HEALTH
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SUPERFOOD OR SUPER HEALTH RISK?
Could the vitamin-packed, once-touted bean actually be hurting your health?
Alexis Smith was 13 years old when she started looking for alternative options to the all-American diet. Her love of animals led her to decide to trade in her steak and chicken fingers to become a vegetarian.
Needing a new taco-filler after taking the leap, Smith, Olathe junior, eventually added soy products to her diet thinking it would be a healthy protein replacement. New studies, however, are calling into question the believed benefits of eating soy and are actually reporting possible health risks. These risks are causing people to question whether soy is the superfood it's been claimed to be or if there can be too much of a good thing.
Despite potential risks, there are definitely benefits to eating soy. One advantage is that soy contains all of the seven essential amino acids, which your body can't produce, making it a complete protein like meat, says Ann Chapman, coordinator of nutritional services with the Wellness Resource Center.
Soy products such as tofu, an alternative
to meat, have less saturated fat than meat and contain a significant amount of omega-3 fatty acids, which Chapman says are good for the heart.
In addition to being a significant source of protein and good fats, soy intake provides calcium, iron and B vitamins, says Marty Glenn, lecturer of sport and exercise sciences. Glenn says studies link soy to potentially raising good cholesterol and helping to prevent osteoporosis by reducing bone loss.
To reap the benefits of soy, Smith drinks vanilla soy milk and eats soy yogurt. Her roommate, who is also a vegetarian, regularly makes tofu salad for them, which Smith says is very similar to tuna salad. At a barbeque or cookout, Smith says she has a tofu burger. She says if cooked right and seasoned well (emphasis on the seasoning or else it will be bland), a tofu burger is as good as a hamburger.
“It’s a nice option to have and it's still kind of barbeque-like,” Smith says. “And the fact that it has protein is great because it's hard to get protein
when you're a vegetarian."
Soy products are also commonly consumed by people who are lactose-intolerant. Lauren Swagerty, Topeka senior, drinks soy milk because she is mildly lactose-intolerant, meaning she can eat dairy but her digestive system doesn't properly process the dairy proteins, making eating dairy extremely uncomfortable. As another alternative, she also opts for soy ice cream. Swagerty says soy products are a nice option to have for people who can get sick from eating traditional dairy products. Because she is only mildly lactose-intolerant, Swagerty says she can have small amounts of dairy but actually prefers the sweeter taste of soy milk, especially in her cereal.
But recent studies are casting a shadow over the potential benefits of soy.
Right now there is a lot of conflicting evidence about the benefits and dangers of a soy-heavy diet, Chapman says. She says studies link eating too much soy to an increase in the risk of breast cancer in women because soy products contain phytoestrogens, chemicals that can imitate the
// AMY JOHNSON
Photo by Amanda Kitsner
Smooth as silk? Soy milk is an option for people who are lactose-intolerant but recent studies show that over-consumption of soy products could lead to damaging health effects, causing some to question the healthfulness of the plant-based products that were once called superfoods.
effects of estrogen. High levels of estrogen in the body have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.
There are also possible risks with the consumption of phytoestrogens for men. Glenn says that for men there is some concern that too much soy could lower testosterone levels and sperm count. This stems from a study published in the journal Human Reproduction in 2008 when researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health studied the link between phytoestrogens and semen quality. Their findings associated high soy intake with low sperm count.
In 2006, an American Heart Association committee reviewed studies on soy's benefits. Its findings show that soy does not reduce symptoms of menopause and does not help with certain types of cancer, as it had once been claimed to do. Following the study the American Heart Association no longer recommends soy as a way to reduce heart disease because study results show soy does not contribute to a significant lowering in cholesterol.
Although the evidence can be confusing, Chapman says the summary between the positives and negatives of eating soy is that soy in moderation is a healthy addition to the diet. Chapman recommends having soy around three to four times per week for a good source of protein. For vegetarians she suggests eating peanut butter, seeds and nuts, eggs and dairy as other sources of protein so soy doesn't become a staple in every meal.
After reading an article a couple of years ago about the possible risks of soy intake, Swagerty says she is careful about how much soy she eats during a typical week. Before the article, Swagerty had replaced all meat and dairy products with soy products like tofu and soy milk. She now adds chicken and turkey to her diet and eats soy one to two times per week.
Smith says she is very cautious about her soy intake. Reading articles about the risks made her aware but she became vigilant about her diet when a friend's mom suffered negative side effects. After switching her diet to only soy products, Smith says her friend's mom began experiencing symptoms of depression. Smith says the woman's mood improved when she cut back on her soy intake. Since then Smith still has soy fairly often but mostly in the form of soy milk and occasionally tofu.
In moderation soy can be a healthy addition to a diet. Chapman says that it is a good idea for anyone to cut back on his or her meat consumption and soy is a good substitute. When adding soy into your diet, make sure to be aware of the risks and monitor consumption.
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