Flared Up!

One of my current pet peeves is the ease at which the establishment health “experts” repeat the dubious claims – what's good or bad for us – that have become mainstream in society… even “settled science,” which in itself is an oxymoron.  Science is the study of natural phenomena.  If it’s settled, who needs to study it anymore?  Well, apparently, once the FDA approves it -- nobody.

The example that flared me up is an article in the June 2012 edition of the magazine, Eating Well, entitled Inflammation Nation, by Holly Pevzner.  The teaser on the cover of the magazine is “Live Longer With 10 Easy Changes."  (If only it were that easy!)  She lists ten solutions “to help you stave off – or tamp down – inflammation.”  Among those ten solutions was this gem:  

“Up Your Soy.  The Food and Drug Administration has indicated that eating 25 grams of soy protein daily helps to reduce your risk of inflammation-driven cardiovascular disease.”  

Later in the paragraph she quotes associate professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana, Elvira deMejia, Ph.D., who proclaimed, “We saw a reduction in inflammation after drinking just two [12-ounce] glasses of soymilk a day for three months.”  Twenty-four ounces of soy milk every day for three months?!  Is she crazy?  Dr. de Mejia is also studying the health benefits of tea.  Perhaps she has something to do with the soy protein isolate that’s showing up in teabags all over the place these days!  Yes, read your labels.

The good doctor has done a great deal of research in the area of food toxicology – how does she not know about the natural toxicity of soy beans?  If it's toxic in its natural state, why in heaven's name would anyone want to try to turn it into a food substance?  Unless of course you wanted to sell a bunch of it.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm all about the free market.  But I'm also about truth in advertising.

Soy

• has been linked to growth and fertility problems and thyroid disease (high in plant estrogens)
• interferes with protein digestion (protease inhibitors)
• is linked to “leaky gut syndrome” and other gastrointestinal disorders and immune problems (lectins and saponins)
• blocks mineral absorption causing deficiencies (phytates)
• causes gas (oligosaccharides)

Perhaps the doctor is getting her soy information from the soy industry.  After all, they seem to know all the FACTS about soy.  At least that’s what they say on their web page, Soy Nutrition (sponsored by Silk).  These “facts” will counter every negative claim above.  Case closed.

How can we tell the truth from the fiction?  This is the big question.  Who do we believe?

Well, this is my strategy: 

1. Follow the money.  If the researcher is paid by the industry making the health claim, there’s a really good chance the results will be biased toward the industry. 
2. Is it endorsed by the FDA?  As we should all know by now, the FDA is the friend of industry, not the consumer.  The FDA directors have an interesting pattern of swapping jobs with industry CEOs. 
3. Is it government funded research (includes research universities)?  Government funds research it deems valuable—research, that is, that promotes its entrenched scientific assumptions.  (Example:  "People have been eating soy beans for almost 5,000 years,"  from University of Maryland Medical Center.  Not remotely true.)
4. Do the researcher’s claims make sense on a basic level?  Are they logical?  (Sometimes this one trips me up, but I still try to rely on it for the most part because I consider myself a pretty common-sense person.)
5. Is the theory supported by evidence?  Let’s face it—most things can’t be proven 100%, but is there compelling evidence to support the conclusion?  And was the study well-defined?  Like a bad poll questionnaire, a study can be manipulated to bring about any result one wishes to obtain.
6. Are they selling something?  … particularly the “something” they’re promoting as the newest fad?
7. And finally… get a rounded education, as it were.  When I learn about something I didn't know before, I try to read as broadly as I can on the topic.  Never stop with one opinion. 

Will “uping” my soy really help me live longer?  I highly doubt it--as a matter of fact, it might shorten my life significantly.  It is, after all, a known toxin.  But, there are some great cherry recipes in the magazine.  And I’ve heard some good things about the nutritional value of cherries.  For one, they’re not toxic.  And then there are the “39 Fresh and Fast Healthy Recipes,” some of which may actually be healthy.  So I’ll glean what I can out of the magazine before it joins its friends in the recycle dumpster.

Perhaps the day will come when the nutritional mainstream once again challenges the status quo and begins to question why the “settled science” of nutrition isn’t doing anything to improve our health.   Wouldn’t it be grand to see an article in Eating Well praising the virtues of raw milk?  Or butter? … or (gasp!) beef tallow?

It could happen…