Soy issues…
I had wanted to wean my self off eating red meat for a long time. My replacement food of choice was the Boca Burger. A meatless product made chiefly from soy protein and wheat gluten. I began eating 2-3 Boca Burgers a week. This along with Edamame and the occasional chick pea were the only soy products I consumed.
A few months into this way of eating, I began to have huge digestive distress. I chalked it up to my travel schedule and stress. When I began to have more serious stomach issues I thought maybe I had a hiatal hernia (I am not a doctor by any stretch of the imagination!!!) so I went to my internist. He sent me to a gastroenterologist, he sent me to a heart specialist who in turn sent me back to my internist. I wised up and went to a nutritionist. She made me write down what I generally eat and in 5 minutes said one word. SOY.
She said soy is the leading factor in pancreatic type issues, digestive issues and thyroid issues. Doctors do not delve into nutrition and try always to find a textbook medical answer. According to her here is why soy can be a problem…
"...the soybean contains large quantities of natural toxins or "antinutrients". First among them are potent enzyme inhibitors that block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. These inhibitors are large, tightly folded proteins that are not completely deactivated during ordinary cooking. They can produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors cause enlargement and pathological conditions of the pancreas, including cancer. Soybeans also contain haemagglutinin, a clot-promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together. Trypsin inhibitors and haemagglutinin are growth inhibitors. Approximately 25 per cent of bottle-fed children in the US receive soy-based formula - a much higher percentage than in other parts of the Western world. Fitzpatrick estimated that an infant exclusively fed soy formula receives the estrogenic equivalent (based on body weight) of at least five birth control pills per day. Scientists have known for years that soy-based formula can cause thyroid problems in babies."
Within a month of giving up Boca Burgers, Edamame and chick peas I was in great shape and had no symptoms! For what this is worth – hope this helps.
(As an aside; my business Partner’s wife (all soy diet) was hospitalized for pancreatic issues – quite severe. After a week in the hospital they could find no cause, suggested exploratory surgery, she said no, and they and sent her home. In the hospital she had eaten the bland hospital diet (no soy). She still sticks to the same bland diet, never went back to soy, and has been fine ever since.
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