100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (91 page)

Perk #91

Free T-Shirts

I
pulled out my T-shirt drawer one

evening and realized that it is prac tically

bursting at the seams. I am not normally

a T-shirt gal, so it took me by surprise that

I have accumulated so many of these

garments. As I rifled through the drawer,

I came to realize a perk: Many of these

T-shirts came to me FREE for participating

in cancer survivor events such as retreats,

the Relay for Life and the Run for the Cure.

In some cases, I got two T-shirts for the

same event: the standard white participant one and the coveted survivors

T-shirt (okay, maybe coveted is a bit strong of a word).

Although there is some controversy in the cancer world about the use

of the term
survivor
and what it means, there is no denying the special syn-

ergy that exists among the group who gets to wear the “coveted” T-shirt.

Having shared a similar experience, we feel an automatic kinship with

other survivors. (We also get to say,
Cancer . . . been there, done that, got

the T-shirt!
)

I am pretty sure that, as I walk or run the track wearing my survivors T-

shirt, spectators are looking at me and thinking,
Wow! Look at that cool yellow

T-shirt. All I got was a boring old white one. I wonder what I have to do to get to

wear the yellow one?
Well, probably they are not thinking that. But I am cer-

tain that at least some of the spectators are looking at me and thinking,

Wow! Look at my mom/sister/daughter/friend/girlfriend. She is a survivor!

Taking part in cancer survivor events can be a joyous experience. Allow

yourself to feel the special energy of being part of a survivors’ group.

I 383 J

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

HEALTH TIP #91

Is There Joy in Soy?

T
he three things you should never discuss at a party are religion, politics,

and soy. People have very definite opinions about whether soy is a savior

or the devil. Sometimes those opinions are based on misinformation or old

information. Let’s start with the basics.

The basic whole form of soy, the soybean, is a legume. But the magical

thing about this legume is that it’s one of the few plants that contain the

kinds of proteins our bodies need to survive. The protein profile for soy-

beans is very similar to that of meat, milk, and egg protein, but it’s a plant.

It’s inexpensive to grow, and there’s a lot of it on our planet. Studies con-

tinue to show that eating regular servings of soy will help lower cholesterol

and reduce the incidence of heart disease.

So what’s the problem? One of the big problems with soy is that the

soy protein contains phytoestrogens or “plant estrogens.” Soy protein

doesn’t contain the female hormone estrogen, per se, but substances in the

soy protein called isoflavones act like estrogens to weakly activate estrogen

receptors. In the general population, and in women who have never had

cancer, this is actually a good thing because the weak estrogens can block

the more potent “natural” estrogens that your body produces from binding

with receptors and causing a chemical reaction that may decrease risk of

hormone-related cancer. The isoflavones may also help to eliminate trapped

estrogens in the fat tissue, which is another way to reduce cancer risk. Soy

also contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents that can reduce

your risk of cancer in general. So when used in moderation and taken in

the right form, it can be a great part of a healthy diet.

But for those with hormone-related cancers like breast and endometrial

cancers, it would make sense that the action of the isoflavones activating

the receptors would put that population at an increased risk for cancer recur-

rence. Early animal studies confirmed this. For this reason, most oncologists

have told their patients with hormone-related cancers to steer clear of all

soy products.

Perk #91: Free T-Shirts

385

That belief is being challenged by a number of studies, the latest being

a 2012 study published in the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
which

analyzed data from three separate studies that looked at the diets of over

9,000 women in America and China. They concluded that the data from

the studies show that for women who have had ER (estrogen-receptor) pos-

itive cancer, those who consumed 10 mg per day or more of soy isoflavones

had a 25 percent
lowered risk
of breast cancer recurrence. (Just for compar-

ison, three ounces of soymilk contains 10 mg of isoflavones and three grams

of total protein.) This result was not affected by taking the estrogen-blocking

drug Tamoxifen. ER negative women showed an even greater benefit with

a larger reduction in risk.

So just to recap: Women with a history of breast cancer ate soy and

reduced
their risk of getting cancer again. But before you go “tofu-loco” on

me, researchers caution that this study needs to be repeated and verified, as

it was a study that gathered its data from three other studies. More questions

are always raised with huge claims like this. One of the questions has to do

with the diets of the women as children. It is hypothesized that women who

grow up eating soy as children react differently to dietary soy than those to

whom soy is new. And the minimum amounts of soy protein were noted

to be no less than10 mg per day, but can you eat too much? And what kind

of soy protein were they eating? There are many different forms of soy:

whole, fermented, and processed.

Processing
is a broad term, but it really just means taking something

healthy and then grinding it, heating it, separating it by use of chemicals,

kicking the crap out of it, and turning it into another substance to be

used with other chemicals that will be sold to you as food. Since the

main attraction of soy is its protein, this is the part that manufacturers

use. The soybean can be put through a process that breaks it into parts

and isolates the soy proteins from the carbs and fats. These are called
soy

protein isolates
and they are chemically derived—that is, chemicals are

used to separate the different parts of the soy. You will find soy isolates

in breakfast bars, breads, energy bars, and many frozen foods. They are

hard to avoid in most packaged foods, and, if you start reading some of

the labels in your pantry right now, I think you’d be surprised where

they’re hiding. Bodybuilders use soy isolates in powdered form to make

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

“high-protein shakes,” and they are widely used in high-calorie supple-

ment drinks. Anywhere manufacturers want to add protein to their prod-

uct, they add soy isolates.

Manufacturers can also “hydrolyze” the protein to make
hydrolyzed soy

protein,
which is very similar to harmful monosodium glutamate (MSG).

Again, using chemicals (hydrochloric acid, to be precise) to complete the

process, this substance is about as far from the soybean as you can get.

Hydrolyzed soy protein and soy isolates both contain glutamates. Gluta-

mates affect brain function and cause other neurological symptoms, and,

for this reason, glutamates like MSG, soy isolates, and hydrolyzed soy con-

tinue to be studied for safety. Soy can also be processed into pills. Supple-

ments in pill form contain extremely high levels of hormonelike isoflavones

and all populations, even those who have never had cancer, are generally

discouraged from taking them.

There are other soy foods that are highly processed as well. Soymilk,

tofu, and soy cheeses, while not processed to the extent of the soy proteins,

still may cause concern. Some state that processed raw soy foods like these

contain substances that can block proper vitamin absorption and actually

increase your risk for cancer. Only the fermented soy products like soybean

miso, tempeh, and natto are beneficial and safe and seemingly have no

harmful hormone effects. Fermenting uses the whole soybean and no chem-

icals for processing. The use of yeasts and fungus alters the protein over time

so it becomes healthier for you overall and much easier to digest.

Researchers are always studying the Asian diet because Asians are

among those with the lowest incidences of cancer. But when we look at

the typical Asian diet, they only eat one serving of soy products per day,

which adds up to about 30 mg of isoflavones. The type of soy is usually

fermented soy like in soybean miso (miso soup) or tempeh. If they eat

tofu, it is a small sliver in soup or small cubes in stir-fry. They don’t eat

massive “veggie soy burgers,” they don’t drink soymilk (they don’t drink

ANY milk actually), and they certainly don’t mix up powdered soy isolate

megapower shakes!

Aside from the hormone and processing issues, another consideration

is that soybeans used in making the soy isolates and proteins are all sprayed

to the max with pesticides and are GMOs, or genetically modified organ-

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387

isms. Genetic makeup of crops can be modified to make the plant grow

bigger, be more resistant to bacteria or viruses, or be resistant to insects. A

full 90 percent of all soy products used in the United States are GMOs.

(Soybeans were the first GMO mass-produced crop in the mid-1990s.)

GMO crops continue to remain under scrutiny for health concerns related

to “gene transfer.” When GMO foods are eaten, they are absorbed into the

gastro intestinal tract. If the food was genetically modified to be resistant

to bacteria, for example, that resistance could be transferred

to the cells in your GI tract. This could mean problems in

There’s lots of crap

your gut, as the human body relies on certain “good” bacteria

flying around about

to maintain balance in your digestive system. Even when you