Which Diet Aggravates Your Joints

You’ve probably heard how soy is supposed to be one of the miracle additions for the diet. There is indeed ever-increasing evidence that adding whole soybean to the diet at the very least reduces human risk for some cancers: particularly breast and prostate. The phytoestrogens (literally estrogen-like compounds from plants) found abundantly in soy seem to counter some of the harsh effects of human estrogen.

Last winter I got indications that I needed to increase my protein intake. And recently I had heard new evidence that there are benefits for men who add soy to their diets. I decided that the time had come for me to increase my consumption of soy milk, replacing some dairy. It seemed ideal for a vegetarian — and was made easier by new, better tasting, nicer-textured, higher-protein soy drinks which had recently come on the market. My reduced dairy plan seemed just in time, too, because that winter I was noticing for the first time some strange little joint pains, and I wondered if milk might be part of the problem. “Ah, yes!” I thought, “that dairy consumption is finally catching up with me.” So I shifted further from skim milk to Silk brand of soy milk. Over a few weeks, my joint pain was still worsening! So I went totally to Silk. In a couple more weeks other joints hurt and I was getting concerned. Something caused me to go back and check my notes from Jim Sink on ayurvedic dietary recommendations for my mind-body type (dosha).

Ooops — I had mis-remembered! Winter was the season not to be dining on soy — at least not for my dosha. So, back I went to skim milk. With each soy-less week I felt markedly better, until after six weeks the joint problems were completely gone. Summer and fall soy doesn’t affect me that way; but during the winter it does. Oh, well: so much for the idea that every health wisdom is for all people or for all times of the year.

Now, please! My lesson about when-not-to-eat-what does not mean that soy is bad for everyone. Nor that if you have joint problems it’s necessarily from eating soy. Nor that I should never be eating soy. This is exactly why the latest “diet” fad works for some people, but maybe not for you. Is it too radical to suggest that... people are different? That should be a no-brainer. The big lesson is the amazing diagnostic and prescriptive power of the 5,000 years of India’s wisdom in the healing power of ayurveda science of perfect health. Americans wonder why so many who are quite careful about their diet and health still get chronic degenerative illnesses. We can of course point a finger at the travesty of toxins in diets and environments as contributing factors. But my story about using soy appropriately is meant to point out that dietary rules saying this is good and that is bad are simply too absolute. “One man’s soy is another man’s poison.” So... Diner, know thyself! Health and diet are not one-size-fits-all realms.