If you want to lower cholesterol without drugs, here’s how NOT to do it

Tofu? No thank you

What’s nearly as bad as taking a statin drug to lower cholesterol?

Tofu, believe it or not.

Headed for disaster

According to a new Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) study, eating soy is a good way to lower cholesterol.

Two words: NO WAY!

I’m not saying soy won’t lower your cholesterol — it probably will. But it’s a terrible way to do it…unless you want to risk cancer and nutrient deficiencies.

In the study, subjects lowered their LDL with a diet that included foods that are known to help lower cholesterol — oats, nuts, beans, peas, and soy proteins.

In this diet, subjects drank soy milk for breakfast, soy milk for a mid-morning snack, and tofu slices on oat-bran bread for lunch. For dinner, more tofu.

What a disaster!

Start with hexane. As MSNBC reports (with a breezy, oh-by-the-way comment in the very last paragraph), you should choose only organic tofu because the nonorganic variety contains hexane — a chemical used to separate soy proteins from soy fats. Unfortunately, hexane may promote cancer.

Okay — good tip, MSNBC. But why stop there?

As Dr. Spreen has pointed out, the phytates in soy block absorption of key minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, and zinc — and good luck maintaining optimum heart, bone, and cognitive health with a minimum of those three.

Phytates are deactivated in fermented soy, but that does NOT include tofu, textured soy protein, soy milk, and most other forms of soy.

Sally Fallon and Mary Enig of the Weston A. Price Foundation have studied soy extensively. They’ve found that soybeans contain components that promote the clotting of red blood cells, and other components that inhibit enzymes needed for protein digestion and amino acid uptake.

These are clearly not the elements of a healthy diet!

Attempting to lower cholesterol with nonorganic, unfermented soy products is just as ludicrous as taking a statin. The benefits are miniscule, which only magnifies the unnecessary risks.

Sources: 
“Effect of a Dietary Portfolio of Cholesterol-Lowering Foods Given at 2 Levels of Intensity of Dietary Advice on Serum Lipids in Hyperlipidemia” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 306, No. 8, August 24/31, 2011, jama.ama-assn.org

“Pill-free diet swaps to lower your cholesterol” Emily Main, MSNBC, 11/27/11, msnbc.msn.com

“The Ploy of Soy” Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., Weston A. Price Foundation, 1999, westonaprice.org