Q: I'm wondering why you include soy in the chocolates and sell it as a beneficial food. My understanding is that soy has a lot of health problems associated with it. Any comments? I'd love to enjoy the chocolates without fear of digestive complications.
W: We are aware of the studies and concerns regarding the safety of soy. If you probe the literature more thoroughly you will find that all of this negative data is in contention. Adverse effects are usually associated with high doses of soy. But one must keep in mind that any substance in high enough dose taken over an extended time is potentially toxic...including water and oxygen.
It is not our position to defend soy as a dietary mainstay. Nor is that our intention with any product we produce whether it contains soy or not. Freshness and variety are critical to health.
You can go on the Internet and plug in "soy benefits" and find a wealth of information.
For example, soy:
Lowers low-density lipoprotein (LDL) - "bad" cholesterol.
Boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol.
Decreases thrombosis (blood clotting).
Above 2 results reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Reduces plaque in arteries, improves blood pressure, increase brain and nerve-cell function and lowers high blood pressure.
Isoflavones and protein in soy provide antioxidants - neutralize free radicals
Lowers the incidence of dense breast tissue, which is considered a high risk for breast cancer.
Some studies have suggested that soy's estrogenic compounds might possibly interfere with hormone levels and actually encourage the growth of some estrogen-dependent breast tumors. Most of the original concerns about soy isoflavones such as daidzein and genistein focused on extracted and concentrated forms in soy supplements, not on whole soy foods. Further, one needs to take into account the dosage used in such studies. Even studies on isolated isoflavones at the optimal dosage have shown anti-carcinogenic effects. e.g. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention (Dec 2002) showed that soy isoflavones cause pre-cancerous prostate cancer cells to die in numbers five times greater than normal. This finding likely explains why soy-consuming Asian men, who get pre-cancerous cells at rates similar to US men, develop only 3.4 percent of the number of prostate cancers that US men do.
Similarly, according to researchers at three institutions - Cancer Research UK, London, National University of Singapore and the US National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD, reported that women consuming the most soy are a full 60 % less likely to have high-risk breast tissue than women eating the least soy. These studies proved conclusively that soy foods do not increase breast-cell proliferation.
Please be aware that Wysong is fundamentally an R and D firm that is staffed with scientists and doctors who are up to date on current scientific literature and constantly strive to translate this information to product development. We do not jump on "trends", instead our scientists study original research papers and data and translate that into effective products. We do understand that with a plethora of information readily available on the Internet, numerous "health letters" and health sites run by non-professionals, it does become easy for the lay person to get lost and misinterpret data and findings. Hence, always look for websites and companies that are actually run and staffed by scientists and doctors with an integrative approach to life, medicine and food. Signing up for our e-Health Letter will keep you abreast on the latest research and products, both in the field and at Wysong.
Most importantly, we not only use whole soy in our formulations, the levels used are optimized to deliver these positive health effects and would not nearly approach the levels used in any study that shows untoward effects. Particularly is this true in a snack such as our chocolates. I am sure you'll relish our flavonoid containing Dark Chocolate Therapy. Please let us know if we can be of further help.
