Soy may not be just healthy as claimed by many direct selling agents

Recently, a direct selling agent tried to convince us that we should not take any milk based product. Instead, he wanted to promote a soy based product offered by his company.

According to him, drinks like Ensure and Enercal (soy and milk-based) are not good for health. People, especially those cancer survivors should switch to soy based products.

While there may be some truth that milk based product may not be good for health or it may irritate our digestive system, Ensure and Enercal are different because:

• The manufacturers are licensed pharmaceutical companies like Abbott and undergo strict regulation guidelines. Any major complaint can have the products recalled.
• Both products claimed to be lactose free so that it does not irritate the stomach. Still, I have a friend who is extremely sensitive to lactose and would suffer some allergic reaction even at the slightest dose of lactose- she told me that she felt there is lactose in Ensure because she had the same allergic reaction (even though mild).
• Ensure and Enercal contains almost complete nutrition. That’s why they can be used for tube feeding- meaning for bedridden patients who are not able to eat, they can still take the drink made from Ensure or Enercal, mixing with water. If a tube feeding patient can survive just on that, then a normal person should be able to get almost all the nutrition required.
• Personally, when I am having fever, feel weak or unwell, I will take Ensure- because the drink provides nutrition and does not tax my stomach. I find that alongside with isotonic drinks, oranges and lots of fluid, I recover faster.

Controversies surrounding Soy Products

No doubt many people are turning to soy based products, there are equal amount of controversies surrounding it:

• Soy milk has been known to cause a number of health symptoms in people
• I remember an email was being circulated about a few cases of women who love to drink soy milk and developed breast lump and cancer after a few years. When they stopped drinking, the lump shrunk.

Also, do note that tofu and soy based product may not be suited to some people. I usually feel uncomfortable after taking soya bean milk. When I went to see 2 different Chinese medicine physicians, I was told that I should not take soy or tofu after taking my pulse, because the constituents found in the food are not suited to my body. According to them, the soy and tofu based products worked to produce joint pains in certain people.

That is why I write this article because I hope that when you are approached by anyone saying that their products are good and others are bad, do your research first. Do not believe blindly. It is worthwhile to note that direct selling companies are not as heavily regulated like formal pharmaceutical companies (like those that produce Ensure and Enercal). So technically, the agent can promise you that taking their products will make you young, detox your toxins, lose weight, etc….and still get away when the claims does not met its promise.