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http://vicious_kitten.tripod.com/anti-peta/soysucks.html

SOY SUCKS...

FOR OUR CHILDREN:

While soybeans contain more protein than other types of beans, they also contain enzyme inhibitors that block trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. Trypsin inhibitors can cause enlargement and even cancer of the pancreas. To deactivate these large proteins, soy manufacturers subject the beans to long-term heat treatments, which denatures other proteins such as lysine. These altered proteins prevent normal growth. Soy formulas can also lead to extreme gastroenteritis that can last a lifetime (See Charlie’s Story).

The main problem with feeding soy to babies and children is the presence of phytoestrogens, or plant estrogens, which disrupt the endocrine system and cause abnormal growth and even sterility. In fact, a baby fed only soy formula receives the equivalent of five birth control pills day! These dangerous levels of phytoestrogens do not occur, even in trace amounts, in cow’s milk or human breast milk, and babies fed soy formula have 13,000 to 22,000 times the normal amount of isoflavones (phytoestrogens) in their blood. Both male and female children can suffer hormonal disturbances from the phytoestrogens in soy. Male babies owe much of their early development to a testosterone surge during their first few months, but phytoestrogen blocks male hormones, possibly impairing learning and causing mental retardation. Pediatricians notice increasing number of boys who suffer from delayed physical maturation, including growth of the sexual organs. Learning disabilities in male children are also occurring with greater frequency.

Female children also suffer from an excess of soy in their diets. One percent of female children show signs of puberty including breast development and pubic hair before the age of three, while 14.7% of white girls and 48.3% of black girls show both of these characterisitics by the age of three. A study in Puerto Rico suggested that early maturation in girls can be linked to soy feeding. Unfortunately, the WIC (Women, Infants, Children) program gives free soy formula to needy mothers, which may explain the higher percentage of girls of minority groups who experience early maturation. Not only are young girls with mature bodies subject to ridicule by their peers, but early maturation is commonly linked to reproductive troubles and womanly cancers later in life. 1

FOR MEN:

Phytoestrogens in soy cause damage to the entire male reproductive tract, the most alarming symptoms being decreased sperm count and enlarged prostate. Sadly, the negative effects of phytoestrogens on the male body are permanent. Babies exposed to the chemicals for very short periods of time experience abnormal organ growth that lasts a lifetime.

The human sperm count has decreased over the past five decades, a decrease which coincides with the increasing popularity of soy in the western diet. 2 Propaganda from vegetarian and animal-rights organizations doesn’t help, either! PeTA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) actually blames meat for impotence, and claims milk causes osteoporosis and prostate cancer!

FOR WOMEN:

Soy foods are heavily marketed today as alternatives to estrogen replacement therapy for women during menopause. However, soy has long been known to cause enlargement of the thyroid gland, particularly in women and children. Japanese studies have shown that excessive soy intake, even by healthy adult women, leads to suppressed thyroid function. A diet rich in soybean products can also lead to irregular and painful menstrual cycles, uterine and breast cysts, and thyroid cancer. And because breast cancer is caused by estrogen, an excess of phytoestrogen in a woman’s diet can actually lead to breast cancer. 3

And even though soy is heavily marketed as a substitute for estrogen therapy for menopausal women, studies show that soy is no more effective in stopping menopausal symptoms than placebos. 4

FOR ANIMALS:

Boycotting milk drives prices down, and the first to suffer are family dairies and organic farmers, whose milk is among the healthiest on the market today. When these small farmers are forced to shut down, their cows are sold straight to the slaughterhouse to be used in pet food and low-quality processed meats. Before reaching for a carton of soy milk, ask yourself: is this really best for animals?

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Drink milk! Eat meat! And by all means, steer clear of animal-rights hype. Organizations such as PeTA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) care only about what they think is best for animals - not what science thinks is best for humans!

Your best defense is to be a skeptic. Always be on your guard against propaganda - organizations like PeTA prey on your susceptibility. Nutritional science is constantly finding more and more flaws with soya, the so-called miracle food, and many of the scientific studies and reports that contradict these findings are actually funded by animal rights organizations. The Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine, a foundation that advocates a strict vegan diet and immediate abolition of all animal-based research, is a subsidiary of PeTA. The PCRM also campaigns violently against health charities such as the March of Dimes, the American Heart Association, and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. 5 Ask yourself: do these people care genuinely about human health?

In recent years PeTA’s president Ingrid Newkirk, a self-proclaimed “ardent animal lover”, has put her foot in her mouth on multiple occasions. Newkirk believes the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) to the United States would be “good for human health” because it would scare a large portion of the population into becoming vegetarian - however, FMD is not spread through food and only effects hoofed animals. 6 Newkirk openly supports a policy that calls for the immediate euthanasia of any pit bull terrier or pit bull mix at animal shelters. She claims that because the American Pit Bull Terrier has a history of being mistreated, the best thing for the breed’s future would be its extinction. 7 Further, PeTA kills over 1,000 cats and dogs a year, animals which it “rescues” from the streets. They are not held in shelters for any length of time, because PeTA does not operate any shelters. Animals who are not placed or returned home immediately are killed. 8 Also, although PeTA avidly campaigns against pet ownership, many members own cats and dogs, which they further abuse by feeding them vegan food. Cats as obligate carnivores and if fed a vegan diet, their health declines rapidly, often resulting in death. Ask yourself: do these people care genuinely about animals?

In The News

The Shadow of Soy (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bean) by Sean Carson, Pacific Sun, California

The Downside of Soybean Consumption by Beatrice Trum Hunter, NOHA News

“(Soyfoods) are not nutrients. They are drugs... “ -Dr. L. White