The great thing about Americans, is that we embrace a new idea, or a new product with gusto. We also have a bad habit of overdoing things. Eventually, we get to some kind of balance, but it’s quite a ride! We do it with food, fashion, philosophies, educational trends – you name it!

Enter soy protein. Have you ever wondered why such a heavily studied food source is so controversial? Soy is a godsend for vegetarians – it has all nine amino acids needed for protein metabolism. It is an excellent substitute for dairy allergic people. And for those who want to increase
their protein, but not increase the meat in their diet soy provides an easily digestible choice. Yet others contend that it is actually dangerous and harmful to human health. Why?

In order to better comprehend the great soy debate, understand how the scientific community works. If something is found to be good, then the next question is: can it be bad? If so, how bad? Grant money is not awarded to prove what we do know, but what is still unknown and controversial. A research scientist doesn’t advance her career confirming old data. Those that fund studies are often
looking for marketing angles. That, in and of itself is not wrong, it’s part of how money for studies is generated. Before reporter or consumer jumps to conclusions based on a study or even a couple of studies, know the background of the study and its source.

It’s also important to know, that research looks only at a single mechanism at a time. It takes numerous studies to complete a picture. Waiting 15 years for a scientific question to be answered is too long for the content hungry 24/7 news industry.

I personally believe that part of the “Soy is evil” mentality that has sporadically shown up on blogs and websites since around 2000, is the proverbial pendulum swing. As the soy benefits were being discovered, consumer demand for soy increased, and so soy went into everything! Textured vegetable protein, a heavily processed form of soy, went into a number of processed foods, even fish sticks, as a way to increase profit margins. That was clearly excessive use of soy. One’s whole diet should not
be soy centric. It is bad for any diet to be focused on a particular food source or food group. That is just common sense.

A recent search of Pub Med showed 1,861 studies on soy protein alone. Some were looking for carcinogenic effects. Some used synthetic soy compounds, which is not the same natural soy molecules. Some used mice in the studies, and -surprise! Mice are not humans, and only 10% of mice studies can be directly related to humans. Hard to sensationalize the truth, isn’t it?

But the majority of studies have clearly shown that soy is beneficial as a natural hormone replacement for women, to increase bone density, build healthy cells, create a balanced lipid (cholesterol) profile, brain development, and anti-cancer and cancer prevention properties.

Shaklee published a Landmark study on its supplement users, and I know many of the study subjects and they are heavy soy protein consumers. Shaklee was an early adopter of soy and in fact, created the first soy protein isolate in 1970. Guess what?

Shaklee customers have been safely using Shaklee soy protein for 40 years. If there were any toxicity issues, it would have shown up in this population, and been revealed in the four studies Shaklee conducted on soy protein use in humans (not mice).

Some of the complaints about soy include:

1) it was an industrial crop
2) the phytoestrogens (plant-based estrogens) are harmful, and may stimulate feminizing characteristics in boys
3) it is acidic, and throws the body out of balance

Here are some quick answers:

1) Peanuts were an industrial crop too, as were rape seeds which is a canola oil source.  Corn is a heavily used industrial crop.  That food sources also have commercial value beyond nutrition shows the incredible power of plants, not that they are necessarily  “poison”!

2) Phytoestrogens are 100 times weaker than human hormones. They compete for the estrogen receptors in both men and women. This helps the body with a natural hormone balance and explains why women in Japan and other Asian nations with heavy soy diets do not experience the menopausal symptoms Western women do. Any extra phyotestrogens are easily metabolized by the body and excreted.

3) Soy is acidic. That’s why the preparation of the soy product is important, and why textured vegetable protein and other heavily processed soy foods should be avoided. Soy should be blended with calcium for that very reason. All Shaklee soy proteins are blended with calcium for balance.

I strongly recommend that if you want to incorporate soy into your diet that you use Shaklee soy products, and fermented products like miso, or tofu. Our family uses soy milk heavily since we are dairy allergic, with no ill effects. We avoid textured vegetable protein, soy cereal, and unnecessary soy substitutes.

For more information on Shaklee Soy: Click here

Please contact me with any questions or comments.

Should You Use Zicam?

I’m an allergy patient. When I get a cold, it’s like adding an insult to injury. The congestion is awful.  If I don’t take care of it quickly, it quite often goes into a secondary infection.  It’s best to avoid getting colds altogehter, and for the most part I seldom get them.

As a wellness person, I know that much of the cold remedies are questionable, and most never really worked for me.  I kept seeing Zicam, and was very intrigued because it contained zinc and seemed like a good natural alternative.  The price tag (over $10) kept me from buying it.  Right now I’m using a neti-pot, or nasal irrigation when I get a cold or am exposed to alot of dust.  It works quite well. In addition I take quite a lot of garlic, Vita-C (TM), Nutriferon (TM), Formula I (TM) and Alfalfa (TM).

Guest Blogger today is Dr. Richard Brouse.  Dr. Brouse is a chiropractic physician, biochemist, certified clinical nutritionist, teacher, author and lecturer on health preservation and disease prevention. you can find his site at: http://www.healthedcorp.com/

Zicam manufactures a form of zinc gluconate + gylcerine lozenge supposedly said to treat colds.  An other product with the same ingredients include Cold Ez. Zicam has had a number of lawsuits due to alleged damage to olfactory sensory nerves.

In September 2003, Zicam faced lawsuits from users who claimed that the product negatively affected their sense of smell, and sometimes taste. However, Zicam advocates assert that instructions on the container clearly indicate proper use, which will allow users to avoid these problems. In January 2006, 340 lawsuits were settled for $12 million.^[9] In early 2004, at the height of the controversy, Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., the maker of Zicam, claimed that only a small number of people had experienced problems and that anosmia (loss of smell) can, amongst others, also be caused by the common cold itself. Matrixx also claimed that zinc gluconate dissolves into zinc ions and gluconate, and that both are naturally occurring compounds which are found in all human tissues. They also claim that Zicam is a buffered gel which is formulated to have a neutral pH. The plaintiffs countered Matrixx, claiming that many of the patients had experienced a strong and very painful burning sensation when they used the product, indicating damage to the nasal tissue. No part of the settlement targeted the product’s removal from sale, and the nasal gel continues to be available at drug stores throughout the USA. The two creators of Zicam have come under scrutiny. Robert Steven Davidson received his PhD from an unaccredited university which has since closed while Charles B. Hensley has been cited by the US Food and Drug Administration for selling unapproved drugs over the Internet.^[10]

· 9 zicam.vanosteen.com

· 10 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/30/AR2006013001255.html Retrieved on 2008-02-27

My advice over a product like zinc gluconate is to take Vivix, Nutriferon, avoid sweets, evaluate your zinc status by laboratory testing and get enough rest.  This works for my patients.

Dr. Richard Brouse Health Education Corporation

I’ll admit it.   When I first heard the warnings about bisphenol A I was rather nervous.  It is so prevalent in our culture that traces of it can be found in the urine of 6 year old children.  It’s in everything.  Thousands of studies have raised concerns, and the Chemical industry, which has the right to defend itself, has just TWO studies to say bisphenol A is OK.  Imagine my relief.

Glass is great, but can I put a glass bottle in my kid’s lunch box? (duh).   How can I travel with glass? Glass costs more to ship than plastics…. OK, I buy organic and get poisoned by the container? Am I stuck with plastics that leach this stuff?  Everywhere I turn, or so it seems, there is something else threatening my family’s health.

ALWAYS K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simply Shaklee
No worries (about anything), just results.

This is from the Shaklee home office, in response to the concerns about Shaklee’s plastic use:

Is there any bisphenol A in the BestWater Perfect Pitcher?

There is no bisphenol A in the BestWater Perfect Pitcher, the dietary supplement bottles, or the Get Clean containers. None of these products are made from polycarbonate plastic, which is a type of hard plastic that may contain bisphenol A. The only Shaklee branded product made from polycarbonate is the Shaklee Naglene Water Bottle (http://www.shakleestyle.com).

However, there is no data whatsoever to suggest that the bottle leaches harmful levels of bisphenol, because rigorous (and expensive) NSF testing assures that the polycarbonate is of a very high, food quality plastic.

The bottom line is that there is no bisphenol A danger from ANY Shaklee product, and that they can be used with the utmost confidence in their safety, quality, and ability to provide true benefit to the consumer.
Hope this helps. As always, if you have other questions, please let us know. In the meantime, best wishes for health. Have a great day.

Keith Anderson
Shaklee Field Communications

If you have any questions, you can email Karen at:karen@gohealthygo.com

http://twitter.com/karenmhurd

Tumblr.com/LongevityCoach
Facebook: http://profile.to/karenminerhurd