Dec 13 2006
Eating soy and Homosexuality
In a perfect malingering type of disinformation, a WorldNetDaily’s article, Soy is making kids ‘gay’, is full of mistakes, misconceptions, and red-neck-like statements:
“I have nothing against an occasional soy snack. Soy is nutritious and contains lots of good things. Unfortunately, when you eat or drink a lot of soy stuff, you’re also getting substantial quantities of estrogens.”
Ahhh…estrogen in soy? Sure, if you talk about phytoestrogen. Babyhopes.com explains the potential effect of soy:
“The type of phytoestrogen in soy is known as isoflavones. These isoflavones come in different forms and have different effects. Some may function similarly to estrogens in the body, producing a very weak effect compared to the real hormone. And others act as antiestrogens, to reduce the activity of estrogen. Evidence is growing that these phytoestrogens may help with menopausal symptoms, as well as inhibits cancer cell growth.
In fact, TransHealth.com, an online magazine for transsexual and transgendered people states:
“It has been speculated that a diet high in soy can have hormonally feminizing effects. This has almost no basis in fact, and really, makes very little sense. The beneficial effects of dietary soy are more related to the fact that it inhibits the action of estrogen, not that it has estrogenic effects itself. These inhibitory effects seem to decrease the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) as well as breast and uterine cancer, but only when taken as part of a complete program.”
To make things worse, the WorldNet article says that soy sauce is okay, “Unlike soy milk, it’s perfectly safe because it’s fermented”, which is completely false. Soy sauce indeed does not contain phytoestrogen because “since it’s the protein portion of soy that contains the phytoestrogens […] soy sauce does not contain phytoestrogens” (Babyhopes.com). The article quotes no studies, bases itself on no fact whatsoever. It is a pack of wrong information.
It is so pathetic, it’s hilarious. Anyway, what can you expect from a site that advertises the sale of a book entitled “Conservatives are from Mars, Liberals are from California”, and written by the Chairman of an outfit called Megashift Ministries?
9 responses so far
I’m still laughing.
Its hard not to at least take a closer look at the study, if there is any truth that the consumption of soy or any food for that matter may cause adverse reactions to our body… maybe that is part of the reason that food is regulated by governments etc. just like drugs (I am not saying drugs and foods are exactly the same) look a homeopaths they use alternative medicines that may or may not work. I think we (society) tend to look at things in only one light and when we hear or see things that we don’t agree with we find a web site or article to back up our belief great…but the internet is only as good as its source just like books… So all I am saying is that before we cute up some guy how might be onto something putting the homosexuality part aside, maybe more research should be put into disproving or proving the truth about soy and homosexuality
Dave,
I would have found it more credible if the gentleman had supported his argument with reference to specific research. After all, he is not a scientist.
You are right, though, that we should be concerned with what we eat and not to necessarily trust one view of things. Genetically Modified Foods, Foods with pesticides and hormones, although deemed “safe” may radically affect our bodies, and we still consume them. This is one of the reasons there is a trend –definitely more than a fad– towards organic foods.
While I too am skeptical, considering the source, he does have an annotated version of the article referencing studies and sources for his medical claims http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53507.
Does make me have to ask is there any validity to the health claims. The homosexuality thing is entirely irrelevant to me, the sexual orientation of others doesn’t matter to me. But the health claims, that’s another matter…
The whole concept of any food making a person gay is just stupid. This guy sounds like a religious fanatic playing off of peoples’ fears, preaching fire and brimstone and trying to back it up with made-up “facts.” Unfortunately, my husband is one of the gulible and fearful in this situation, and is now very concerned that our 3 month old son, who has to have soy because of an allergy to cow’s milk, will turn out gay. Needless to say the whole concept annoys the heck out of me, and now I’m going to have to go to our pediatrician to disprove this rediculous theory for my husband.
Jen,
I’m sorry this is happening with you and your son. This concept is a little bit of the same thing as creationism. People use irrationality to explain something they don’t understand.
One of the things you might want to tell your husband is that homosexuality was prevalent from the times of the ancient Greeks and probably before, but that time was the first where it was really documented. It’s not a new “thing”, or a new “concept”. It’s been around for as long as prostitution has (I didn’t see the guy trying to find a food source for that problem).
What’s new(er) is that it’s talked about more openly — you noticed that this guy doesn’t talk about lesbianism either. Somehow, that seems to be okay or more acceptable. With gayness and straight men, the ick factor has a lot to do with their reaction to it (and for a lot of women, too).
There always have been reasons for discounting homosexuality as inherited. Before, it was because mothers coddling their sons too much made them sissies. Now it’s food. Next will probably be pesticides.
There is a strong suspicion that there is a genetic link to homosexuality with not one particular gene but a combination of genes that interact, although they suspect it’s not “hardwired”. In short, they’re not sure what’s going on, but none of the respectable medical community has ever connected any kind of food to homosexuality.
I hate to burst you ‘this is absurd’ balloon, but you may want to take a closer look at the Limbic System of the brain, and what allergies do to effect that part of the brain. It is responsible for many things, including emotions, sexual identity and more. I have two relatives, huge allergy sufferers and struggling with sexual identities.
p.
Do you mean to say that if they succeed in eradicating their allergies they’ll resolve their sexual identities? If I don’t eat soy, or drink milk, or eat mustard, which give me allergies, I’ll know better who I am sexually? Is this reversible? What if I suddenly acquire new allergies? Will that threaten my sexual identity?
Anything’s possible, I suppose, and it may very well be discovered that certain chemicals affect sexual orientation. On the other hand, homosexuality has been around for thousands of years and many of the chemicals we have today didn’t exist then. If we need to find a culprit, I’d be more inclined to look at what a mother ingested at the onset of her pregnancy (did she smoke, do drugs, eat too many strawberries?) when the fetus’s brain was developing.
I think that people respond to certain information in relation to the mental slides that are in their though processes. When an individual approaches information that is socially defined as ’sensitive matter’ the individual immediately responds through a mental slide that has a programmed conditioned response. So when conservatives or liberals make claims we respond to their information with the conditioned presuppositions that are already in our heads. That is why everyone hates religion and that is why religion is perceived to to disagree with everyone. Personally im quite tired of the apathetic religious responses that base their value on their cool cynicism and ability to reject anthing of doctrinal nature. With regards to the soy and homsexuality, where there is smoke there is fire!