Question:
I've been a vegetarian for five years. At age eight I was diagnosed with ADD and my mom had me on rytalin for about six years and I was depressed and had horrible muscle spasm that people made fun of me for. Anyways, since I've been a vegetarian I have read many articles and heard great things about the benifits of soy milk and memory retention and how asian and indian cultures consume more soy than any other country and rank highest in education. I started to notice from my own experience that I understand things much better than I did in high school. I learned algebra in few short weeks when I couldn't even earn a bit of it in four years of high school. I learn much faster and retain the knowledge. My question is are there any links or research being done connecting soy to ADD? What about autism? My nephew is autistic and I though if it had some link then it might help autistic children focus more.
Answers:
well, soy is the most complete amino acid profile you can get so maybe that is helping your body synthesize the proper proteins for memory function? Just keep in mind that if the soy isn't organic you can just about bet that it is genetically engineered. Also, soy has a lot of hormone-mimicking compounds in it that you should at least be aware of. Just to be safe, make sure that soy isn't your #1 source of protien. Lentils are almost as good as far as amino acids go...maybe give them a try?
A lot of the pro-soy info (funded by the soy industry) has turned out to be either myopic or just not true. I used to eat it like crazy because I thought it was the best thing for me. Now I use it in moderation only.
I know lots of kids on the spectrum receive soy as an alternative to dairy products. For me the fact that soy is an estrogen makes me not want to make it a part of my 7 yr old son's regular diet. I've never heard of a link between soy and improved attention. We seem to be getting an improvement in clarity of thought and language with low doses (100%DV) of B6 and B12. Mega doses make him very hyper and a bit aggressive.
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