I hear some people say that soy is good for you, and some say that it is bad?  What is the story?

I will assume that you are looking at this from the perspective of phyto-estrogens.  Soy is a “phyto-estrogen” food, which means, it contains substances that have hormone-like components. The people that say this is bad are concerned that the additional “pseudo-estrogens” will contribute to estrogen-fed cancers. The people that say soy is good note that the phytoestrogens bind to estrogen receptor sites, thus preventing the more potent and harmful human-made estrogens from binding.  The phyto-estrogens actually become protective from this viewpoint.  Dr. Richard Brouse, a biochemist, Doctor of Chiropractic, and Professor of Clinical Nutrition explains, “Soy’s estrogen strength is 1/1000th that of the body’s own stronger estrogens. Therefore, you want to load your digestive system with a quality controlled raw soy powder, because these weaker estrogens will block the estrogen receptor sites from receiving your body’s own stronger estrogens and therefore be very protective against estrogen fed cancers”. Dr. Brouse has also given a checklist of seven essential things to look for in a quality soy product:

1) Were the soybeans ORGANICALLY GROWN?

Studies have shown a connection between pesticides and cancer! Therefore, it is important to know that pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides have not been used during the growing process.

2) Were the soybeans GENETICALLY ENGINEERED?

Genetically engineered soybeans are much cheaper to purchase, and most companies producing soy products look for ways to save money.

3) Does your soybean powder contain ALL of the nine essential amino acids?

One of the most valuable features of the soybean is that it is a complete protein and provides all nine of the essential amino acids. The body requires these daily to produce hormones, digestive juices, antibodies, and enzymes. However, not all soybeans are created equal. Quality and amino acid content will vary based on soil conditions, variable growing and harvest conditions. Therefore, it is essential that each batch of soybeans be checked for amino acid content if we want to depend on the soy isolate to provide a guaranteed supply of the nine essential amino acids.

4) Were the crushed soy flakes washed in alcohol or water?

Alcohol washing destroys isoflavones content up to 88%. It is the isoflavones that reduce the risk of breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancer! As well, it is the isoflavones that are so beneficial in hormone balancing and increasing bone mass.

5) Was the “anti-thyroid”, “anti-growth” substance in the raw soy removed?

Raw soy contains an “anti-growth”, “anti-tyrosine” substance. Tyrosine deficiency will cause low blood pressure, low body temperature, and restless leg syndrome. Did your soybean powder go through an extracting process that removes this substance, yet keeps the soy in a raw form in order to maintain the highest level of amino acids and isoflavones?

6) Is your soybean food raw or heated?

Amino acids are very sensitive to heat. In some studies, cooking protein has been shown to destroy up to 50% of some essential amino acids.

7) Has CALCIUM been added to your soy powder?

Some negative reports about soy say that soy powders are acidic and cause bone loss because it causes calcium to be drawn from the bones. The raw soy bean is a neutral food, neither acidic nor alkaline. However, the removal of the soybean oil (which is essential so the soy powder will not go rancid very quickly), makes the powder very acidic. Therefore, adequate calcium (which is very alkaline) must be added to cause the powder to be neutral again. Many protein powder manufacturers do not add any or enough calcium.