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actually took the soy supplement. The patients consumption. . . . You are what you eat, but that’s a whole constellation
were all older than twelve years, non smokers, of foods, not just a single food or a single component of a food. Instead of
non soy eaters and regularly taking asthma focusing on supplements, we should be taking a more holistic approach.”
medications (either inhaled corticosteroids or a What that “holistic approach” might be, he does not say. The study
leukotriene modifier). was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the Na-
After twenty-four weeks, the soy isoflavone- tional Institutes of Health (NIH) and by the American Lung Association.
taking subjects and the placebo-taking controls Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) provided the soy isoflavone supplement
showed no significant differences in forced and placebo. Although Smith and colleagues had hoped “soy” would
expiratory volume or symptoms as measured by show its mettle, they disclosed few ties to the soy industry though one had
the Asthma Control Test Score, Marks Asthma received consultant fees and another clinical-trial funding from Novartis.
Quality of Life Score, number of episodes of poor Nearly all, however, disclosed financial ties to Merck, GlaxoSmithKline,
asthma control or other measures of systemic Astro-Zeneca and other vaccine and drug companies. And it’s Big Pharm,
inflammation. This occurred even though the after all, which stand to gain from Big Soy’s loss.
soy isoflavones were so well absorbed that blood
levels of the isolflavone genistein rose from 4.76 Dr. Kaayla Daniel is The Naughty Nutritionist because she outrageously
ng/mL to 37.67 ng/mL over the course of the and humorously debunks nutritional myths, including the myth that soy
study. The researchers had thought these high is a health food. She is vice president of the Weston A. Price Foundation,
levels would surely inhibit airway inflammation, on the board of directors of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund
but they did not. and a nutritionist in private practice. She is author of The Whole Soy
As typically happens when soy fails to shine, Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food and co-author
the researchers trotted out the usual excuses with Sally Fallon Morell of the bestselling new book Nourishing Broth: An
about how soy should work and would work if Old Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World. Visit Dr. Daniel’s website
they could only determine the right dose, stage drkaayladaniel.com to receive her free report Fats of Life and to subscribe
of the life cycle or other factor. In this case, no to her free newsletter Naughty Bytes. Visit Dr. Kaayla’s “Recovering from
one seemed to be knocking the study itself, which Modern Diets” blog at westonaprice.com.
even the soy industry seems to concede was well-
designed. That said, the great white hope remains REFERENCES
that soy isoflavones can—and will—control Lewis J. Smith, Ravi Kalhan, Robert A. Wise, Elizabeth A. Sugar, John J. Lima,
asthma if begun early in childhood rather than Charles G. Irvin, Allen J. Dozor, Janet T. Holbrook. Effect of a Soy Isoflavone Supple-
ment on Lung Function and Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Poorly Controlled
waiting until adolescence or later. Asthma. JAMA, 2015; 313 (20): 2033.
Making the best of it, Dr. Smith said his
study “highlights the importance of focusing “Soy supplements don't improve asthma, study concludes.” ScienceDaily, 26 May
on overall health to manage disease, rather than 2015. sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150526124809.htm
individual strategies such as increasing soy epa.gov/asthma/pdfs/asthma_fact_sheet_en.pdf.

FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY KIDNEY STONES BLAMED ON EXCESSIVE TOFU

Doctors in China have removed four hundred twenty kidney stones from a man's body, blaming an excessive amount
of tofu in his daily diet.
Mr. He from Zhejiang Province in eastern China, checked into the Dongyang People's Hospital complaining of intense
pain in his abdomen last month. A CT scan revealed that his left kidney was packed full of stones, most of them tiny. Doc-
tors operated in an agonizing procedure that lasted about two hours.
Mr He said he had a history of suffering from kidney stones. Twenty years ago he had ten stones removed using a
procedure called lithotripsy, which sends shock waves to break up stones in the kidney, bladder, or ureter until they are
small enough to pass in the urine. "I have worked as a doctor for thirty years and have never seen so many stones," said
Zhou Changchun, the attending surgeon, according to state newspaper Qianjiang Evening Post.
The unusually high number of stones was attributed to the high concentration of gypsum tofu, a popular local food, in
Mr. He's diet. The tofu contains calcium sulphate, which cannot be expelled from the body without a sufficient intake of
water. Tofu, like all soy products, is also high in oxalic acid, which can cause kidney stones.
Wei Yubin, the chief surgeon, said that the kidney would have stopped working had Mr. He delayed seeking medical
attention any longer, and the kidney most likely removed.

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