Page 22 - Spring2010

Infants fed soy formula and vegans who SAPONINS: SOAP IN YOUR MOUTH
eat a lot of soy-based meat and dairy replace- Saponins are bitter, biologically active com-
ments do not experience sufficient variety in ponents that foam up like soap suds in water.
their diets and are especially vulnerable. In the They are named after the soapwort plant (Sapo-
average adult with “leaky gut” and other GI tract naria), the root of which was used traditionally as
problems, lectin-rich foods are likely to be one a soap. Foods containing saponins include soy-
factor among many, with cumulative damage beans, chick peas and other beans, forage crops
coming from food allergies and intolerances, such as alfalfa, as well as other plants. Saponins
antibiotics, aspirin, ibuprofen and other NSAID contribute largely to the foam that rises to the
drugs, heavy metal contamination, alcoholism top of the pot when you cook beans; this foam,
and other factors. 55 which can taste quite bitter, should be carefully
Lectins are three to four times more likely skimmed off.
to move into the bloodstream through the “leaky Ingestion of saponins has been linked to
gut” than other food proteins, a fact that shows poor growth and bloating in foraging animals,
56
why maintaining the integrity of the gut lining although it takes massive doses to create such
is crucial to keeping undigested and partially problems. 59
digested food proteins, lectins and environmental The greater risk in humans would be to the
toxins out of the bloodstream. mucosa of the intestines. This occurs because
saponins bind with cholesterol, causing injuries
SOYATOXIN: NEW THREAT FROM SOY that result in “leaky gut.” 60-62 This effect is prob-
In soybeans, a toxic protein called “soya- ably weak, but allergens, lectins, gluten gliadin
toxin” causes clotting, just like lectins do. In and other components wreak similar havoc,
mice, large doses have proved lethal, having suggesting a cumulative risk. Not surprisingly,
caused breathing difficulties, convulsions and the cholesterol-binding effect may lead to the
partial paralysis prior to death. Ilka Vasconcelos, eventual marketing of saponins as all-natural
PhD, lead scientist of the team that discovered cholesterol lowerers. Scientists have even con-
soyatoxin, concluded her report by stating that it sidered their use in feed for the production of
Saponins seemed “important to gather more information cholesterol-free dairy products, though feeding
63
bind with concerning its nutritional value, and to develop alfalfa saponins to chickens has not resulted in
64
cholesterol, ways to counteract any detrimental effects.” 57,58 low-cholesterol eggs!
As yet no one has funded these important stud-

Saponins may also soon be promoted as “bile
causing ies, although it is not too far fetched to assume binders” for cancer prevention and reversal. The
injuries that that a toxic agent that acts so much like botulism idea is that saponins bind with bile, and that bile
result in might be formulated into a profitable “all natu- acids poison the cells and so promote tumors.
“leaky gut.” ral” soy-based injectable to compete with the Reducing the absorption of bile through the cell
wrinkle-removing paralytic Botox!
membrane could make precancerous epithelial

LECTINS AND GMO FOODS

Allergic reactions may dramatically increase in the future because of the insertion of lectins into genetically engineered
foods. For example, a lectin that causes many people to experience allergic reactions to latex was engineered into geneti-
cally modified tomatoes in order to improve the anti-fungal properties.
In 1998, Arpad Pusztai, PhD, set off a furor regarding the safety of GM foods when he disclosed that rats fed GM po-
tatoes containing a lectin from a snowdrop plant suffered depressed immune systems and damage to the kidney, stomach,
spleen and brain. The snowdrop lectin had been inserted into the potato because it is a naturally occurring insecticide. Dr.
Pusztai’s testimony made a mockery of claims to safety put forth by Monsanto and other biotechnology giants that profit
mightily from GM crops, and within four days, the distinguished researcher was forced to retire from a job he had held for
thirty-six years at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. Although twenty scientists, including toxicologists,
genetic engineers and medical experts from thirteen countries examined Dr Pusztai’s work and found that his conclusions
were warranted, the widely respected researcher is now considered “controversial.” 93,94

22 Wise Traditions SPRING 2010