Soy and Boys

You've probably seen some of those web sites talking about the dangers of soy - or read newsletters based on the information in those web sites.

If you believed those web, sites you would think that soy protein products were some sort of evil plot to undermine the health of the American public.

A topic that is not always discussed but a concern especially to moms.  The effect of soy on males.

The anti-soy web sites claim that the weak estrogenic effect of soy isoflavones can cause feminization of boys and weaken men's sexual drive and reproductive ability (Evidently, someone forgot to tell the Chinese about that last one!).

That is nonsense because testosterone is structurally very similar to estrogen.

The soy isoflavones resemble natural testosterone just as much as they resemble natural estrogen - which is probably why some studies show that soy isoflavones slow the increase in PSA levels for men with prostate cancer.
 
The claims found in the anti-soy sites are primarily based on animal studies, but that is misleading because mice don't metabolize the soy isoflavones in the same way that humans do.

Two recently published studies have looked at the effects of isoflavones and isoflavone-containing soy protein in men. Both analyzed multiple previously published double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials (meta-analyses). This approach increases the statistical power of the conclusions by smoothing out some of the natural variation seen in individual studies.
 
The first study (Hamilton-Reeves et al, Fertil June 11, E-pub ahead of print, 2009) combined the results of 15 clinical trials and showed that soy isoflavones and isoflavone-containing soy protein intake had no effect on:  total and free testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin (a protein that binds to, and stabilizes, testosterone in the bloodstream,  and free androgen index (FAI) - an index of all of the hormones in the bloodstream that have masculinization effects (Yes, guys - it's not just testosterone that makes us who we are).
 
The second study (Messina, Fertil. Steril., 93:2095-2104, 2010) combined the results of 9 clinical trials and showed that soy isoflavones and isoflavone containing soy protein consumption had no effect on:  total or free testosterone levels, circulating estrogen levels (Yes, guys - we do make some estrogen), sperm or semen parameters (Some guys might argue that this is the bottom line).
So the definitive results are in and, once again the Emperors (the doctors writing the ant-soy web sites) have been shown to have no clothes.

So soy and boys are a good combination.  Thank you to Dr. Stephen Chaney for this excellent information.

To find out about high quality and non GMO Soy Protein products, click here.  Or call Mary Beth at 810-813-3308.

Belly Fat -- Will it make you dumb

This week is great information from Dr. Chaney.  My hope is that this recent study that breaks new ground will really grab your attention.

This study showed that abdominal obesity dramatically increases your risk of developing dementia as you age (RA Whitmer et al, Neurology, 71: 1057-1064, 2008).

This study involved 6,583 members of Kaiser Permanente of Northern California, ages 40 to 45, who had their abdominal obesity measured between 1964 and 1973.

The investigators then pulled their medical records between 1994 and 2006 when they were between 73 and 87 years old and asked how many of them had dementia.

The results may shock you.

The participants were divided into five groups based on their abdominal circumference. Those with the largest abdominal circumference were nearly 3 times more likely to have developed dementia than those with the smallest abdominal circumference.

And that was after the data were adjusted for age, sex, race, education, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, stroke and heart disease - all factors that are known to affect the risk of dementia.

Interestingly enough the abdominal circumference was a better predictor of dementia risk than was BMI, the most frequently used measure of obesity.

Those subjects who had high abdominal obesity and normal BMI had a 2-fold increased risk of developing dementia, while those subjects who were obese but had normal abdominal circumference had only an 80% increased risk of developing dementia.

Of course, those people who were both obese and had a large belly were the worst off - they had almost a 4- fold increased risk of developing dementia.

Now let's get to the question that I'm sure that many of you are dying to ask:  "If I don't like what I see when I look into the mirror, am I doomed to develop dementia when I get older?"  The answer is no. Most experts feel that the effects of abdominal obesity are reversible.

But the time to act is now!

If you wait until you get older, you might just forget that you ever read this article.

It is a Cinch to reduce the Belly Fat.  Click here.

Of course you can call Mary Beth at 810-813-3308 for your Personal Confidential Nutrition Consultation. 

My passion is to help people.