Wisdom Wednesday!!

In my home we drink Rice Milk. We don't drink Cow's Milk. When people find out that we drink Rice Milk two questions are asked; "Why do you drink Rice Milk and not Soy Milk?" and "What is wrong with Cow's milk?" Today I am going to talk about the first question. Next week I'll talk about the second. I feel that I need to address Rice Milk vs. Soy Milk first. Over the past two weeks I've talk to several people about Soy and Rice milk and I've found that people just don't know the differences and the problems that are there with both.

First I'll talk about Rice Milk. I've found that most people don't like rice milk because of it's flavor. I don't mind it. My children love it. I use it in baking, cooking, and not really for drinking, though I will allow my children to have a glass every once in a while. There really isn't much to rice milk. You can even make it at home pretty easily, so I've read. There isn't a lot of vitamins and nutrients so when it is made they fortify it, add vitamins and minerals to it. So if you do make it at home it won't have the extra nutrients in it. Also if you are switching from Cow's milk to Rice milk you need to make sure and change your diet too so you are still getting the calcium and vitamin D you need from other sources/foods. Especially when switching your children. I like the brand Rice Dream for a few of reasons, it is made with brown rice so it does have a little more nutrients than those made from white rice, I can buy it for half the price at Costco, and it is so much better for you than Soy milk.

And with that we can switch gears and talk about Soy milk.

I find more and more people are switching from Cow's milk to Soy milk. It's thicker and more creamy than Rice milk and some say it has a better flavor. It's a good thing that they are no longer drinking Cow's milk, but most people don't know enough about Soy to make a really informed decision about it. Hopefully I can help.

There are several problems with Soy milk. The first problem that I tell people about is the high amounts of estrogen that it contains. Actually in soy it is called 'isoflavones' which is a chemical similar to estrogen. There is so much of it in Soy milk that if a women consumed 2 glasses of Soy milk every day for 30 days it could alter her menstrual cycle! That to me is a ton! Research has suggested that isoflavones are linked to prevention of many cancers and heat disease and that is one reason why the media is telling everyone to drink lots of soy. But in my opinion the side affects out way the benefits. You can go here to see more studies done with this.

The soybean itself starts off with problems. It contains an anti-nutrient called "phytic acid". All beans have this but soybeans have a higher level and they are very resistant to phytic-reducing techniques. It is called the anti-nutrient because it blocks the absorption of some minerals like magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc. So right there are two reasons why you should especially not give Soy to children. But there is more. Soybeans contain enzyme inhibitors, Trypsin. They block the uptake of enzymes your body needs for protein digestion. The cooking process that they use for Soybeans does not deactivate these inhibitors which can lead to chronic deficiencies and low amino acid absorption. The list really does go on from here. Soybeans also contain "hemagglutinin" which is a clot promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together. Both Hemagglutinin and Trypsin are growth inhibitors. In a study on rats that were fed Soy containing these anti nutrients the rats did not grow normally. Now on the good side when they ferment the Soybean it does deactivate hemagglutinin and the enzyme inhibitors but the Soybean is not fermented before cooked when making Soy milk. Soy also contains "goitrogens" which is a substance that depresses thyroid function. Last week I talked about pesticides. Over 90% of soy is genetically modified and it has the highest percentages of pesticide contamination of any of the foods that we eat. There is more but I think you get the picture. You can do more research on your own if you would like to. Here is a list of some of the sites I've looked at.

www.healingcrow.com/soy/soy.html

www.coffeetea.about.com/od/health/a/soymilk.htm

www.answers.com/topic/soy-milk-1

www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/soy.htm