Nexus - 0703 - New Times Magazine-pages

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calcium from bone broths. The reason that Westerners have such high rates of osteoporosis is because they have substituted soy oil for butter, which is a traditional source of vitamin D and other fat- soluble activators needed for calcium absorption. premature sexual development was not chicken—as reported in the press—but soy infant formula.” The consequences of this truncated childhood are tragic. Young girls with mature bodies must cope with feelings and urges that most children are not well-equipped to handle. And early maturation in girls is frequently a harbinger of problems with the reproductive system later in life, including failure to menstruate, infertility and breast cancer. Parents who have contacted the Jameses recount other problems associated with children of both sexes who were fed soy-based formula, including extreme emotional behaviour, asthma, immune system problems, pituitary insufficiency, thyroid disorders and irritable bowel syndrome—the same endocrine and digestive havoc that afflicted the Jameses' parrots. BIRTH CONTROL PILLS FOR BABIES maturation in girls is frequently a harbinger of problems with the But it was the isoflavones in infant formula that gave the reproductive system later in life, including failure to menstruate, Jameses the most cause for concern. In 1998, investigators infertility and breast cancer. reported that the daily exposure of infants to isoflavones in soy Parents who have contacted the Jameses recount other problems infant formula is 6 to 11 times higher on a body-weight basis than —_ associated with children of both sexes who were fed soy-based the dose that has hormonal effects in adults consuming soy foods. formula, including extreme emotional behaviour, asthma, immune Circulating concentrations of isoflavones in infants fed soy-based system problems, pituitary insufficiency, thyroid disorders and formula were 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than plasma oestradi- irritable bowel syndrome—the same endocrine and digestive ol concentrations in infants on cow's milk formula.” havoc that afflicted the Jameses' parrots. Approximately 25 per cent of bottle-fed children in the US receive soy-based formula—a much higher percentage than in DISSENSION IN THE RANKS other parts of the Western world. Fitzpatrick estimated that an Organisers of the Third International Soy Symposium would be infant exclusively fed soy formula receives the oestrogenic equiv- hard-pressed to call the conference an unqualified success. On the alent (based on body weight) of at least five birth-control pills per © second day of the symposium, the London-based Food day.* By contrast, almost no phytoestrogens have been detected | Commission and the Weston A. Price Foundation of Washington, in dairy-based infant formula or in human milk, even when the DC, held a joint press conference in the same hotel as the sympo- mother consumes soy products. sium, to present concerns about soy infant formula. Industry rep- Scientists have known for years that soy-based formula can resentatives sat stony-faced through the recitation of potential cause thyroid problems in babies. dangers and a plea from concerned But what are the effects of soy prod- scientists and parents to pull soy- ucts on the hormonal development of based infant formula from the mar- the infant, both male and female? ket. Under pressure from the Male infants undergo a "testos- A o Jameses, the New Zealand terone surge" during the first few An infant exclusively fed soy Government had issued a health months of life, when testosterone lev- | formula receives the oestrogenic warning about soy infant formula in els may be as high as those of an 1998; it was time for the American adult male. During this period, the equivalent (based on body government to do the same. infant is programmed to express male weight) of at least five birth- On the last day of the symposium, characteristics after puberty, not only presentations on new findings related in the development of his sexual control pills per day. to toxicity sent a well-oxygenated organs and other masculine physical chill through the giddy helium hype. traits, but also in setting patterns in Dr Lon White reported on a study of the brain characteristic of male Japanese Americans living in behaviour. In monkeys, deficiency Hawaii, that showed a significant of male hormones impairs the devel- statistical relationship between two opment of spatial perception (which, in humans, is normally more or more servings of tofu a week and "accelerated brain aging". acute in men than in women), of learning ability and of visual dis- Those participants who consumed tofu in mid-life had lower cog- crimination tasks (such as would be required for reading).* It nitive function in late life and a greater incidence of Alzheimer's goes without saying that future patterns of sexual orientation may disease and dementia. "What's more," said Dr White, "those who also be influenced by the early hormonal environment. Male chil- ate a lot of tofu, by the time they were 75 or 80 looked five years dren exposed during gestation to diethylstilbestrol (DES), a syn- older". White and his colleagues blamed the negative effects on thetic oestrogen that has effects on animals similar to those of isoflavones—a finding that supports an earlier study in which phytoestrogens from soy, had testes smaller than normal on matu- jostmenopausal women with higher levels of circulating oestro- ration.” Learning disabilities, especially in male children, have gen experienced greater cognitive decline.” reached epidemic proportions. Soy infant feeding—which began Scientists Daniel Sheehan and Daniel Doerge (National Center in earnest in the early 1970s—cannot be ignored as a probable for Toxicological Research), ruined PTI's day by presenting find- cause for these tragic developments. ings from rat feeding studies, indicating that genistein in soy As for girls, an alarming number are entering puberty much ear- foods causes irreversible damage to enzymes that synthesise thy- lier than normal, according to a recent study reported in the jour- roid hormones.” "The association between soybean consumption nal Pediatrics." Investigators found that one per cent of all girls and goiter in animals and humans has a long history," wrote Dr now show signs of puberty, such as breast development or pubic Doerge. "Current evidence for the beneficial effects of soy hair, before the age of three; by age eight, 14.7 per cent of white —_ requires a full understanding of potential adverse effects as well." girls and almost 50 per cent of African-American girls have one Dr Claude Hughes reported that rats born to mothers that were or both of these characteristics. fed genistein had decreased birth weights compared to controls, New data indicate that environmental oestrogens such as PCBs and onset of puberty occurred earlier in male offspring.® His and DDE (a breakdown product of DDT) may cause early sexual research suggestes that the effects observed in rats "...will be at development in girls.°* In the 1986 Puerto Rico Premature Thelarche study, the most significant dietary association with Continued on page 85 24 = NEXUS APRIL — MAY 2000 Continued on page 85