Must read: The Male Depression and Suicide Epidemic: Is Soy Lowering Testosterone? by Nicola Molloy 2/2

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http://www.angelfire.com/nm2/nmolloy/suicide.html

 

Is any food without soy?Fifteen breads in Auckland supermarkets were checked for soy flour. Only two were without soy, though both had separate “soy and linseed” loaves. According to New Zealand toxicologist Dr Mike Fitzpatrick (Fallon & Enig, 2006.), an infant fed exclusively on soy formula is given the equivalent of five contraceptive pills a day. Looking at how much is in a bottle of soy formula, one scoop to be made with water is 4.3g. If an infant has an average five bottles a day, this would mean 4.3 g equals one contraceptive pill each bottle. Two slices of bread contain approximately 4g of soy flour. So two pieces of bread equate approximately one contraceptive pill. This excess estrogen in men would replace testosterone and could bring on depression, and if deep enough possible suicide. However, soy in bread is not the only place soy appears. Margarine, baked goods, such as cakes and pies also contain it. Fast food is often cooked in soy oil as it is cheap and mass-produced using GE. Theodore Kay at Kyoto University found that the most potent goitrogens in soy, which depress the thyroid, aren’t removed by cooking. Even small amounts are able to disrupt thyroid function. Fallon and Enig say that low thyroid hormone can mimic psychiatric disease and “…severe hypothyroidism can bring memory loss, confusion, slowness, paranoid depression and even hallucinations “(Fallon & Enig, 2006.p3.). They also mention the brains of infant boys fed soy formula -- instead of maturing at that stage of life to develop masculine traits, which appear at puberty, they instead have a deficiency of male hormones and this retards the spatial perception and visual discrimination ability more acute in men, necessary for reading ability. They also say depression, extreme emotional behavior and thyroid disorders have been associated with being given soy formula (Fallon & Enig, 2006). Some US senators are making moves to have soy formula removed form the market because of these side effects. According to Kaayla Daniel PhD, soy protein was a waste product of soy oil, and given to animals, poultry and fish farms, but they started developing reproductive problems and so it was transferred to cheap dog food. (It is still in NZ pet food today). The soy industry was desperate to offload it as it had a lot left over. In 1975 a shrewd marketer hired by the soy industry said they had to improve soy’s image to get poor and middle class to buy products, so they marketed it as a “health food”. It is now found in 60% of foods in American supermarkets (Shugart, 2004). Strangely this coincides with an upsurge of male infertility and suicides due to depression since this time. According to APA Online, rats fed a soy rich diet were found to become more timid and anxious and spent less time jumping off a drop on a maze, than control rats who were bolder and did this more easily (APA Online, 2005). Marijuana lowers testosterone levels in men and raises them in women. If taken while pregnant the fetus has developmental difficulties as a child. (Marijuana-Detox.com, 2006). Studies in Australia and Sweden have found that marijuana can trigger depression. Other studies in Britain and New Zealand have found cannabis can cause schizophrenia, with the figures highest for those who used cannabis as a teenager before the brain had matured. UK studies found it can trigger severe mental illness and depression (BBC, 2006). According to Bodybuilding.com alcohol also lowers testosterone, which is well known to body builders as it reduces muscle mass by approximately 33%. It raises estrogen levels and basically turns men into women, by redistributing body fat to the traditional female areas. After getting drunk, testoserone levels may still not be back up to normal a week later (Goudie, 2006). This explains the sexual problems which plague heavy drinkers, because the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, adrenals all become stressed by alcohol lowering testosterone in men and impairing estrogen function in women (Avis, 1999).Alcohol while pregnant can also cause Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, leading to diminished cognitive ability in the fetus. In one study adolescents diagnosed with FAS, had an average IQ of 68. FAS is irreversible and severe in many cases (Avis, 1999).

 

Is there a suicide gene?

In post-mortems of suicides low supply of serotonin was found, as well as in hospitalized adults who had attempted it (Regush, 1997). He writes of an inherited gene variant found in people who were suicidal while drunk, and relating to low serotonin release in the frontal lobes. Stress has been shown to lower serotonin, and children who have had stressful/violent childhoods can develop permanently faulty brain chemistry, predisposing to violence. Other studies have found the gene, which keeps serotonin low, and stress in mothers while they are pregnant can disrupt brain circuit development in utero. (Regush, 1997). On Campbell Live 13 July, speaking to ALAC representative Dr Mike MacAvoy said that during the hour it takes to process one drink, in a pregnant woman, 15 million fetus brain cells are growing and this may be hindered by alcohol that passes into the fetus. Women drinking while pregnant affect 450 births each year in New Zealand. 40% are said to have had alcohol before pregnancy was detected and 13% drank while pregnant regardless (Campbell Live, 2006). TV1 News also stated that more than half of NZ women believe it’s OK to drink while pregnant. (TV1 News, 2006) USA and Canada guidelines and NZ Ministry of Health say to abstain from alcohol while pregnant. Australia and UK advocate a small amount of alcohol is alright for the fetus. Dr MacAvoy stated, ‘one wouldn’t give a newborn alcohol, so why give a developing fetus one?’ The reason why some women give birth to babies with mental disability and some don’t is whether the mother has a sensitivity to alcohol and some races do have a gene that shows the body cannot produce the enzymes to metabolize alcohol in the liver. These races are Maori, Australian Aborigine, American Indian, Oriental and Irish/Scots. These races can become alcoholics more easily because they cannot process alcohol. Tousignant writes that the use of drugs and alcohol is a way of committing a “slow death”, and looking at medical evidence on how these substances destroy the cognitive brain functioning, it may be due to diminishing reasoning ability, which may have previously stopped negative emotions, by acting as a brake. An American study found that spirits, not beer or wine correlated with increased suicide (Tousignant, 2006). Looking at European statistics on suicide, traditional wine drinking countries, namely Greece, Italy and Spain show lower suicide rates. The exception is France, which has a high suicide rate, but also a high marijuana rate (Drug Watch International, 2002).Maori have been in New Zealand up to 1000 years, whereas Europeans started coming to New Zealand 200 years ago, losing all their culture, which was never to been seen again unless they returned to the other side of the world. It cannot be assumed that rootlessness only appears Maori as spiritual unfulfilment, because of their loss of traditional land. Many Maori also have European blood, (even if a small amount) and rootlessness cannot be assumed to not factor in New Zealand non-Maori suicides from disconnection from ancestral lands, and ancestral memories leading to loss of identity for similar reasons also. Lawson-Te Aho has not mentioned European or other blood, which may be influential in Maori consciousness, only about their identity as Maori, knowing their Maori ancestry, and renewing only traditional Maori cultural activity. (Lawson-Te Aho, 1998). Though many Maori have intermarried with Europeans and contain some blood of the people who took their land. There is a tendency to downplay the influence of European genes in Maori, as a factor in loss of identity. Studies have shown that “rootlessness”, of urban Maori males is a “suicide risk factor” for Maori youth. Should common European ancestors be disposed of as latent genes because they once lived 12,000 miles away? Could reconnection with these lands also bring less “rootlessness”, from visiting there on holiday and reduce some suicide for both Maori and European New Zealanders? -- And also for that matter, for other non-indigenous people from former European colonies to visit their ancestral homelands? In South Africa studies have been done on suicide and black Africans rarely committed suicide, during apartheid. Since the election of a black government, other struggles have magnified such as finding jobs, homes, food etc. and now suicide in blacks is commonplace. Though South Africa is now the drugs capital of the world (South Africa The Truth, 2003). The enemy is gone, but now life is harder by becoming autonomous after suppression. Aborigines in Australia have not had a liberation movement, and therefore no belief that life could be better (Tatz, 2001). There has been no official apology from the government at mistreatment or Treaty to promise equality, as in New Zealand with Maori.

The Male Hormone Cycle.

Natural male hormones and resultant mood changes may be one factor in getting to understand why they become depressed, and adding complications from drugs alcohol and food further causes more change. Science has discovered testosterone levels oscillate every 15-20 minutes and follow daily, seasonal and annual rhythms. Jed Diamond wrote of a cycle may last a few minutes, a day, or a year, and there are cycles within cycles. Dr Cutler calls the rhythm the hormonal symphony of men. However unlike women, who have a 29.5 fertility cycle that harmonises with other women, studies have shown that men’s hormonal cycles are all unique to the male and different to other men. It’s possible men go through a mini PMS every 15-20 minutes and this can be influenced by how near a desirable sexual partner is (Diamond, 2004). Fluctuating hormones in males explain what is now called ‘irritable male syndrome’. Diamond claims that millions of men are depressed but don’t know it because they deny their feelings, by looking for solutions outside of themselves when painful feelings surface. Unresolved depression in men needs to be confronted, so anguish can be released and suicide not the quickest solution. The implications of low testosterone have major consequences. Even small amounts of soy are able to disrupt thyroid function. Low thyroid hormone can mimic psychiatric disease and “…severe hypothyroidism can bring memory loss, confusion, slowness, paranoid depression and even hallucinations, “(Fallon & Enig, 2006.p3.). The brains of infant boys fed soy formula have a deficiency of male hormones and this retards the spatial perception and visual discrimination ability more acute in men, necessary for literacy (Fallon & Enig, 2006). As alcohol lowers testosterone, it reduces muscle mass by approximately 33%, raising estrogen levels and distributing body fat to the traditional female areas. This is well known to body builders. After getting drunk, testosterone levels may still not be back up to normal a week later (Goudie, 2006).

Should soy be banned from food?

Is soy in the food chain causing worldwide depression in men leading to mass suicide? The lowering of testosterone, which powers enthusiasm, courage, strength and self-worth, is weakening men (Fallon & Enig, 2006). Rats fed a soy diet became more timid and anxious and wouldn’t jump off a maze, unlike control rats (APA Online, 2005). With a warning on foods containing soy, of female hormones contained, men can choose not to buy them. US Senators are trying to ban soy formula, because of severe reproductive problems resulting. Could this be done in NZ? Warnings on milk and wheat about glue ear, leading to deafness and learning disability could be helpful in many areas to males. Studies have shown removal of alcohol, marijuana, sugar and soy in the diet can lift depression. One study of people who consumed one drink a day and suffering from depression, found relief from it when abstinent for three months (Russell, 2006). Shomon says three to six months of a gluten free diet will cause thyroid antibodies to disappear (Shomon, 2006a). Many things can be done with diet to contain the factors, which can induce suicide, stemming from depression. Depression from low serotonin is especially significant for males because this can reduce testosterone production. Physical activity promotes the release of serotonin. As well, sunlight through the eyes can regulate melatonin, which affects serotonin, and then testosterone. (Francis-Cheung & Grey, 2002). Promotion of exercise, and sunlight for depression could go along way on TV ads. Promotion of the Maori phone help line, [Phone 0800 654 656] due to lack of funds, is not being done enough so potential suicides and support services can know about it. Leaflets need to be distributed in public places, especially bars so suicidal Maori men especially can find immediate help. (Rather than ring source to source from phone boxes trying to locate Maori counsellors, possibly after drinking.) A stick-on addition at page 6 in the new phone book (or fridge magnet) would help, rather than placing there Cornerstone Christian Helpline (no longer in operation) and a continually engaged Mensline. This sticker could be delivered to every house in Auckland twice yearly to allow people to keep the number fresh. Many factors can give a baby a rocky start, even in utero brain damage and mood disorders can be caused by the mother’s own hand from alcohol, drugs and eating soy unbalancing hormone development. Along with further learning hindrances after birth from glue ear, caused by wheat and milk allergies in some bringing under active thyroid, bringing depression and low-esteem resulting from low testosterone. Later soy formula, and bread containing soy can perpetuate disturbed glandular activities. If alcohol and cannabis are taken while teenagers, this can be a time bomb for mood disorders. Every day on average 2740 people commit suicide around the world, making one suicide every 40 seconds (Wikipedia, 2006). Most are male and mostly because of depression according to researchers. Cannot soy be eliminated from the food chain to begin one step in reversing the loss of males globally from the epidemic of suicide, which totals even more than deaths from murder and war? (Wikipedia, 2006).

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