5 Reasons Why Soy May Be Harming Your Health

Soy is commonly touted as a health food by some vegans and vegetarians, as well as the manufacturers who profit from the soy industry. However, there are important things you should know about soy and how it may be harming your health. 

Proponents of soy claim that it has many health attributes, such as heart disease and cancer prevention. Anyone who also has environmental concerns about meat production may also want to consume soy in place of meat and dairy as a way to decrease their ecological footprint on the Earth. However, soy milk, tofu, soy veggie burgers, and other soy products may not be as healthy or environmentally friendly as previously thought.

If you are seeking acupuncture in Del Mar, CA, then you are probably conscientious of your diet and try to make healthy choices at least most of the time.

Like corn, gluten, and tree nuts, soy is also a common food allergen or substance that our bodies react negatively to. It finds its way into just about everything on the grocery store aisles: milk substitutes, baby formulas, salad dressings, spaghetti sauce, chocolate, cakes, cookies, low carbohydrate bread, nutrition bars, nutrition drinks/shakes, and even body care products and candles! Most factory farmed animals are also fed a formula containing some soy, so some soy proteins may make their way into your meat. Here are the top 4 reasons why that is not a good thing.

1. Over 90% of the soy grown in the US is genetically modified using gene splicing in a lab.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are much different from hybridization in that the modification occurs under laboratory conditions. The gene from a bacteria is inserted into the DNA of the seed of the soybean to make the crop resistant to high doses of pesticides. If this doesn’t sound very appetizing to you, then avoiding soy on your plate should be a top priority. If you absolutely must have soy, choose soy products that are labeled organic and the many are now also touting the official label of being “Non-GMO”.

2. Soy contains estrogen mimickers.

Too much estrogen (often referred to as estrogen dominance) can create a variety of premenstrual and menopausal symptoms in women. In men, it can cause gynecomastia or “man boobs.” In both men and women, too much estrogen is associated with cancers of the reproductive system. It’s probably not a good idea to be getting a dose of estrogen in your food, especially since we also have other estrogen mimickers in our environment such as plastics. Soy-based infant formulas are quite worrisome, especially since we’re now seeing some female infants get their first “period” and experience breast development.

3. If you have a gluten sensitivity, you probably also have a soy sensitivity.

On a molecular level, soy protein closely resembles wheat protein (gluten). Therefore, if you have sensitivities to gluten, it’s likely your body will react similarly to soy. If you’ve gone gluten-free and are still having unusual, vague symptoms, check all your foods and supplements for soy ingredients.

4. Soy can kill your thyroid.

Soy is one of the most goitrogenic (goiter causing) foods on the planet. It blocks your thyroid gland’s ability to absorb iodine, making it impossible to produce enough thyroid hormone to power your body’s cells and regulate your metabolism. If you’re getting acupuncture for weight loss and still not losing weight, ditch the soy. Your thyroid will thank you.

 

How Does Acupuncture Relieve Stress?

One of the reasons why acupuncture works so well for such a variety of conditions is that it relieves stress. We all know that chronic stress is the underlying mechanism for nearly all modern disease. But how exactly does it relieve stress?

Anyone who has ever been a “non-believer” in the power of acupuncture to assist the healing process in nearly every kind of health condition imaginable (and then gotten an acupuncture treatment to “prove” it doesn’t work) will attest to the fact that acupuncture’s effects are more than just a placebo. While the modern scientific understanding of “why” acupuncture works has been lagging, most people who have tried acupuncture say that it really does work.

Elite athletes have turned to acupuncture to help them go through intense training regimens without suffering from the typical side effects of overtraining, such as fatigue and injuries. When athletes do get injured or start to feel too fatigued during the post-workout recovery period, they have found that acupuncture helps them get back on track faster than rest alone.

Stressed out executives find relief from insomnia, chronic fatigue, heartburn, irritable bowel syndrome, and mental stress by getting their acupuncture “fix” a few times a month. Some acupuncturists even work full-time doing acupuncture for the workplace, and there are a growing number of spas throughout the world that offer acupuncture alongside other therapies such as massage and aromatherapy. It’s no secret that acupuncture helps relieve stress, regardless of whether it’s of mental or physical origin.

But now science has revealed how, in fact, acupuncture relieves stress. According to a study in the Journal of Endocrinology, acupuncture has a direct effect on the level of stress hormones circulating in the body. The scientists assessed blood levels of hormones secreted by the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands (also referred to as the HPA-axis) with no acupuncture, sham acupuncture, and true acupuncture. These are the hormones commonly referred to as those involved in the “fight or flight” response, as well as a variety of other processes in the body including metabolism, digestion, cardiovascular regulation, and reproductive function. The real acupuncture applied to a single acupuncture point below the knee (known as Zusanli, 3-leg mile, or Stomach 36) blocked the effects of chronic stress and normalized the hormones of the HPA-axis.

This may also explain part of the reason why acupuncture works so well for weight loss. High amounts of the stress hormone cortisol is associated with the accumulation of belly fat and difficulty losing weight. Chronic dieting and over exercising can increase cortisol, which in turn lowers the amount of active thyroid hormone in the body and sabotages your dieting efforts. Bringing cortisol levels back to normal gets you past a weight loss plateau, normalizes active thyroid hormone, and burns belly fat.

Whether you’re going through a stressful life situation, you have a high-stress job, you’re training for a triathlon, or you simply want to stay well and function at your best, getting acupuncture in Del Mar can help you.