Ever since I had breast cancer, I've been a huge fan of soy sauce.
First off, soy isoflavones help prevent the recurrence of cancer. They signal the anti-cancer estrogen receptor, ER beta. The good estrogen. The “estrogen dominance” you would prefer to have.
During the diagnosis of breast cancer, I got advised by a naturopath, Dr. Steve Austin, who had written a book on breast cancer after his wife got it, and what to eat, to eat a lot of soy and a lot of olive oil to help prevent recurrences.
Also, way back then (almost 30 years ago now, wow) I reached out to Dr. Mark Messina, one of the world’s experts on soy, and he echoed these sentiments. Dr. Messina had been publishing data on soy in peer review for years. Dr. Messina said, "Soy protects against cancer and also against recurrences of cancer. Eat a lot of it!"
I dove into the literature and saw this was true, and much of the bias against soy comes from not reading the literature.
There really is no debate. The more soy you eat, the more women are protected against "all" hormonally driven cancers. And recurrences.
So, after my breast cancer diagnosis, I ate a tube of NON-GMO, organic soy, a day. And, also took Haelan 951, which was a concentrated soy, for a year.
I wrote a well-cited chapter on soy isoflavones protection against hormone-type cancer, in my gut textbook, which I have sadly yet not finished. (bad me).
Soy sauce is also very Unami. It is high in that savory newest flavor. Thus, I use it often in cooking. Not everybody likes savory. Do you?
Soy sauce is also a fermented food. So, adding soy adds the positive benefits of fermented food. Meaning it tamps down nasty inflammation.
Fermenting also alters the proteins, so many who are ‘reactive’ to soy, often due to it’s proteins, may not be to soy sauce. Proteins are altered by fermentation, making these proteins most of the time, much “less” allergenic.
Soy sauce “deepens” the flavors of whatever you put it in.
Now, researchers have discovered the exact healthy 50 proteins and other compounds that give soy sauce its distinctive flavors. And benefits.
They have identified proteins and peptides that help make soy sauce salty, but also, so healthy.
Soy sauce is a fermented food. There is a microbial breakdown of proteins and other compounds, that happen over a long period of time in the fermentation process.
The fermenting of soy produces proline-modified dipeptides and other larger, newly identified proteins that enhance umami and other flavors. Plus, tamp down nasty pro-inflammatory cytokines that we do not want lurking inside us.
I suspect these constituents are also biome-boosting. This remains for kitchen scientists to yet prove.
One thing I've started to do is make my creamy dressing and eat it by the tablespoon! I have learned that up to 5 tablespoons a day of olive oil helps fight uric acid and boost heart health, so decided to make this mix and love it so much, I often consume several tablespoons a day.
Dr. B’s Fav Garlic Cream
I like to use entire bulb of garlic (yes, all the cloves). But how many cloves you choose to use it up to you.
In a vita mixer, cover all these cloves with olive oil, perhaps a quarter to a half inch above the cloves. Then add lemon juice, sometimes up to 4 lemons. The mixture varies as lemons and the taste of olive oil and even garlic varies depending on the months of harvesting.
Taste as you go and tweak as you need to.
To this base, add ½ to one tsp. of granulated garlic, 1 tsp. of soy sauce, 1 tsp. of organic dried parsley and some Real or Celtic salt and black pepper, and blend till everything is completely creamy.
Yum yum yum.
I use this for salad dressing, sauce over chicken or fish, or right out of the jar!
I’ve gotten into the habit of consuming it with a spoon by itself, right out of the jar!
I go through so much of this it’s hard to keep it in the fridge.
It’s a great tasting anti-aging, anti-uric acid, anti-vampire elixir.
NOTE: You will NOT like this if you do not like garlic.
No one has inched away from me at the gym, so think that all the lemon in it neutralizes the garlic odor.
However, there probably still will be no vampires at my casa.
Though, I do love vampires and the whole Bram Stoker vampire-protagonist-chronicle-type of scary fairy tales.
Realize that soy sauce is a fermented food.
Fermented foods help tamp down unhealthy pro-inflammatory cytokines.
So does soy sauce.
Soy sauce is not just a dash of flavor. It’s a health food.
And, it protects breasts!
Enjoy!
Dr. B.
Reference:
Sensoproteomic Discovery of Taste-Modulating Peptides and Taste Re-engineering of Soy Sauce. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2022; 70 (21): 6503
Wonderful, there is alot out there about soy not being so great. Stephanie Seneff talks about glyphosate alot! and I personally think that may be the worst thing about soy and many other things. Also if estrogen is out of balance I would rather bring all the other hormones up to balance everything. Mthx, as always. S
Wow! As an herbalist and FM practitioner, this one really blew my mind. Cannot wait to dig into the research and to make this only-for-garlic-lovers cream!!!
Thanks Dr. B ❤️