Make that a stupid soy question for Cy Willson. But I know how you love stupid questions so. Really showing my ignorance here but, Soy Lecithin…is this estrogenic? What if it’s “GMO-Free”??? What’s GMO??? Thanks Cy. 
GMO-free or Non-GMO means theres no Genetically Modified Organisms (soy plants or whatever) in the product. Also Cy, since there is such a hoopla about the isoflavones in soy being destroyed by prossesing methods, do you think the small amount of soy in most protien bars has been prossesed enough to destroy the isoflavones making these bars safe for time pressed, hungry T-men to occasionally consume?
IMO, due to the extremely small quantities of lecithin a person might typically consume, the amount of isoflavones ingested if any would be insignificant (miniscule amount) compared to an actual soy food such as soy protein which would be consumed in quantities 1000’s of times larger. (How much lecithin were you planning on eating anyway?)
Thanks guys that was a big help.
Well I noticed that this is one of the ingredients in Udo’s Choice oil.
Speaking of which. I am on the supergroups mailing list and I was reading some very interesing information on fats. Not saying that their bad or anything just an arguement contrary to current beliefs. Almost heretical. But after reading the articles it’s hard to find any holes. It’s backed up quite well. If anyone is interested I could post the links and we could start a little discussion on it?
Post the link. I’d love to read it.
I’d like to see that article, sounds interesting. Post it when you can.
Let me throw in another soy question to you guys:
We’ve talked about how bad soy is for us, but what about for women? If a woman is using soy to supplement daily protein intake does it have the same negative effects?
aikigreg, theoretically, soy leads to more estrogen, more estrogen leads to water retention, weight gain (hips, thighs and buttocks esp.) and could increase the the chances of breast cancer in women. The other theory that the soy estrogen is weaker and blocks E at the receptor makes me uncomfortble as well because of the hormonal imbalances that are possible. That’s my opinion on the second point and I have no imperical evidence on it. The soy article that has been posted recently has links to other articles that are far better referenced than I am ;).
Do you still have the link on the fat article? I was interested on their take.
Okay great, glad there is interest. I’m going to find the link right now. Should be here in a few.
The link is below. Actually went I went back and looked and found that there was more than one link(in the letter) this one however has links to all the articles. I have so far read “The Skinny on Fats” & “Cholesteral And Heart Disease-A Phony Issue”. Now I have to go read the rest. Arrrrh. Maybe we should all start off on “The Skinny on Fats” so we are all on the same page? Let me know if the link gives you troubles.
www.westonaprice.org/ facts_about_fats/facts_about_fats.html
One note some of the articles are long and go thru several links(parts) of there own. Have fun.
Attached is a link to an article about dietary fats that won an award for best science article from some organiztion (can’t remember which). Anyway the gist of the article is that there is no hard evidence linking saturated fat intake with heart disease and that current government dietary recommendations are a result of the politization of nutrition. The USDA food prymiad was developed by the Secretary of that department with input from a few zealous scientists influenced by the Pritikin diet. The USDA ignored the recommendations of the National Academy of Scientists that there was no proven link between saturated fat intake and heart disease. Here’s the address:
Apparently that link didn’t work. Here’s another one:
http://nasw.org/mem-maint/ awards/01Taubesarticle1.html
The article is called “The Soft Science of Dietary Fat”, originally published in Science Magazine. The author’s name is Gary Taubes and he won the Science in Society Journalism Award in 2001 for the best magazine article from the National Association of Science Writers, Inc.
Soy lecithin isn’t something you need to worry about. When I talk about soy, I’m talking about relatively large amounts. In other words, using a soy protein supplement or eating tofu, or eating food products that are primarily composed of soy protein concentrate. Things like soy sauce, soy lecithin, aren’t things that I’d worry about. As for those bars out there, I personally avoid those that list soy protein as the first ingredient or the first type of protein in terms of content. A bar every once in a while shouldn’t be that bad of thing, it’s chronic consumption that does the trick with most things. IN fact, at last years Arnold Classic, I ate one of the best tasting bars I’ve ever had and it contained soy protein isolate. Really cheap too. Of course, this was after John Berardi called me a pussy for not giving a try. But would I eat them every day? Nope! I’d rather eat something that tastes “ok” yet meets my standards in terms of having no soy protein.
Nobody ever seems to mention that soy lecithin is a major source of phosphatadylcholine (PC), an important phospholipid in the structure of cell membranes. It appears that PC is good for you, and the problems associated with soy PROTEIN don’t seem to apply. PC seems to have a good a effect on the liver, cell membranes and there is some theories it helps with memory (brain cell membranes I guess.) You want to avoid cheap PC, since it can have lots of pesticides from the soy plant. Maybe you can find some organic lecithin. Frankly, I buy my lecithin dry, labeled as phosphatadylcholine (from lecithin.) Don’t waste your time with the liquid lecithin. IMHO, it can’t be used for much of anything. Does anybody else have some more up to date info on lecithin and PC?
Thanks Steve but that link doesn’t work either. Heheh.
Thanks Cy. Also did you get a chance to view the articles on fats I posted? I am interested in your input too. If it’s not too much to ask. Thanks bud.
I’ve come across that site about fats before (had it bookmarked). I do believe what they’re saying is true, that saturated fat is not the cause of heart attacks, and while I can’t say for sure, it’s more likely related to trans-fats (or possibly related to syndrome X). However, as for bodybuilding, I still don’t think a case could be made to change our type of fat consumption. Eat lots of monos (raises T), and balance your ratio of Omega-3’s with Omega-6’s. Even though there may be no health risk, saturates still cause a decline in insulin sensitivity and so are best only consumed in smaller amounts. -My two cents. (oh yeah, and stay the hell away from hydrogenated oils)
Thanks for the reply. I agree with what your saying. I know any trans fats are like poison. Stands to reason the more processed it is the less natural and the worse for you. I always forget saturated fat lowers insulin sensitivity. But I know Mauro Di Pasquale says saturated fats increase Testosterone levels. So good for a bulking cycle at anyrate. One other thing to consider about the article: saturated fats helping absorb EFA’s??? Which I know Udo says ain’t so. What do you think of that?
Nkeago, I took a fairly brief look at the site and they have some valid points, but some of the things they say, I don’t tend to agree with. My personal thought is that you should supplement with EPA/DHA, and then try to get in a fair amount of monounsaturated fats from your diet. Omega 6 fatty acids aren’t something you need to worry about. Saturated fat, well I don’t think that fair increase in endogenous testosterone is worth it. It’s not something you need to totally avoid, but at the same time, not something you should try to consume a lot of, in my opinion. TFA’s, well yes, any hydrogenated fat is terribly bad for you.
Thanks for the input Cy. Right now I take Udo’s choice oil and I also eat flax seeds. I get plenty of olive oil when I eat tuna(plenty or Mercury too apparently). I don’t avoid saturated fat but I don’t go nuts either. I do try to avoid trans fats. But all in all I’m just on a see food diet right now. Mmmmmmmm food.