Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Hi all, I got this email this afternoon - not sure how true it is , but might be worth having a read of - not wanting to panic anyone - there are some interesting links at the bottom....

Soya - this is interesting, if you are not female, please give to those who
are.

In 1989, I graduated from high school in Texas and couldn't wait to hit the
big
college city. One of the changes I wanted to make was to eat healthier.

Once I moved to health-conscious Austin, Texas, I began to fortify my body
with
the best and healthiest foods I could find. Tofu was the main ingredient in
every healthy dish and I bought Soya milk almost every day.
I used it for everything from cereal to smoothies or just to drink for a
quick
snack. I bought soya muffins, miso soup with tofu, soyabeans, soybean
sprouts,
etc.

All the literature in all the health and fitness magazines said that soya
protected you against everything from heart disease to breast cancer.

It was the magical isoflavones, the estrogens-like hormones that all worked
to
help you stay young and healthy . I looked great, I was working out all the
time, but my menstrual cycle was off. At 20, I started taking birth control
pills to regulate my menstrual cycle. In addition to this I began to suffer
from
painful periods. I began to get puffy, it was as though I was losing my
muscle
tone. I began to suffer from depression and getting hot flashes. I mistook
all
this for PMS since my periods were irregular.

By the time I was 25, my periods were so bad I couldn't walk. The birth
control
pills never made them regular or less painful so I decided to stop taking
them.
I went on like this for another two years until I realized my pain wasn't
normal.

At 27, my gynaecologist found two cysts in my uterus. Both were the size of
tennis balls. I went through surgery to have them removed and thank God they
were benign. The gynaecologist told me to go back on birth control pills. I
didn't.

In 1998, he discovered a lump in my breast. Again, I went through surgery
and
again it was benign. In November 2000 my glands swelled up and my gums
became
inflamed. Thinking I had a tooth infection i went to the dentist who told me
that teeth were not the problem. After a dose of antibiotics the swelling
still
did not go down.

At this point I could feel a tiny nodule on the right side of my
neck. I told my mother I had thyroid trouble. She think I was being silly.
No
one in the family suffered from thyroid trouble. Going on a hunch I saw a
specialist who diagnosed me with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.

After a series of tests he told me it was cancer. My fianc� and I sat
stunned.
We were not prepared and I was so scared. We scheduled surgery right away.
The
specialist told us that it would only be after the operation that a
pathologist
would be able to tell us for sure if it was cancer.
They found a tumour at my right lobe composed of irregular cells and another
smaller tumour growing on the left, so the entire thyroid was removed.
They told me that after undergoing radioactive iodine I would be
safe and assured me that I could live a long life.

After treatment began to search for the cause of all these problems. I never
once thought it could be all the soya I had consumed for nearly ten years.

After all, soya is healthy. I came upon a web page that linked thyroid
problems
to soya intake and the conspiracy of soya marketed as a health food when in
fact
it is only a toxic by-product of the vegetable oil industry. This was
insane,
after all, the health and fitness magazines had said nothing about soya
being
harmful.

I visited a herbalist who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1985.
She informed me that soya was the culprit. She had a hysterectomy due to
cysts
and other uterine problems. A few months later another acquaintance who had
consumed soya came down with thyroid cancer. A girl in England I met through
the
internet in a thyroid cancer forum had just undergone surgery and she was
only
19.

What was going on????

Breast cancer is linked to estrogens. What mimics estrogens in the female
body,
SOYA! But I never suspected soya because until now I never once found a
single
article that stated soya could be dangerous. Women who took soya prior to
thyroid problems will continue to take it after if they are not aware of
what
soya actually does, what it contains and how it reacts in the female body. I
think this is the reason that women with thyroid cancer often develop breast
cancer later. My co-worker is big into soya and I see her losing hair and
gaining weight despite a walking workout during her break and after work,
and
apples and oranges for lunch.
She just had cysts removed from her uterus too. I warn her to stay off soya.
I
refer her to websites but until it is on the evening news on all four
networks,
women will suffer.

Since the thyroidectomy. I do not touch soya, haven't for two years.

Dear readers, please use my story in any way you can. There are so many
young
girls who are consuming soya because they think they are taking care of
themselves, and women taking soya because they want to be healthy.

It is so unfair that the information about the dangers of soya isn't more
widely
circulated. It is sad. There are many out there who feel this way and it is
a
terrible blow when you realize you are not as healthy as you thought and
that
the information that you depended on was wrong.

Some references.
http://www.haelan.co.uk/Wholefood-Soya.shtml

http://www.netlink.de/gen/Zeitung/2000/000813.html

http://www.biotech-info.net/soya.html

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