Soybeans are good.
But like most foods, too much of a good thing can be bad for the health
of an individual.
An Australian cancer
organization has said that women who have or have had breast cancer need to
avoid soy supplements, which contain high doses of phyto-estrogen as such
supplements have the potential to stimulate tumor growth.
The Cancer Council of New South Wales has planned to release
a new position statement on soy foods in response to many inquires about the
benefits of soy foods or soy supplements, according to theage.com.au. This
statement will say that soy foods may slightly lower the risk of breast and
prostate cancer.
The Cancer Council led by a number of college professors in
oncology does not reveal its financial source to the public and it is unknown
whether the organization represents the medical or drug industry, or consumers,
or simply the science per se.
They said soy foods used as a measure to aid treatment of
breast cancer or prevention of cancer returning may do more harm than
good.
They suggested cancer survivors
exercise caution when it comes to soy foods.
They also said, according to news report, that use of soy
supplements can interfere with cancer treatment although it is safe for an
ordinary person to use an ordinary amount of soy food such as tofu, the
council's nutritionist Kathy Chapman was cited as saying.
Health benefits of soy foods have been a hotly debated
issue.
Soy is commonly consumed by
Asians who have lower risk of “affluence” diseases such as heart disease,
diabetes and cancer compared to the Westerners.
Many people attribute the lower incidence of these diseases in part to
use of high amounts of soy foods and lower amounts of meat and dairy.
In food safety textbooks, phyto-estrogens found in soybeans
may be discussed as natural toxins as they mimic the human estrogen, long-term
exposure of which promotes growth of certain types of cancer - a concern for
those who are fighting hard against others eating soy foods for any purpose.
Early studies are inconsistent, just like many of other
research topics.
A scientist affiliated
with foodconsumer.org who uses soy foods often said that the important thing to
remember is not to overuse anything regardless of the toxicity of
phyto-estrogens.
He said there are many natural toxins present in many types
of produce.
But when you use them in a
nutritionally balanced diet, they are likely to cause no harm to anyone.
Some studies suggest that the toxicity of soy foods may be
minimal compared to other types of toxins.
For example, studies by Harvard School of Public Health indicate hormone
in cow milk may pose much higher risk.
Natural estrogens (such as those naturally occurring in
milk) are up to 100,000 times more potent than the environmental pollutants
such as the estrogen-like compounds in pesticides, Ganmaa Davaasambuu, a
working scientist at Harvard School of Public Health was cited as saying.
Related article
Natural
hormones in milk can be dangerous
