A couple of days ago in this blog, in a discussion about vegans’ practices, I commented that soy and its products were very acid-forming, according to The Acid Alkaline Food Guide (Susan E. Brown, PhD and Larry Trivieri, Jr.), p. 143. Therefore they should not be part of an alkaline diet. Today in the email came an impeccably well-researched article from Dr. Robert O. Young, quoting meta-studies (the biggest cheeses in research as they summarize the data from case-control studies--smallest cheese--and whatever prospective studies--bigger cheeses--have been done when it comes to nutrition) that support a connection between intake of soy foods and low incidence of breast cancer.
Reasoning from these studies, Dr. Young said: “. . . soy protein is one of the leading anti-acid or alkalizing and therefore anti-carcinogenic foods being studied.” How does this jibe with Dr. Brown’s finding that soy foods are acid-forming?
It doesn’t. My guess is that as human psychology as usual plays a big role in health and disease, and because many of us have come to believe that plant foods are better for us than meats, soy has stepped in as a convenient source of protein. So my concern now is not so much “Who is right?” as to “What do my cells and I believe?” Built-up belief systems die slowly of their own weight. I like eating alkaline.
So I’ll go with Dr. Brown and not eat soy products until someone calls into question the whole process of looking at foods as acid-forming or alkaline-forming, and until the methodology of determining this is made clear, I’ll still regard Dr. Young as my favorite expert.
Today’s best meal, so far, has been a yam-and-apple soup, made with baked yams and a big apple, cut up, and pureed with the addition of cinnamon, sage, and coconut milk. Jack had toast with his.
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