Soy and weight gain
Dear Kaayla,
I’ve been drinking a soy protein shake every morning for breakfast. I have not increased the number of calories in my diet yet seem to be gaining weight. The only change in my diet is the soy yet I’m being told that soy helps you lose weight. What do you think?
JR
Dear JR,
Traditionally, the Chinese only ate only products made from whole soy beans. When the bean was split into oil and protein, the oil was used to fuel kerosene-type lamps and the soy protein was used as a fertilizer. It was only used for animal feed when the goal was to “fatten” the animals. Some brands of soy protein contain high levels of isoflavones. It only took 35 mg of isoflavones a day in a clinical trial to cause hypothyroidism in healthy Japanese men and women. Hypothyroidism means low thyroid function. This is likely to result in a loss of energy and weight gain, as well as other possible symptoms such as hair loss, depression, etc.