as well, as they are technically not a nut but a legume. All legumes and whole-grains - such as, rice, barley, oats, wheat and rye - contain amounts of phytic acid. Being a legume, soy contains a high amount of phytic acid. So, what's wrong with phytic acid? A number of things - yet, in some cases, phytic acid can also be beneficial.
Phytic acid's structure gives it the ability to bind minerals, proteins and starch, and results in lower absorption of these substances. Hence, phytic acid, in large amounts, can block the uptake of essential minerals, like calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and especially zinc in the intestinal tract. Soy also inhibits the uptake of one of the most important minerals needed for growth and metabolism, iodine, which is used by the thyroid gland in the production of thyroid hormones.
However, for non-vegetarian men, phytic acid may prove to be quite helpful, due to its binding/chelating ability with minerals.
Since a large percentage of non-vegetarian adult males have excess iron, phytic acid would be helpful to them by binding the excess iron. But we need to bear in mind phytic acid will simultaneously bind other minerals, such as calcium, magnesium and zinc. In the case of children and menstruating women, the phytic acid in soy can be a serious negative, as women and children need iron. In women, iron is needed to replace the loss during their menses and in children iron is required for growth and development.
Apart from the phytic acid-related phenomena, there are additional factors that make soy an unhealthy choice.
Soy:
* contributes to thyroid disorder, especially in women
* promotes kidney stones
* weakens the immune system
* contributes to food allergies and digestive intolerance
Perhaps the most disturbing of soy's ill effects on health has to do with its phytoestrogens, which can mimic the effects of the female hormone, oestrogen. These phytoestrogens have been found to have adverse effects on various human tissues, and drinking only two glasses of soy milk daily for one month has enough of the chemical to alter a woman's menstrual cycle.
Soy is particularly problematic for infants and it would be very wise to avoid giving them soy-derived products, since it has been estimated that infants who are exclusively fed soy formula receive the equivalent of five birth control pills worth of oestrogen every day. Check out (www.westonaprice.org) to find some alarming research and statistics on what can go wrong when infants and children are regularly fed soy formula.
In order to derive some benefit from soy, consuming only fermented soy products - such as organic miso (mugi barley and genmai miso are the best), organic tempeh, soy sauce or tamari and natto - is the way to do it. This is because the phytic acid, which is inherent in soy beans, has been neutralized in the process of fermentation. Consuming fermented soy is very beneficial in recolonizing the friendly bacteria in the large intestine, which neutralizes the 'unfriendly' bacteria and allows for greater general assimilation of foods and nutrients.
So, fermented soy is of benefit and unfermented soy is not. It is not only soy that needs to be fermented but whole-grains as well. In fact, grains (apart from millet, buckwheat and couscous) and legumes are best consumed after soaking them for 48-72 hours prior to cooking, which allows fermentation to take place. The soaking of grains and beans is also advocated in the principles of macrobiotics, which is very popular amongst vegetarians. Yet many vegetarian restaurants do not have time or forget to incorporate this very important process in their vegetarian cooking and thus people who regularly eat out at vegetarian restaurants might develop severe mineral deficiencies due to the large consumption of phytic acid in their diet.
Another common fallacy is that soy foods couldn't possibly have a downside because Asian cultures eat large quantities of soy every day and consequently remain free of most western diseases. In reality, the people of China, Japan and other Asian countries eat very little soy. The soy industry's own figures show that soy consumption in China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Taiwan ranges from 10 to 90 grams per day. That is grams of soy food, not grams of soy protein alone. Compare this with a cup of tofu (250 grams) or soy milk (240 grams). Many Americans and Australians today would be consuming a cup of tofu and a couple of glasses of soy milk every day. They might also add veggie burgers to this, thinking they are getting their much needed protein intake. Infants on soy formula are probably the most disadvantaged, as that is their main source of nutrition and they ingest large amounts of soy relative to their body weight. Often the side effects are not noticed but, as they are growing up, runny noses, frequent colds, irritability, severe sugar cravings and food intolerance develop.
The summary below outlines the adverse effects of unfermented soy products:
* Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
* Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
* Soy phytoestrogens are potent anti-thyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.
Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.
* Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
* Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.
* Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.
Source: (www.westonaprice.org)
In contrast, consuming organic fermented soy products is quite beneficial. Consuming even small amounts of unfermented soy on a regular basis could cause some adverse effects in our body. Next time you consider drinking soy milk; perhaps instead consider oat milk, coconut milk or goat's milk. Some people who are allergic to dairy can tolerate goat milk and goat cheese products in small quantities. Replacing soy and regular milk with these alternatives allow us to enjoy our beverages and cereals without harming our health.
References:
(http://www.phytochemicals.info/phyt...)
(http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/ind...)
Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favourite Health Food by Kaayla Daniel (http://www.mothering.com/articles/g...)
How did such a 'healthy food' emerge from a product that in 1913 was listed in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) handbook not as a food but as an industrial product?
According to lipid specialist and nutritionist Mary Enig, PhD, "The reason there's so much soy in America is because the soy industry started to plant soy to extract the oil from it and soy oil became a very large industry." There was a lot of soy oil and with it came a lot of soy protein residue as a left over by-product, and since they couldn't feed it to the animals, except in small amounts, they had to find another big market which, of course, was human consumption.
This excess soy production and its protein residue was the motivation for the multi-million dollars spent on advertising and intense lobbying of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which resulted in about 74 percent of U.S. consumers believing that soy products are healthy. Australia has traditionally prided itself as being a dairy consuming nation, due to the fact that we have such abundant supply of cattle. However, lactose intolerance is becoming a health concern recognised by the medical profession; accordingly, soy is becoming very popular as an alternative to dairy, following in the footsteps of US consumers in believing that all soy-based products have health benefits. In reality, the research that has concluded that all soy products are healthy is far from accurate, and very much skewed by economic motives.
Let's examine why soy products are far from healthy:
For greater clarity, soy products are classified into two main groups: fermented and unfermented. There are also another two sub-groups: organic and Genetically Modified (GM). The GM soy is to be avoided at all costs, as the hazards of GM are some of the worst innovations of modern day bio-technology. Not only are all GM products unhealthy to humans and animals but also to the normal plants that grow in the surrounding area, due to the natural process of winds causing cross-pollination, resulting in mutated species of what were once natural variations of plants. This topic is too vast to cover in this article but for more research, visit (http://www.non-gm-farmers.com) .
The unfermented soy category is a most problematic one. It includes soy products, such as tofu, bean curd, all soy milks, soy infant formulae, soy protein powders and soy meat alternatives, such as soy sausages/veggie burgers, made from hydrolysed soy powder.
So what is wrong with unfermented soy products?
Soy belongs to the family of legumes. Other members of the legume family include beans - such as adzuki, red kidney, navy, barlotti, etc., as well as chickpeas. Peanuts are included as well, as they are technically not a nut but a legume. All legumes and whole-grains - such as, rice, barley, oats, wheat and rye - contain amounts of phytic acid. Being a legume, soy contains a high amount of phytic acid. So, what's wrong with phytic acid? A number of things - yet, in some cases, phytic acid can also be beneficial.
Phytic acid's structure gives it the ability to bind minerals, proteins and starch, and results in lower absorption of these substances. Hence, phytic acid, in large amounts, can block the uptake of essential minerals, like calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and especially zinc in the intestinal tract. Soy also inhibits the uptake of one of the most important minerals needed for growth and metabolism, iodine, which is used by the thyroid gland in the production of thyroid hormones.
However, for non-vegetarian men, phytic acid may prove to be quite helpful, due to its binding/chelating ability with minerals.
Since a large percentage of non-vegetarian adult males have excess iron, phytic acid would be helpful to them by binding the excess iron. But we need to bear in mind phytic acid will simultaneously bind other minerals, such as calcium, magnesium and zinc. In the case of children and menstruating women, the phytic acid in soy can be a serious negative, as women and children need iron. In women, iron is needed to replace the loss during their menses and in children iron is required for growth and development.
Apart from the phytic acid-related phenomena, there are additional factors that make soy an unhealthy choice.
Soy:
* contributes to thyroid disorder, especially in women
* promotes kidney stones
* weakens the immune system
* contributes to food allergies and digestive intolerance
Perhaps the most disturbing of soy's ill effects on health has to do with its phytoestrogens, which can mimic the effects of the female hormone, oestrogen. These phytoestrogens have been found to have adverse effects on various human tissues, and drinking only two glasses of soy milk daily for one month has enough of the chemical to alter a woman's menstrual cycle.
Soy is particularly problematic for infants and it would be very wise to avoid giving them soy-derived products, since it has been estimated that infants who are exclusively fed soy formula receive the equivalent of five birth control pills worth of oestrogen every day. Check out (www.westonaprice.org) to find some alarming research and statistics on what can go wrong when infants and children are regularly fed soy formula.
In order to derive some benefit from soy, consuming only fermented soy products - such as organic miso (mugi barley and genmai miso are the best), organic tempeh, soy sauce or tamari and natto - is the way to do it. This is because the phytic acid, which is inherent in soy beans, has been neutralized in the process of fermentation. Consuming fermented soy is very beneficial in recolonizing the friendly bacteria in the large intestine, which neutralizes the 'unfriendly' bacteria and allows for greater general assimilation of foods and nutrients.
So, fermented soy is of benefit and unfermented soy is not. It is not only soy that needs to be fermented but whole-grains as well. In fact, grains (apart from millet, buckwheat and couscous) and legumes are best consumed after soaking them for 48-72 hours prior to cooking, which allows fermentation to take place. The soaking of grains and beans is also advocated in the principles of macrobiotics, which is very popular amongst vegetarians. Yet many vegetarian restaurants do not have time or forget to incorporate this very important process in their vegetarian cooking and thus people who regularly eat out at vegetarian restaurants might develop severe mineral deficiencies due to the large consumption of phytic acid in their diet.
Another common fallacy is that soy foods couldn't possibly have a downside because Asian cultures eat large quantities of soy every day and consequently remain free of most western diseases. In reality, the people of China, Japan and other Asian countries eat very little soy. The soy industry's own figures show that soy consumption in China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Taiwan ranges from 10 to 90 grams per day. That is grams of soy food, not grams of soy protein alone. Compare this with a cup of tofu (250 grams) or soy milk (240 grams). Many Americans and Australians today would be consuming a cup of tofu and a couple of glasses of soy milk every day. They might also add veggie burgers to this, thinking they are getting their much needed protein intake. Infants on soy formula are probably the most disadvantaged, as that is their main source of nutrition and they ingest large amounts of soy relative to their body weight. Often the side effects are not noticed but, as they are growing up, runny noses, frequent colds, irritability, severe sugar cravings and food intolerance develop.
The summary below outlines the adverse effects of unfermented soy products:
* Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
* Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
* Soy phytoestrogens are potent anti-thyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.
Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.
* Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
* Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.
* Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.
Source: (www.westonaprice.org)
In contrast, consuming organic fermented soy products is quite beneficial. Consuming even small amounts of unfermented soy on a regular basis could cause some adverse effects in our body. Next time you consider drinking soy milk; perhaps instead consider oat milk, coconut milk or goat's milk. Some people who are allergic to dairy can tolerate goat milk and goat cheese products in small quantities. Replacing soy and regular milk with these alternatives allow us to enjoy our beverages and cereals without harming our health.
References:
(http://www.phytochemicals.info/phyt...)
(http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/ind...)
Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favourite Health Food by Kaayla Daniel (http://www.mothering.com/articles/g...)
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