What Are the Dangers of Soy Based Products?

Prompted by aggressive marketing campaigns about "the joy of soy," Americans are falling in love with soy-based products as an inexpensive health builder. Even in Asia, however, soy foods are consumed in far lower numbers than the West, where adulterated products are increasingly infiltrating the market. Studies have also linked soy foods to immune system breakdowns, thyroid dysfnction and even major conditions like cancer and heart disease.

The Asian Myth

• Questioning soy-based products' benefits prompts the stock response that no downside exists when Asians eat such large quantities themselves. In fact, the industry's figures show that people in China, Japan and other Asian countries eat from 9.3 to 36 g of soy food -- not soy protein -- per day. Nor is there any precedent in Asian culture for eating such modern creations like soy sausages and tofu cheesecake.

Internal Effects

• Modern soy products have no precedent in ancient Asian culture.

  Cooking soybeans doesn't completely reduce or eliminate powerful inhibitors that block enzymes like trypsin, which are mandatory for digestion. These substances can lead to serious gastric distress and reduced protein digestion. Studies of test animals have also been linked to pancreatic cancer, which is one reason why the soybean never made major inroads into the Chinese diet.

Thyroid Effects

• Consuming soy products in large quantities has been linked to disruption of the endocrine system. That's because soy products contain isoflavones -- which can suppress the thyroid gland's function -- as well as trigger or worsen hypothyroidism, the term for failure to produce enough thyroid hormones. This finding doesn't surprise researchers, who note that soy itself acts like a hormone.

Soy Allergens

• Growing usage of soy infant formulas -- which now make up 20 to 25 percent of the marketplace -- and rising demand for similar foods at the grocery counter are linked to sharp increases in soy allergies. Soy is among eight allergens that may cause immediate hypersensitivity reactions, such as anaphylactic shock,diarrhea and trouble swallowing.