Page 71 - Spring2013

Soy Alert!

SOY AND SEIZURES: BAD NEWS FOR THE SOY INDUSTRY
By Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD

“Soy Exacerbates Seizures in Mouse have suffered grave damage to their digestive
Models of Neurological Disease” is the title of tracts and thyroid glands due to a high soy diet
an important study that came out last fall in the containing up to a whopping 100 grams of soy
Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Soy has long product and 100 mg of isoflavones every day. 7
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been associated with ADD/ADHD, depression, The level of seizures occurring among
anxiety, dementia and other mental health is- today’s Illinois prison population is unknown.
sues. Now it appears that soy can aggravate However, a 1978 study in JAMA reported seizure
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seizures as well. Cara J. Westmark, PhD, and her disorders at 1.9 percent among prisoners in Il-
team at the Waisman Center for Developmental linois, three times the level found in the general
Disabilities at the University of Wisconsin, population. Although prisoners in the 1970s may
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Madison, pull no punches when they warn, have been spared the extremely high 100 grams
“These results have important implications for of soy protein served up today, they most likely
individuals on soy-based diets.” 3 endured economy fare such as hamburger and
other rations extended with soy grits, textured
SOY-BASED AMERICAN DIET soy protein and soy flour. Whether soy on the
The average American, of course, would not menu might have caused such a high percentage
describe his or her diet as “soy-based,” yet soy of seizures is unknown. Prisoners, after all, may
ingredients are found in more than 60 percent well have suffered for years from neurological
of packaged and processed foods and nearly 100 damage that led to violent tendencies, crime The average
percent of fast foods. The plant-based diet fad has and incarceration. Whether they were already
furthermore encouraged many health-conscious seizure-prone individuals or not, the research American
Americans to substitute soy products for both of Westmark and others suggests their high soy would not
meat and dairy. And although animal products diet could only have made matters worse. describe his
would appear to be “soy free,” most commercial
and health-food store eggs, milk, and flesh foods SEIZURE DISORDERS NOT RARE or her diet as
contain residual isoflavones from soy-based Those who think seizures are rare and only “soy-based,”
feeds. happen to other people need to think again. yet soy
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Infants on soy formula—currently about According to Dr. Westmark, one in every ten
25 percent of bottle-fed babies, according to Americans will experience a seizure during their ingredients
the American Academy of Pediatrics—are on lifetime. According to the Mayo Clinic, seizures are found in
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soy-based diets because they rarely receive may result from many disorders affecting the more than
anything else to eat, which has led the Israeli brain. Best known is epilepsy, a disease char-
Health Ministry, the French Food Agency, the acterized by seizures, but seizures can signify 60 percent of
German Institute of Risk Assessment, and the metabolic disturbances such as hypoglycemia packaged and
British Dietetic Association to warn parents and or dangerously high or low levels of sodium, processed
pediatricians that soy formula could jeopardize calcium, magnesium or water. Seizures can also
brain and body development and should be used be triggered by brain injury, infections such foods and
only as a last resort. as meningitis, tumors, lupus, stroke and high nearly 100
5,6
Another captive population is prisoners. The fevers. In many cases, the cause of seizures is percent of fast
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Weston A. Price Foundation is currently suing unknown, and the underlying molecular mecha-
the state of Illinois on behalf of prisoners who nisms that initiate and propagate seizures are not foods.
Wise Traditions SPRING 2013 SPRING 2013 Wise Traditions 71