Can Soy Help Protect Against a Certain Type of Cancer?
The health benefits of soy have long been bandied back and forth between the medical and alternative health community. Some say that too much processed soy products can actually fuel certain types of hormonal cancer while others say that is not true. Some believe that only all natural forms of soy protein with no processing, such as the soybean itself or edamame have the said health benefits.
I tend to agree. Something about processed anything just isn’t right. Sure, it may taste great, but at the end of the day when you’re eating a compressed and highly processed form of any food, it tends to negate a lot of the health effects of the raw fruit or vegetable itself.
Well, there is a study which suggests that soy eaters are actually a bit more protected from lung cancer than non soy eaters. The rub here is the that soy eaters must eat unfermented sources of soy – which means as “unprocessed” as it can be.
What is it about pure, natural and unadulterated soy that can offer health benefits that may include protection against cancer? It’s a compound found in natural soy protein called isoflavones. These bioactive little organisms actually have been shown to slow cancer growth in petri dish experiments, making it an interesting theory that it can also help to slow cancer cell growth in the body.