Pancreatic Cancer and Soy Connection

Dear Friends,

   My friend Laura has been doing some research for a friend who is about 43, with 3 boys, 8, 10,12 in age. She has been having issues with acute pancreatitis and is one step away from pancreatic cancer. Her dad is a midwest farmer who has grown only GMO corn and GMO soy on his fields. I am betting that they are all Monsanto products. In addition the crops are heavily sprayed with horrendous pesticides.

   Anyway, I have been doing some research that I can send her about the dangers of soy and have found some interesting articles. I could not remember the name of the inhibitor, but it is called trypsin. Non GMO soy does not seem to cause as much harm. Surprised?

Truth: Soy foods contain trypsin inhibitors that inhibit protein digestion and affect pancreatic function. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors led to stunted growth and pancreatic disorders. Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D, needed for strong bones and normal growth. Phytic acid in soy foods results in reduced bioavailabilty of iron and zinc which are required for the health and development of the brain and nervous system. Soy also lacks cholesterol, likewise essential for the development of the brain and nervous system. Megadoses of phytoestrogens in soy formula have been implicated in the current trend toward increasingly premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded sexual development in boys. 

Myth: Soy estrogens (isoflavones) are good for you.

Truth: Soy isoflavones are phyto-endocrine disrupters. At dietary levels, they can prevent ovulation and stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Eating as little as 30 grams (about 4 tablespoons) of soy per day can result in hypothyroidism with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain and fatigue.

http://www.rethinkingcancer.org/resources/articles/myths-and-truths-about-soy.php

Also, Asians do consume soy, but not as meals, but rather condiments.

Genetic Modification

In 2007, the GMO Compass reported that soy lecithin, like many food products in American supermarkets, contained genetically modified soy. Genetically modified, or GM, foods are biotechnically changed to increase yields and resistance to herbicides and insects. Some health-food advocates and scientists have concerns with the potential long-term impact from eating genetically modified food. For example, a study published in the "Journal of Applied Toxicology" discovered that mice fed GM soybean developed a decrease in pancreatic function. Although the nutrition of the soy was not altered, the study showed that as few as five days of feeding GM food caused pancreatic cellular changes, which were reversed after 30 days of non-GM foods.

 Soy is not your friend and if you are a vegetarian, the truth is that meat, as bad as it may seem is less toxic than the soy you are consuming.  Please be sure to read the following articles on soy.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/524606-what-are-the-dangers-of-soy-lecithin-ingestion/#ixzz2LSSH9c7B

http://www.rethinkingcancer.org/resources/articles/myths-and-truths-about-soy.php

http://www.livestrong.com/article/524606-what-are-the-dangers-of-soy-lecithin-ingestion/#ixzz2LSSH9c7B

http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32326

Live long and prosper and to do that, avoid all soy and anything GMO like the plague!

 

Reflections on Brazil 2013 Part 3 by Tina Erwin

     
     

   These are my new Brazilian friends sharing a coke with me!
Food is expensive here and the cost is increasing as the city prepares for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. A simple lunch in a neighborhood restaurant with two people who only drank bottled water was over $50. We had three very simple appetizers and no dessert. In another all-you-can-eat restaurant in Copacabana, the fixed price all you can eat buffet was $250.00 (yes, that dollars.)--- for lunch --- We only did that once! (Check out the website for this restaurant:  Marius.com.br) Neighborhood markets for fruit, vegetables are really expensive. The only real buy was coffee, that amazingly delicious, aromatic, Arabica bean Brazilian coffee. It makes a gift that is always appreciated! Troy loved the restaurants. We had wonderful food!

        

This trip, we learned how to use the metro to navigate the city and some of the city busses. The metro here, unlike Singapore, is not air conditioned.
        [Copacabana Beach]

         Another interesting thing to address is the fact that no one feels that the tap water in Rio is safe to drink. Hence this country goes through mountains of bottled water. Imagine that you cannot serve ice, or iced tea or a glass of tap water. It must all be packaged. No wonder they have a fledgling recycling program. We used the tap water to brush teeth and bathe and never had a moment’s difficulty. 

         We also noticed that the United States is very ‘media self-centered’. We really have no idea what is going on in the rest of the world. While in Brazil, we watched CNN international because it was only global news. The United States didn’t receive any more news coverage than any other country. How different was the coverage? Consider that there was a world tour-wrestling match in Iran. Competitors from all over the world came to participate – including the US Men’s Wrestling Team. The coverage showed how warmly the US was received – in Iran! During that report, an Iranian movie critic reviewed the new Oscar winning movie Argo. It was fascinating to see the inaccuracies that he identified, from the Iranian point of view. But he wasn’t angry or critical – merely a bit bemused.
       [Non-GMO chocolate trees!]

         The Pope’s last day got 18 hours of coverage on CNN International. There was an entire week special that covered critical elections in Kenya and the affect on that area of the world.

         There was a very long, in depth report on Russian and African adoption by US families. It was a completely different view, offering perspectives from both sides of the controversy.

         Perhaps the one of most fascinating elements were the reporters themselves. These women were not models. Some were obviously overweight, and some did not have quite the polished delivery. Men and women of every race, class, and body type are out there reporting in each country of the world for CNN. In this country we seem to have to have only gorgeous handsome people provide the highly censored, sanitized and crafted ‘news’ information. Not that other counties and CNN Global don’t do the same thing, its simply that I enjoyed hearing about the weather in China and snowfalls in the Japanese Sakhalin Islands or southeast Asia. Learning about how people feel about Italian politics was amazing as well as how those bizarre elections affect all of Europe.
    [. . .more botanical garden shots]

        

Perhaps the most glaring observation was that we could more readily see through these news reports, how incredibly connected we all are to each other and how what one country does or doesn’t do affects us all. Maybe that’s the point of traveling.

         I noticed magazines in Portuguese teaching diabetics how to manage their illness. I observed more extremely expensive organic products beginning to line store shelves. Obesity isn’t quite the problem in Rio yet, but with aspartame packets, American diet soda in each store and GMO foods dominating Brazil agriculture – its sadly only a matter of time. This is especially critical in Brazil since this population is also battling the US scourge that is Monsanto. Monsanto has a huge presence in Brazil and Brazilian courts are now beginning to rule against this greedy company in favor of the farmers they have cheated. More and more lawsuits are being successfully waged against Monsanto in Brazilian courts. The last court case awarded Brazilian farmers 2 Billion dollars in damages against GMO seed.

         There was another story about Egypt and their loss of farming due to the civil war. Egypt now imports 70% of its food, where before this civil war, they were mostly self-supporting. We never hear anything like this on our stations, regardless of who is reporting.

         There is a gentleness here, an easygoing atmosphere of people simply living day-to-day. Brazilians love their beaches. They walk, jog, roller blade and bike along their gorgeous waterfronts. Those beautiful bodies, which enjoy the surf, are colorfully decked out in revealing suits, bronze bodies and hair that has escaped its bindings. There are endless games of volleyball, soccer volleyball (where you don’t use your hands) and just enjoying the sun in the hot sticky sky.

         As my taxi took me to the airport for the cool sum of $90 USD and Troy’s pricy taxi took him to his hotel to await his helo back to the rig, I reflected on my extreme good fortune at being able to make this trip and see another part of the world.

         As my big 767 jet lifted lightly off the ground,

I felt myself already wishing I could return to Rio. Away from it all, even for a few days is quite the restorative time. As the United jet headed across the rain forest into the inky night, I also marveled that you leave Rio at 10 pm Rio time and land in Houston at 5:30 am. That’s really pretty quick when you consider the 5820 miles that are traveled in a mere 10 hours of uncomfortable sleep. Sometimes as I drift off listening to the drone of the Rolls Royce engines in my plane, I think of the nightmare of the first settlers here encountered with the density of the rain forest. I imagine how impossible it would have been for them to grasp the size of the Rio area alone much less the whole country.

         If ever any of you have the opportunity to visit this glorious country filled with charming people, lush countryside, simply delicious food and gorgeous amethyst, blue and golden topaz and exotic tourmalines,

I hope you will take it!