Page 73 - Spring2008

Soy Alert!

STRIKING AT THE SOY HEART HEALTH CLAIM
By Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN

February 19 was a big day for the Weston STANDARD OF SCIENTIFIC AGREEMENT
A. Price Foundation. President Sally Fallon and Our petition pointed out that according to
Secretary Geoffrey Morell delivered a 65-page section 403 (4) (3) (B) (i) of the Federal Food,

petition to the offices of the FDA in Rockville, Drug and Cosmetic Act, FDA can authorize a
Maryland, in which the Foundation strongly health claim only if the standard of signifi cant
urged the agency to retract the soy-prevents-heart scientifi c agreement is met. In fact, our review of
disease health claim. This is the claim that people the scientifi c literature on soy and heart disease
read when they visit grocery stores and pick up indicated that soy protein does not reliably lower
packages of soy milk, veggie burgers and oth- cholesterol, does not lower homocysteine, does
er soy products that not prevent heart
contain more than 6 disease and may
grams per serving of cause, contribute to
soy protein. This FDA or accelerate the de-
health claim greatly velopment of heart
bolstered soy’s repu- disease, particularly
tation as a “miracle heart arrhythmias
food” and boosted and cardiomyopa-
sales from under one thy, an increasingly
billion dollars per year prevalent condition In approving
in 1999 to more than that afflicts one in
four billion dollars 500 Americans and the health
just a few years later. Sally Fallon, President of the Weston A. Price is the leading cause claim in
In addition to Foundation, submits the Foundation’s petition and of death in young 1999, the
myself and Sally Fal- comments to the FDA on February 19, 2008. athletes.
lon, our petition was We pointed FDA relied
signed by three world- out that in approving heavily on
class scientists: Kilmer S. McCully, MD, father of the health claim in 1999, the FDA relied heavily studies on
the homocysteine theory of heart disease, winner on studies on soy and cholesterol that were deeply
of the 1998 Linus Pauling Award and author of fl awed because of the routine use of casein as soy and

The Homocysteine Revolution and The Heart the control. Casein is a fractionated milk protein cholesterol
Revolution; Mary G. Enig, PhD, the world re- product that is high in the amino acid methionine that were
nowned biochemist and nutritionist who exposed and seriously defi cient in cysteine. Research at
the dangers of trans fats in the food supply back the Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka Univeristy, deeply flawed

in the 1970s, vice president of WAPF, author of Japan, has shown that compared to other proteins, because
Know Your Fats and co-author of Eat Fat Lose casein will signifi cantly raise total cholesterol of the
Fat and Nourishing Traditions; and Galen D. levels and lower HDL levels. Therefore, casein is
Knight, PhD, a biochemist who has carried out an extremely poor control in terms of evaluating routine use of
pioneering research on the role of vitalethine in soy protein’s effect on cholesterol. casein as the
humoral immunity and cancer development.
control.
SPRING 2008 Wise Traditions 73