by Teresa Austringer

Created on: March 11, 2009

To look at the potential effects of soy milk on brain cells, one has to look at the very young. Milk is a major part of the diet of young children, even past the first year. During the first year, formula is recommended if a child is not breast fed.

Soy formula is often used for babies that are allergic to milk, or by the preference of their parents. Twenty to twenty-five percent of infants are now fed soy formula. Soy formula is notable for what it lacks. There is no cholesterol in soy formula, and dietary cholesterol is necessary for building the myelin sheath that insulates the nerves in the brain and speeds up conductivity.

Breast milk has high concentrations of cholesterol, which infants need in the first two years of life. In addition to providing cholesterol for building tissue in the nervous system and brain, there's evidence that being breast fed increases the ability to handle dietary cholesterol in later life. In total, breast milk is about 55 percent fat, which soy formula usually falls short of.

But what about soy milk? Soy milk has no cholesterol and is lower in fat than the whole milk recommended for children over the age of one. In fact, it is touted as lowering levels of blood cholesterol. Children are laying down myelin in their brains until the age of ten, with ninety-five percent of their brain's volume established by the age of five. Health conscious parents who give soy milk before the age of five, especially if milk is a large part of the diet or if the rest of the diet is low in fat and cholesterol, are denying their children essential building blocks for the brain.

Soy is also very high in manganese, and the manufacturing processes for soy milk and formula do nothing to remove it. Immature livers have more trouble removing manganese from the body. Manganese overdose, such as has been found in miners exposed to high levels, can cause tremors and abnormalities of movement. It's theorized that high levels of manganese in developing brains can cause behavior problems and learning disabilities.

But what about adults? While some dietary cholesterol is necessary to maintain the myelin sheath, most adults get that in their diets. Drinking soy milk to lower cholesterol is probably healthy. And manganese is something that healthy adult livers can remove without any problem.

However, there is a concern. A long term study has shown that Japanese American men who consumed tofu at least twice weekly had more cognitive impairment and smaller brains than

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