The following is an article that I scanned from the Jan/Feb 98 issue of
Health Magazine , page 17

Soy Formula
Bad for Babies?

CINCINNATI Infants raised on soy-based formula have much higher levels
of estrogen-like chemicals in their blood than babies fed either cow's
milk formula or human breast milk, a recent study suggests. Whether
those high levels are good, bad, or benign remains to be seen.
Plant hormones known as phyto-estrogens have lately made soy the bean to
beat among nutritionists. Growing evidence indicates the chemicals act
as weak estrogens in adults to help build bone, fight cancer, and even
quench the hot flashes of menopause.
But babies aren't tiny adults. Researchers well remember that the potent
estrogen diethylstil-bestrol (DES) caused reproductive problems and
cancers in women who had been exposed while in the womb. So biochemist
Kenneth Setchell at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati and
his colleagues compared phytoestrogen levels in blood samples from 21
infants. Not surprisingly, infants fed either breast or cow's milk had
very low levels of the chemicals in their blood. But those on soy
formula from birth had extremely high levels of the plant hormones
(which are admittedly much weaker than the human variety): 13,000 to
22,000 times higher than the average estrogen levels of babies their
age. That means the soy-fed tykes had six to 11 times the levels of
plant estrogens known to have hormonal effects in adults.
The study doesn't necessarily indicate a problem but does raise a red
flag, says Baltimore pediatrician Alan Lake, who has served on a panel
reviewing soy safety for the American Academy of Pediatrics. The academy
recommends soy for infants with confirmed allergies to milk or who are
diagnosed by a doctor as lactose intolerant or whose parents insist on a
vegan diet. "Except in those very limited cases," Lake says, "soy isn't
better."

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1998 HEALTH 17


--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cindy , RN, IBCLC  ~ Virginia , USA
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.erols.com/cindyrn