Did you know that meat has more estrogen than soy? Despite being told for years now about the “dangers” of estrogen in soy products and its potentially detrimental side-effects, we’ve never once heard about the possibility of meat being worse for us!
A few years ago, astonishingly, Men’s Health ran an article asking whether soy was the most dangerous food for men. The pages-long piece ultimately determined, arbitrarily, that soy was harmful to men because of the levels of estrogen. Nowhere in the work is a comparable admonition on the dangers of estrogen in meat products. The conclusion seemed to be continue eating meat, and if you happen to eat soy, stop that and eat more meat.
The truth is that estrogen, as we think of it, is not present at all in soy.
Meat, however, is a different story. Amazingly, there are such high levels of estrogen in meat that the American Society of Clinical Oncology has asked the question “does eating meat increase the rate of hormone-dependent cancers?” The study determined that the impact of estrogen in meat on hormone-dependent cancers could not be ignored as a factor in human health.
The real question then, becomes, why have we heard so much fiction about the estrogen content in soy, and have heard little to nothing about the true danger of estrogen in meat? The simple answer is that much of the literature and so-called “research” about the dangers of soy comes from the very industries who would do well to scare you away from the product forever: meat and dairy producers. In fact, the Boston Edge ran a piece a few years ago in which they stated, ”journalists and so-called nutrition experts perpetuate myths about soy that have been proven false with research.” Because these industries cannot actually boast about any truthful health advantages in consuming their products (there aren’t any), their only solution is to scare people away from the alternatives. How else do they get people to stop choosing a soy alternative to meat or dairy and therefore stop seeing the massive loss in sales they’ve witnessed in recent years?
Here’s the truth: soy contains isoflavones, which are also called phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are not to be confused with the hormone estrogen, which is what the meat and dairy industry, and everyone else poised to lose a lot of money should you eat more soy, would lead you to believe. Phytoestrogens are “selective estrogen receptor modulators” or SERMS which actually perform several important functions in the body. One function phytoestrogens perform is to block estrogen from activiating if your body has excess levels. This function will actually normalize estrogen levels if they happen to be elevated. And if levels of estrogen are too low, then phytoestrogens can bind to estrogen receptors, thereby acting like estrogen and provide a balance where there would otherwise be a dangerous deficit.
Even more beneficial, soy increases blood flow to muscles if consumed before a workout. More bloodflow means more vital nutrients and therefore, more power. Soy consumption has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease, lower cholesterol levels and reduce symptoms of menopause significantly. In case that wasn’t enough, soy has also been proven to increase bone density and prevent osteoporosis!
Amazing how beneficial this tiny bean can be for our bodies. So, soy over meat? Absolutely!
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Craig Cochran is the owner of Terri restaurant in NYC. Visit TerriNYC.com.
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Very important article. people should stop believing those lies from the meat and dairy industries.
Thanks for posting this Craig !
I’m vegan, but I don’t get it why some people promote soy as a ”healthy food”. Soy blocks Iron and B12 absorption.
We were not intended to eat meat, eggs, dairy and honey.
We were not intended to eat soybean.
Note that most soy is non fermented and GM. If you eat a lot of soy, you may also get Iron or B12 deficiency, and meat eaters may use that as an argument against veganism.
Our natural diet is mostly raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
http://www.vegansworldnetwork.org/nh_natural_diet.php
+1 and emphasis on the nuts. We need exogenous fats.
Soaked nuts, ripe fruits and fresh non-fibrous leafy greens.
Where cattle get protein, calcium etc? – from grass. and definitely not from meat or milk.
Our body is designed to pluck fruits from the trees to eat and not for going after an animal to kill it and eat !!!
Cry more lefties
Not soy but tempe (fermented tofu) inhibits B12 because it has a B12 like vitamine with just 1 binding clicked wrong. Our body cant use it and when simutltanous eaten with B12, it can inhibit the vitamin. But what you forget is that it can only limit the intake not totally inhibit it and jt only does that when during its digestion.. So you still get some B12 in if the quantity is enough/more then the fake one and when you time your meals.
But since B12 only comes fron animal products, meat eaters get plenty. Vegans always have supplement themself with B12 and folic acid. This has (saddenly) been proven. I still uphold the though that humans are meant to be vegetarian. Food that does not go to the processing it goes now, usually are ‘dirtier’ and contain micro organismes. We may gotten B12 that way.
In this day and age its better to prepare ourself more. Just take B12 supplements/shots or go biological diary. This day of age vegan is nearly impossible only if you grow everything yourself and dont overclean your food.