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How Good Is Soy? By Laura Lane WebMD Medical News June 26, 2000 -- Awakening to the sound of a whirring blender and the sharp scent of fresh soybeans on Saturday mornings meant only one thing: a breakfast of Grandma's warm, sweet soy milk. I loved to sit and watch as she squeezed the milk out of ground soybeans wrapped in a cheesecloth. Countless glasses later, I discovered that soy milk has a lot more to offer than fond childhood memories. Packed in every yellow bean are estrogen-like molecules, called isoflavones, which may help fight heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, and other diseases. Based on just some of the latest findings, the Food and Drug Administration last year gave food makers permission to extol soy's cholesterol-lowering prowess on package labels. That's great, if you happen to believe soy is a healthy choice for everyone. But with soy showing up in everything from breakfast cereal and pasta to energy bars and smoothies, some researchers now worry that too much of a good thing could be harmful. "People ought to know that there ain't no free lunch," says Lon White, MD, MPH, senior neuroepidemiologist at the University of Hawaii. "At some point -- if these molecules are as potent as [we think] they are -- there will be potent [adverse] effects." White, for one, worries that soy may speed the aging of brain cells. He recently found evidence that the brains of elderly people who ate tofu at least twice a week for 30 years were aging faster than normal. Tests designed to assess memory and analytical ability showed that their brains functioned as if they were four years older than their actual age, White says of his study published in the April 2000 issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Another fear is that the estrogen-like substances in soy may dampen the function of the thyroid. Consuming 40 milligrams of isoflavones a day can slow the production of thyroid hormone, says Larrian Gillespie, MD, author of The Menopause Diet and The Goddess Diet. (One tablespoon of soy powder contains about 25 milligrams of isoflavones, while most isoflavone supplements come in 40-milligram pills.) According to Gillespie, within a few weeks of regularly consuming 40 milligrams of isoflavones, some women feel fatigued, constipated, and achy all over. Some also gain weight and have heavier menstrual periods. Menopausal women are at particular risk, since they're already prone to hypothyroidism. "Women think it's because of hormones and don't realize they're symptoms of hypothyroidism," Gillespie says. "Once they stop the soy, they say, 'I'm feeling fine again.' " Soy's Not All Bad But if some studies point to dangers from soy, others suggest important benefits. For instance, isoflavones may prevent the growth of estrogen-dependent breast cancer cells, according to findings published in the March 2000 issue of the journal Cancer Research. That's because isoflavones appear to encourage the body to break down estrogen more quickly -- before it can stimulate cancer cells to grow. Instead of lingering in the blood, bits and pieces of estrogen molecules wind up in the urine. Isoflavones can also slow prostate cancer cells from growing, according to a study published in the June 2000 issue of the International Journal of Oncology. Other studies hint that eating soy may help prevent heart disease, endometriosis, and even osteoporosis in women, Gillespie says. However, if you think you may have any of these conditions, see your doctor before making any substantive changes to your diet. Soy's biggest impact is on cholesterol levels, according to a mound of studies. One published in the December 1998 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that men who ate a low-fat diet and relied on soy as their main protein source for five weeks saw their "bad" (LDL) cholesterol levels decrease by as much as 14% and their "good" (HDL) levels increase by as much as 8%. Men who ate a low-fat diet but instead relied on meat as protein also saw their cholesterol levels significantly improve, though not as much as the soy-eaters. And eating soy helps to replace animal products, which are loaded with saturated fats and cholesterol, says nutritionist Mark Messina, PhD, author of The Simple Soybean and Your Health. In the Kitchen So what's the verdict on soy? Health experts say that although there's no need to give up your favorite frosty shake made with soft tofu, frozen strawberries, and a dab of honey, you may not want to eat soy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yet there's nothing wrong with incorporating soy into a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Messina, for instance, recommends a daily serving of soy: perhaps 1 cup of soy milk or 3 to 4 ounces of tofu. "If 20 years from now researchers don't find any benefits to soy, then you've lost nothing," Messina says. "If they do find some benefits, then you've got a great trade-off." As for my grandma, she successfully fought off breast cancer at the age of 80, and she couldn't be healthier now at 93. She still memorizes Bible passages and spends afternoons sweating to the beat of an exercise video. Researchers can't tell her what role, if any, soy has played in her life and health. It doesn't, however, seem to have done her any harm. Laura Lane is an associate editor at WebMD and has a master's in biological sciences from Stanford University. Her work has also appeared in the Dallas Morning News, the Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter, CNN Interactive, Healthy Living Magazine, and Shape magazine. For More Information From WebMD Soy for Health with Lila Ojeda, RD Managing Soy

Thinking Pain Away By Daryn Eller WebMD Medical News Reviewed by Jeannie Brewer, MD July 3, 2000 -- When 10-year-old Amanda Mellencamp recently awoke in the middle of the night complaining of a tummy ache, her mother Ann didn't offer her Pepto-Bismol or simply invite her to snuggle up. Instead, she made a rather unorthodox suggestion: "Why don't you practice your imagery?" she asked. So Amanda did. First she pictured a big, orange balloon inflating in her stomach and causing her stomach to hurt. Then she imagined herself drinking hot cinnamon tea to melt the balloon. As the imaginary balloon slowly disappeared, so did Amanda's pain. Twenty minutes later she was fast asleep, and the next day she felt fine. Amanda is one of a growing number of children who are using mind-body techniques like guided imagery to cope with physical ailments. These therapies have become increasingly popular with adults in the past few years; now researchers are examining how well they might work with kids. In fact, some experts say that kids may be even better than adults at using their imaginations to ease pain. "Adults will say, 'What do you mean there's a kitten? I don't see a kitten,' " says Susan J. Nathan, a Laguna Hills, Calif., psychologist who specializes in guided imagery. "Kids will jump right in and say, 'Oh yes, I see it -- and it has a white tail.' This type of play helps them relax, and we know that when people are in a relaxed state, they experience less pain." Amanda learned how to practice guided imagery and relaxation techniques as part of a University of Arizona study investigating how these therapies might relieve recurrent abdominal pain (RAP). The university recently won a $5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish the nation's first research center on alternative therapies for children. The RAP study is being run jointly by the university's Children's Research Center and the Program in Integrative Medicine, headed by Andrew Weil, MD. The Mind-Body Connection RAP afflicts as many as 5% of all kids and is notoriously difficult to cure. About half the cases can be attributed to treatable ailments like lactose intolerance, gastroesophageal reflux (known as heartburn in adults), and constipation, says William Cochran, MD, a pediatric gastroenterologist at the Geisinger Clinic in Danville, Penn. As for the other half, he says, it's difficult to tease out the cause. Many experts, though, believe that there are some psychological factors at work. "The cause probably has something to do with stress, which can affect the nerves connected to the intestines and cause cramping," says Thomas M. Ball, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Arizona and principal investigator of the study. That's one reason why researchers suspect that mind-body techniques might make a difference. Another is that guided imagery -- which can be as simple as visualizing a beautiful beach or as complex as picturing immune cells attacking cancer cells -- has already been used successfully to help people cope with various types of pain. For instance, among a group of 94 adult cancer patients, those who received imagery training reported less pain than those who didn't, according to a study published in the November 1995 issue of the journal Pain. What's more, a study in the October 1996 issue of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics found that guided imagery lowered postoperative pain in children. The use of guided imagery or relaxation techniques to treat the stubborn symptoms of RAP, however, has never been studied. Mysterious Pain Amanda became part of the University of Arizona study early this year. Her experience with RAP was fairly typical. She first suffered cramping and bloating last Thanksgiving weekend, then continued to have stomachaches once or twice a week. Several weeks later she started having pain every other day. "It really began to dig into her activities like Girl Scouts and gymnastics," says Ann Mellencamp. "She used to love to go to sleepovers, but now she's more reluctant." When a battery of tests ruled out the usual suspects, Amanda was diagnosed with RAP and referred to the researchers at the University of Arizona. During the study, the children have four sessions with a health psychologist. Half of them learn deep-breathing relaxation techniques, while the other half are schooled in guided imagery and muscle relaxation. The children are then instructed to practice the guided imagery twice a day, every day, and during times of distress. They also keep a diary of their daily occurrences of pain. "The daily practice is aimed at preventing abdominal pain, but they can also use guided imagery to cope when they get in a stressful situation and have the pain," Ball says. Exactly how it works is uncertain, he says, but it may be that stress inhibits food from moving smoothly through the digestive system, and that relaxation techniques, by relieving the stress, may ease digestion and thus ease the pain, too. Based on his own experience treating RAP, Cochran -- who sometimes refers patients to therapists who teach them relaxation techniques -- thinks the Arizona study makes a lot of sense. "It's a reasonable approach to treating RAP," he says. "I look forward to the results of the study." Since the study will continue through fall of 2001, the answers are still some time away. In the meantime, guided imagery may already be helping patients like Amanda. So far, the balloon-and-hot-tea scenario has been working pretty well for her. Her stomachaches occur less often now, and they upset her less because she knows how to cope. "Instead of crying," she says, "I'm taking care of the pain." Daryn Eller is a writer based in Venice, Calif. Her work has appeared in Health, Parenting, Self, and Fitness magazines. For More Information From WebMD Herbs for Kids Herbs for Kids: What's Safe, What's Not Tummy Aches: How to Know When There's a Problem Using Your Mind to Manage Symptoms of Chronic Illness The Mysterious "Medication" of Meditation

Life of the Party By Peter Jaret WebMD Medical News What's the key to a long life? After years of working with older people, gerontologist Thomas Glass knew the answer wasn't simply good health. "There are people who seem relatively healthy who die in their 60s," says Glass, an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. "There are others with all kinds of chronic diseases who make it into their 80s and 90s," adds Glass. "The question is why?" In findings published in the August 1999 in the British Medical Journal, he and his colleagues came up with a surprising answer. In a study of 2,761 people 65 and older who were followed for a period of 13 years, the researchers tracked participation in 14 activities, which included everything from swimming and brisk walking to shopping, doing volunteer work, and playing cards with the gang. They found that people who spent time in social activities -- volunteering, running errands, or getting together with friends -- fared just as well as those who spent the time exercising. "Social engagement was as strong as anything we found in determining longevity," says Glass. "It was stronger than things like blood pressure, cholesterol, or other measures of health." People Who Need People Dozens of findings over the past two decades have shown how important social connections can be. In another study, University of Michigan epidemiologist James House and his team interviewed and examined 2,754 adults over a period of nine to 12 years. Their results, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 1982, showed that men who reported more social relationships -- going to movies, church meetings, classes, or trips with friends or relatives, for example -- were significantly less likely to die during the study period. Socially active women also benefited, although not quite as dramatically. Marriage, too, turns out to have important health benefits. In the December 1999 issue of Neurology, researchers at Bordeaux University in France reported that among 2,800 volunteers followed over a five-year period, married people were one-third less likely than the never-married to develop Alzheimer's disease. Social Interaction and Immunity There are plenty of reasons why friends and loved ones may keep you healthy, experts say. A spouse can look after you when you get sick, for instance, which may mean a speedier recovery from serious illnesses. People with the support of friends or spouses typically feel a greater sense of self-esteem and so take better care of themselves by adopting a healthy lifestyle. A strong social network may also help reduce stress, and there's good evidence that psychological well-being can promote physical health. One way is by boosting the immune system, which wards off disease. "We've seen again and again that people who are lonely or socially isolated show signs of suppressed immunity," says Ohio State University immunologist Ronald Glaser, who along with his wife Janice Kiecolt-Glaser pioneered the study of how mental states affect the immune system. In a 1984 study published in the January-February issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, they found that patients who scored above the median level on loneliness tests had significantly fewer active natural killer cells -- cells that attack germs. Reach Out and Touch Someone Gerontologist Glass thinks the latest findings should alert us to the importance of being sociable. "As a society, we should be finding more ways for people, especially older people, to stay involved and active. At any age, we need to begin to think beyond the boundaries of the Stairmaster. "Physical fitness is important, but social engagement is turning out to be just as critical to longevity. What I tell people is, 'Find something you really like doing that involves other people, whether it's playing cards or walking in the mall.' Social engagement adds a sense of purpose to people's lives. It also seems to add years to those lives." Relateds: The Loneliness: Original WebMD member-written story