Page 24 - April Issue
P. 24
getting ready | food & diet
mother, baby & child April 2011 Soy Doesn’t Affect found in soy, called isoflavones, intake and the results were (in
Menstrual Cycle are in part protective and can mega doses!): nipple discharge,
increase a woman’s menstrual breast enlargement and also
In the study, researchers cycle length or reduce ovarian minor decreases in testosterone.
looked at the effect of soy hormones. The protective effects But “we still couldn’t find anything
supplementation on the of phytoestrogens could also that was serious, and we went
menstrual cycles of a group reduce women’s exposure to up to doses that are probably 30
of 96 premenopausal female estrogen and may reduce the risk times what you could get from
monkeys over the course of a of breast cancer. But changes normal foods,” the researcher
year. Researchers say monkeys in the menstrual cycle may also said. “I don’t think that there
have menstrual cycles similar to impair women’s fertility. In some are a lot of estrogenic worries.
those found in women. Half of cases, when low estrogen levels Your testicles will not shrink and
the monkeys ate a diet high in are a cause of infertility (which you won’t have massive breast
soy protein that contained 1.88 is not unusual) soy (and soy enlargement” from eating soy.
milligrams of isoflavones (the supplements) can be used as However it is not easy to eat
human equivalent of about 129 treatment, even in high doses, so much soy, in fact it is quite
milligrams per day), and the other difficult!
half got all their protein from “This diagnosis of
animal sources. estrogen deficiency David Jenkins, professor
of course needs to and chairman of nutrition and
The study showed that metabolism at the University
soy supplementation did not be confirmed by of Toronto and St. Michael’s
appear to change the monkey’s your doctor with a Hospital in Toronto affirms that
menstrual cycle or affect their blood test or with the richest in soy benefits are
hormone levels. In both monkeys soy milk and tofu. As far as soy
and humans, lower-than-normal an ultrasound.” sauce is concerned, it is on the
levels of estrogen can make other side of the scale because
menstrual cycles more variable she says. “This diagnosis of of the scant quantities of active
and negatively affect fertility. estrogen deficiency of course soy within it. So how much soy
needs to be confirmed by your should a man eat to benefit from
“Soy treatment did not doctor with a blood test or with it? A third of a cup a day will give
change any characteristics of the an ultrasound (showing that your good protective levels in terms of
menstrual cycle, including length, uterus lining around ovulation heart disease.
amount of bleeding, or hormone time is too thin or that you are
levels,” says Kaplan. “This not ovulating),” she says and There are also some evidences
suggests that any protection then soy becomes a first choice that eating soy can enhance
that soy may provide against natural medication. fertility in men. The isoflavone
breast cancer does not come genistein may be used to treat
from changes in the menstrual Men male sterility because it affects
cycle.” Although this study blood levels of LH [luteinising
shows that soy supplementation Most men worry about soy as it is hormone], needed for normal
does not affect women’s fertility, a well-known fact that it contains sperm production. Soybeans are
researchers say more study is enough isoflavones, and this also high in zinc, a mineral used
needed to look at the effects of substance produces the results by the body in the formation of
soy on the fetus and placenta of estrogen, which is the female many hormones and which also
function. hormone. The University of North functions as an antioxidant. Zinc
Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted deficiency has been shown to
The Benefits of Soy a study on this and within, huge affect reproduction in animals.
quantities of soy were fed onto
A diet high in phytoestrogens men. Keep in mind that this was CREDITS:
has been shown to contribute in very large amounts of soy Dr Maria Ridao Alonso
to a lower rate of breast Specialist in Preventative Medicine
cancer found in Asian women Head of Traditional Chinese Medicine
compared with those in Western & Ozone Therapy
countries. One explanation for Dubai Herbal and Treatment Center
that is that the plant estrogens 04-3351200
24
