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Little girls growing up on soy, play differently

The sex hormones are involved in tweaking brain development, turning a baby’s brain into a little girl brain. The phytoestrogens in soy, disturb this process.

The milk machine is just not keeping junior adequately nourished………..

It is time for PLAN B. Some kind of supplemental feeding. What should you choose ?

The shelves are full of options.

Often times, the product is selling you on the nutritional value. Extra this, extra that. But the one EXTRA ingredient that often flies under the radar, is the presence of phytoestrogens.

If the formula is soy-based, then it has phytoestrogens, lots of them.

Phytoestrogens ?

If you say, that sounds like estrogen, the chief “lady” hormone.

You’re right.

Soy comes packed full of plant (phyto) estrogens. The exact amount will vary, because just like humans, what a plant produces, varies based on “lifestyle”.   In the case of the plant, how hot it is, the soil conditions, the presence of nasty bugs, attempting to eat them, all impacts the chemicals they create.

Typically these chemicals are classified at GOOD – they’re anti-oxidants. The ones in soy plants, belong to a chemical group known as the isoflavones. Daidein and genistein are the two most well characterized of the soy isoflavones.

But, don’t get duped by the anti-oxidant label.

First and foremost they are estrogens

This means that inside our body, they are capable of binding to the same receptors as our own estrogens. In fact, they’re actually significantly better at doing this, than the estrogens our own body’s produce.

They bind better, they don’t always work better.

Sometimes they do – which is why post-menopausal women often supplement with soy-based products. They’re hoping to put back the estrogen that has “left the building” and avoid some of the problems that arise, when she goes missing. Sometimes they actually stop, our own estrogen from going about her business.

So why does this matter in junior ?

Estrogens don’t just build our lady parts, when we hit puberty.   In little ones, the sex hormones are involved in tweaking brain development, turning a baby’s brain into a little girl brain.

A little girl brain

Thinks differently from a little boy’s brain. This is why girls and boys behave differently.

And when little girls are exposed to soy…….. they play “differently”

This is what a group of researchers from the Gillings School of Global Public Health discovered, when they assessed the playing styles of 7076 pre-schoolers, at the age of 42 months and correlated this with their soy exposure.

The 3664 boys and 3412 girls in there study, were categorized as

• No exposure – if they had been primarily breast fed up to 6 months
• Early formula – if they had not received any soy-based formula before 4 months, but were formula fed, not breast fed
• Early exposure – if they had been fed a soy-based formula before 4 months
• Late exposure – if they had been fed a soy-based formula between 4 months and 15 months

Playing styles

Scientists have developed tools to help them monitor children’s playing styles. One of these tools is the pre-school activities inventory (PSAI), which asks “Moms” what toys, activities and characteristics, their little one exhibits.

There is no wrong or right answer to the test.

The final score reflects how girl-like or boy-like the little one’s brain is. And it isn’t a 100 % accurate, it can be influenced by lots of things, including Mom’s own perceptions, the presence or absence of a Daddy, a big brother or a big sister.

Girls typically score somewhere in the thirties and boys typically score somewhere in the sixties.

Brain’s on soy

In the case of little boys, the research team found no real differences in behaviours. Little boys, were little boys. Eish !

But, little girls who were started off on a soy-based formula scored a little higher, than little girls that had been breast fed or fed formula, that was not soy based.

They still had little girl brains. But, they were slightly less girley.

So what ?

A boy brain is an asset

Maybe this is a good thing ?

Let’s be honest, even if we don’t like to admit it, the world still seems to be stacked in favour of the male gender. Thinking a little bit more like a boy, might just help your little girl get ahead in the long run.

Yes, but……

It is a red flag.

It confirms that exposing little girls to phytoestrogens during their early development, is not innocuous. It has an effect…..

What else does it do ?

At this stage, we don’t have a clue. But, there are some rather ominous possibilities…………….. estrogen is THE CHIEF hormone of a lady.

She is involved in

• breast health,
• puberty,
• fertility,
• bone health,
• heart health

Foreign versus plant

BPA (bisphenol A), has been banned from baby bottles around the globe, because of it’s ability to mimic estrogen. BPA is classified as a xenoestrogen i.e. a foreign or man-made estrogen.

As an EXTRA estrogen, BPA is actually a wimp, it is not very potent. The phytoestrogens are significantly more capable of causing trouble. So why the discrimination ?

And underlying belief, that because it comes from a plant, it must be SAFE.

Natural does not mean SAFE

Don’t feed your little girl or little boy, a soy-based formula – there are other options, which will provide baby with the necessary nutrition, without exposing them to UNNATURAL levels of estrogen, at a time when baby is still developing.

Further reading

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