Posted on 01/23/2006 1:12:59 PM PST by PeaceBeWithYou
Eating veggie burgers and tofu to lower "bad" cholesterol may not help, a new review of soy's health benefits suggests.
The American Heart Association reviewed 22 randomized trials comparing soy protein and the soy component isoflavone to milk or other proteins.
The majority of the trials concluded soy led to an average decrease in LDL or "bad" cholesterol levels of just three per cent.
"This reduction is very small relative to the large amount of soy protein tested in these studies, averaging 50 grams, about half the usual total daily protein intake," the committee wrote in the Jan. 17 online issue of the journal Circulation.
Soy had no effect on HDL, or "good" cholesterol, or on blood pressure.
Soy and isoflavone also didn't seem to reduce symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes.
Its ability to slow postmenopausal bone loss showed mixed results.
As for cancer, clinical trials on whether soy can help to prevent or treat breast, endometrium and prostate cancer haven't shown that the food works or is safe, and warn of possible side-effects.
"For this reason, use of isoflavone supplements in food or pills is not recommended," the panel concluded.
The findings could lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reconsider whether food companies in the U.S. can continue to tout the cholesterol-lowering benefits of soy-based foods on product labels.
Soy-based foods could still help because of their high content of polyunsaturated fats, fibre, vitamins, minerals and low saturated fat content, the study's authors noted.
Dieticians have agreed that soy may be beneficial when eaten instead of less nutritious foods such as hamburgers or hot dogs.
I'm also hypoglycemic and cutting way down on the fruit and starch cleared me right up. My husband's blood lipid changed like magic.
I'm sorry you didn't have the same experience. Sometimes you really can't fight genetics.
"Well, trying to lower cholestorol and finding true info on it is less than easily there"
Red Rice Yeast.
30 points off my total Cholesterol, made the HDL better, too.
As I recall,at one time the only approved use for Soy was as a glue for cardboard boxes. The industry got hold of it and started making claims. I think that it is an extremely hard to digest protein and avoid it (goes for chick peas too!). Has hormone like substances that turns men into steers.
If someone wants to lower cholesterol eat avocados. Raises the good fats, lowers the bad. I had something like a 20% reduction in the bad after 1 month of an avocado a day. (I don't grow them, sell them, or trade them!) They also make a great baby food.
With good reason. The studies keep contradicting one another. Seems like you can't believe anyone anymore. Everyone has an ulterior motive, usually financial.
Box glue huh? That doesn't surprise me. Many of the seed oils that are touted as healthy were used in paint, before a chemist discovered a petroleum derivative that was better and cheaper.
wapf ping... also, maybe invite the initiator of this thread to join the list...
For Those Interested in the Research of Dr. Weston A. Price |
Another whoodathunkit!
My doc suggests having a drink every night -- any kind, not just red wine. He thinks it makes cholesterol less apt to stick to the arteries -- his personal opinion, not researched.
Some people eat a lot of fatty fish or take fish oil supplements (capsules).
Some people eat foods high in anti-oxidants (I think that's it) -- blueberries are the only one I remember.
Some people eat oatmeal every day.
Once you've done the low cholesterol/low-fat diet, exercise, no smoking thing, there doesn't seem to be much else to do beyond taking cholesterol-lowering drugs.
I've had double bypass surgery, with a cholesterol level of 230 at the time & NO other risk factors. I don't wish that on anyone. IMHO, if lifestyle changes don't do the trick, it's time to try medication. My opinion is based on my experience, though, which certainly is not the norm. IOW, it's probably worth very little unless you have high cholesterol which doesn't respond to lifestyle changes.
BTTT
Eat fats, cut carbs instead.
I am hypoglycemic, which means my blood sugar levels are too low now. Lowering it even more would only complicate matters. But thanks for trying : )
Canola oil would be a good example. I think corn oil is marginal. Flax seed is supposed to be good, although it also has some female hormones in it. Stick to a quality fish oil I suppose, or avocado oil.
Mainly, soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, canola, sesame oil, sunflower seed oil, palm oil, and any others that are labeled as "unsaturated" or "polyunsaturated." Almond oil, which is used in many cosmetics, is very unsaturated. Chemically, the material that makes these oils very toxic is the polyunsaturated fat itself. These unsaturated oils are found in very high concentrations in many seeds, and in the fats of animals that have eaten a diet containing them. The fresh oils, whether cold pressed or consumed as part of the living plant material, are intrinsically toxic, and it is not any special industrial treatment that makes them toxic.
Since these oils occur in other parts of plants at lower concentration, and in the animals which eat the plants, it is impossible to eat a diet which lacks them, unless special foods are prepared in the laboratory. These toxic oils are sometimes called the "essential fatty acids" or "vitamin F," but this concept of the oils as essential nutrients was clearly disproved over 50 years ago. Linoleic and linolenic acids, the "essential fatty acids," and other polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are now fed to pigs to fatten them, in the form of corn and soy beans, cause the animals' fat to be chemically equivalent to vegetable oil.
In the late 1940s, chemical toxins were used to suppress the thyroid function of pigs, to make them get fatter while consuming less food. When that was found to be carcinogenic, it was then found that corn and soy beans had the same antithyroid effect, causing the animals to be fattened at low cost. The animals' fat becomes chemically similar to the fats in their food, causing it to be equally toxic, and equally fattening. These oils are derived from seeds, but their abundance in some meat has led to a lot of confusion about "animal fats." Many researchers still refer to lard as a "saturated fat," but this is simply incorrect when pigs are fed soybeans and corn.Link
Add to that, pesticides, processing, hydrogenation, dyes, perfumes, etc. - and you have a toxic soup indeed.
i'm very interested in what you've posted... do you mean only eat a lot of starch at dinner and not during other meals? or only eat a lot of start at dinner, and don't include any other kinds of food for dinner?
>>>"I love defenseless animals, especially in a good gravy."
Vegetarians, remember: plants have feelings too.
Hoppy
You might be better qualified than I to respond to post 34.
Um, by whom, exactly? I'd like to read that research.
Essential fatty acids (EFA) are, according to the textbooks, linoleic acid and linolenic acid, and they are supposed to have the status of "vitamins," which must be taken in the diet to make life possible. However, we are able to synthesize our own unsaturated fats when we don't eat the "EFA," so they are not "essential."
The term thus appears to be a misnomer. [M. E. Hanke, "Biochemistry," Encycl. Brit. Book of the Year, 1948.]
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