Maybe the answer is to eat more tofu
-
Myocarditis is a possible side effect of both COVID and the COVID vaccine. A compound found in soybeans seems to reverse the effects of the cytokines that respond to the COVID virus. Article is a bit geeky but of interest to me as I had this reaction to the COVID vaccine.
“Medical scientists are quite aware that COVID itself can cause myocarditis,” Wu said. “To a lesser extent, so can the mRNA vaccines. The question is, why?”
“Two proteins, named CXCL10 and IFN-gamma, popped up. We think these two are the major drivers of myocarditis,” Wu said. They operate like a tag team.
CXCL10 and IFN-gamma both belong to a class of proteins called cytokines: signaling substances that immune cells secrete to carry on chemical conversations with one another.
Wu had a hunch that a common dietary supplement could help prevent such damage. Given higher myocarditis rates among males and estrogen’s known anti-inflammatory properties, he revisited a compound he’d studied a few years earlier.
In a 2022 paper published in Cell, Wu’s team had identified genistein, a mild estrogen-like substance derived from soybeans, as having anti-inflammatory activity and the ability to counter marijuana-induced damage to blood vessels and heart tissue.
“Genistein is only weakly absorbed when taken orally,” Wu said. “Nobody ever overdosed on tofu.”
Wu and his colleagues conducted a series of experiments closely paralleling those described above, pre-treating cells, cardiac spheres and mice (the latter by oral administration of large quantities) with genistein. Doing this prevented much of the deleterious effects of mRNA vaccines or the CXCL10/IFN-gamma combo to heart cells and tissue.
Importantly...
“Your body needs these cytokines to ward off viruses. It’s essential to immune response but can become toxic in large amounts,” he said. IFN-gamma secreted in large amounts, however lofty its purpose, can trigger myocarditis-like symptoms and degradation of structural heart muscle proteins.
That risk probably extends beyond mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines.
“Other vaccines can cause myocarditis and inflammatory problems, but the symptoms tend to be more diffuse,” Wu said. “Plus, mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines’ risks have received intense public scrutiny and media coverage. If you get chest pains from a COVID vaccine you go to the hospital to get checked out, and if the serum troponin is positive, then you get diagnosed with myocarditis. If you get achy muscles or joints from a flu vaccine, you just blow it off.”
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/12/myocarditis-vaccine-covid.html
-
I have the tofu part covered.
-
Are you okay now, wtg?
I presume from the summary that the plant estrogens they're discussing are so weakly absorbed that they don't raise risks for things like breast cancer? I'm only mildly concerned about that, as I certainly eat soy products, but I wonder about daily or frequent consumption.
-
Are you okay now, wtg?
I presume from the summary that the plant estrogens they're discussing are so weakly absorbed that they don't raise risks for things like breast cancer? I'm only mildly concerned about that, as I certainly eat soy products, but I wonder about daily or frequent consumption.
@Mary-Anna Yes, it took a few months to completely recover but all is well now.
I'm interested in how COVID (the disease and/or the vaccine) affects our bodies, especially in light of my own reaction to the vaccine. When I saw the results of this admittedly early study it just brought home once again how complex and how individual our responses are to various pathogens and treatments (vaccines, medications, etc.). The tofu remark was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I did wonder if there might come a day when someone could front load with tofu (probably in a pill rather than a stir fry) before getting a COVID vaccine, so they could get the benefits of the vaccine without possible negative effects..
