Even though there are claims that suggest modest amounts of soy are safe, do you know how much soy you’re getting? I believe you’ll be surprised when you start reading the food labels. You’re getting more than you think. It’s hidden in so many products and when you add soy protein drinks and bars you are consuming too much. Here are some of the very serious issues that people have been raising for years. Research is just scratching the surface about whether the dangers are real or not, but I don’t want my future generations to suffer.
Promoters of soy products such as soy protein isolate, or phyto-estrogens extracted from soy, usually fail to mention that soy products are goitrogenic to humans. That means they depress thyroid function. Certain substances found in the soybean inhibit thyroid hormone synthesis, leading to goiter and other adverse changes in the thyroid gland. Low thyroid function is associated with a host of debilitating diseases including cancer, heart disease, fatigue, osteoporosis, and a difficult menopause.
So, if you are taking soy for your menopause, it is depressing your thyroid and it may cause you to have a more difficult menopause. Try eating whole nutrient dense foods including animal fats, but avoid processed commercial foods. Isoflavones can inhibit thyroid peroxidase (TPO), an enzyme involved in the synthesis of thyroid hormones. As their name implies, some research suggests that goitrogens can cause an enlarged thyroid, known as a goiter, by increasing the amount of thyroid stimulating hormone. People can get goiters and other thyroid problems from either an iodine deficiency or in some cases from iodine excess.Iodine is important in other areas of metabolic regulation.
We all are aware of Oprah’s hypothyroidism. Did you know that Christiane Northrup, MD, author of The Wisdom of Menopause, has been Oprah’s consultant, and is a big promoter of soy? Did you know she has hypothyroidism? What a coincidence! If you are menopausal and gaining weight, did it ever occur to you that you could be developing a thyroid problem? It is my belief that if Oprah removed soy from her diet and ate more whole foods and less processed foods she would lose the weight. So why not give it a shot? She has tried everything else without success.