New research coming out of China, Japan and Europe, outlining the many ways that soy helps prevent breast cancer, feels overwhelming.
So why does the American Cancer Society and its journal Cancer say nasty things and raise fears about eating soy? Its Web site actually warns readers about the dangers of eating soy when it comes to breast cancer prevention.
I decided it was time to unravel this annoying two-headed beast.
First: It is an undisputable fact that most East Asian countries continue to enjoy much, much lower rates of breast cancer than the United States. Japan and China have one-third to one-half the breast cancer rates as the United States.
Also, compared to the United States, even fewer women who develop breast cancer actually die from it. This means Asians usually end up with a slow-growing type of breast cancer such as most post-menopausal forms, rather than an aggressive pre-menopausal form (for example, Triple Negative or HER2 Positive; two types of breast cancer on the rise in American women under 50).
Second: For years now, numerous studies have shown that first-generation Asian women living in the United States have a very small increased risk of developing breast cancer once they immigrate here, but second- and third-generation Asian women who eat a westernized diet significantly increase their breast cancer incidence. One logical conclusion researchers have made is that when these women decrease the soy in their traditional Asian diets, they lose whatever protection soy offers them.
Reading in the June 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and in earlier research, there are four reasons for this protection:
1. Genistein, a form of phytoestrogen found in soy, controls estrogen levels. This means that the weak estrogen found in genistein takes the place of stronger estrogens in your body. Estrogen acts as a drill sergeant telling cells to replicate. But since phytoestrogens are only a thousandth to ten-thousandths as strong as other estrogens, when genistein becomes the drill sergeant, it is too weak to help any breast cancer cells replicate themselves.
2. Genistein prevents free radicals from forming. Studies have shown that genistein mops up free radicals around the breast cells which can create mutated cells; without mutated cells, cancer cells cannot form.
3. Genistein cuts off the blood supply to any tumors lurking in your breast. Called the anti-angiogenesis effect, this is the most amazing finding about genistein that has come to light in the past few years.
4. Finally, genistein prevents tumors from dividing. More research has shown that genistein dissolves tyrosine kinase, a chaos-causing enzyme that can push the proliferation of new cancer cells.
Tofu anyone?
But wait. I just learned from talking with Cape Ann's most knowledgeable nutritionist, Pat Towle, co-owner of Common Crow Natural Foods in Gloucester, that not all soy is alike.
Most Asian soy diets do not include soy energy bars, Silk soy milk, or texturized soy protein in soy dogs, fast foods and veggie burgers. Huh?
Instead, Asians mostly consume highly digestible fermented soy such as miso, tempeh, black bean paste, wheat-free tamari, and stuff called natto, a sticky smelly type of fermented soybean that the Japanese love for breakfast. Pat says most Americans wouldn't be willing to leave a bowl of smelly natto in our kitchen, let alone eat it!
These traditional fermented soy foods are considered to have more health-promoting benefits than the super-processed or raw soy products consumed in the West.
So you and I may again ask, why is the American Cancer Society trying to scare American women when it comes to eating soy? Why isn't it encouraging us to eat this protective staple as a way to prevent breast cancer or to prevent a recurrence of the disease? You will need to read my next Honest Health column for my answers or thoughts on this question.
But after reviewing these recent and original studies on the protective effects of fermented soy, here is my new breast cancer prevention soy diet.
First: I am going to keep cutting back on all dairy in my diet (see Jane Plant's excellent book, "The No Dairy Breast Cancer Prevention Diet") .
Second: I am going to try eating miso soup once a day, begin to use fermented black bean and chili paste in my stir fry dishes, try to get excited about drinking soy milk (Pat says the Eden Soy brand is the only soy milk that is properly cooked and fermented, the true Japanese way), add tempeh to my veggie dishes and keep eating organic soy curd in some way, shape or form a fews time a week, because I like it, even if it isn't actually fermented.
References:
"Adolescent and adult soy food intake and breast cancer risk: results from the Shanghai Women's Health Study", Lee, Shu, Li, Yank, Cai, Wen, Ji, Gao, Gao and Zheng, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2009.
Food as Medicine: The Role of Soy and Phytoestrogens (from Breast Cancer Beyond Convention, Mary Tagliaferri MD, Atria Books, 2003)
Susan Wadia-Ells, a wellness advocate, with graduate degrees in politics, energy economics and women studies, is founding director of the national nonprofit organization, Know Breast Cancer, www.knowbreastcancer.net. She also writes the blog www.thetruthaboutbreastcancer.com.
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