Soy is as hot as the Okanagan in July, but the more investigation there is into the little legume, the more confused health-conscious consumers have a right to be. Backers say soy can do everything from reduce the risk of osteoporosis and certain cancers to ease menopausal symptoms; opponents say that such health claims are unsubstantiated and driven by a multibillion-dollar industry, and that the food poses dangers. Potential threats to her own well-being aren't enough to turn Vancouverite Janice Parker off tofurkey, however.

“Tofu is my source of protein,”  the furniture-industry sales representative told the Straight in a phone interview. “I eat at least one serving a day, in any shape or form....I'm premenopausal, and I've had very few...problems with hot flashes. I think that's because of my soy consumption. It's better than taking hormone-replacement therapy....I've been eating soy for so long, I think it has really helped me.

“There are health concerns about eating everything,”  Parker added. “It's probably the meat and poultry boards sending out that propaganda.” 

Nevertheless, with new””and conflicting””reports on soy coming out all the time, no wonder people trying to make healthy food choices are stumped.

Take just some of the inconsistent information to come out about soy recently. According to the April 5, 2006, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, soy might be linked to a slight reduction in the risk of breast cancer. The Bethesda, Maryland–based journal published a meta-analysis of 18 studies conducted between 1978 and 2004 on soy intake and breast-cancer risk.

However, because of inconsistencies in the studies examined, the authors advised caution, saying there isn't enough evidence to recommend soy supplementation as a means of preventing the disease.

The article also pointed out that soy contains the isoflavone genistein. A phytoestrogen, genistein mimics estrogen. Those estrogenic properties, the article noted, could theoretically enhance the risk of breast cancer.

Elsewhere, concerns have mounted over soy's potential hazards to human reproduction and development. Those fears prompted the North Carolina–based Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction to gather a panel of 14 independent scientists to look at genistein and soy formula.

In a summary of its March meeting, the expert panel concluded that it had “negligible”  concern about harmful effects on adults exposed to genistein, even though there is a “paucity”  of human data. Its remarks about the impact of soy formula on infants were inconclusive, saying there are “insufficient human or experimental animal data available”  to determine toxicity.

Furthermore, the American Heart Association decided in January that taking soy or isoflavone supplements is unlikely to reduce the risk of heart disease after its nutrition committee evaluated 22 studies from the late 1990s and early 2000s that looked at the impact of soy on cholesterol. The committee found that levels of low-density lipoprotein, or “bad”  cholesterol, decreased on average only by about three percent. The AHA also concluded that replacing foods that are high in animal fats with soy protein could still benefit heart health.

Whew.

Kay McQueen, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of B.C. & Yukon, says that the AHA's move isn't all bad news for tofu junkies. “I don't think it's fair to say it [soy] isn't beneficial,”  McQueen told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. “It's a good source of fibre, it has vitamins and minerals. The benefits are still very much there.”  She added that it's better to get soy through food sources than by popping supplements.

Andrea Holmes, a registered dietitian with Dial-a-Dietitian (604-732-9191, a free service), also sees the merits of soy.

“It hasn't been proven to be a miracle cure, but, in general, for a healthy person we recommend the addition of soy in a healthy diet,”  Holmes said on the line from her office. “Eating tofu instead of steak three times a week reduces the amount of saturated fat. It's a good source of protein as well as iron and zinc.” 

The soy frenzy in North America started gaining momentum once health nuts clued into the fact that Japanese are less likely to get certain kinds of cancer than North Americans and are also less likely to suffer heart attacks; people pointed to diet as a reasonable explanation.

Julie Moore, a naturopath at Vancouver's Sage Clinic, refutes this hypothesis, saying that South Asians””like the Okinawans, who have the longest lifespan on earth””eat specific kinds of fermented soy, such as natto and tempeh, and only in small amounts. She maintains that the processed soy that's so pervasive in western diets might not be as healthy as it's perceived to be.

“This is a major human experiment,”  Moore said in a phone interview. “We don't know the long-term effects; we don't know the generational effects.” 

The authors of SoyOnline Service (www .soyonlineservice.com/) would likely agree with Moore. They argue that soy leads to everything from stunted growth and infertility to thyroid cancer and pancreatic disorders.

Soy also has its detractors because of environmental issues. In 1996, biotech giant Monsanto introduced Roundup Ready soybeans, which are resistant to glyphosate, the main ingredient in a herbicide the company makes and markets under the name Roundup. According to Cornell University's Genetically Engineered Organisms–Public Issues Education Project, Roundup Ready soybeans are the most widely grown genetically engineered plant in the world.

Extreme anti-soy views aside, there's no denying the food's popularity. According to the Washington, D.C.–based Soyfoods Association of North America, 25 percent of Americans consume soy foods or drinks once a week or more. Sales of soy products hit US$3.9 billion in 2003, up from US$300 million in 1992. Between 2001 and 2004, food manufacturers introduced more than 1,600 new soy-based products.