Sorry, didn't intend for this to be so long and disjointed. However, the import, to be evaluated, must have more substance than a flippant sentence or two, signed with "I believe". As to Dr. Northrup's statement:>""Though not exactly the same as your body's own estrogen,, plant hormones do have chemical structures similar enough to the estrogens found in your body or in conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to have estrogen-like effects in your body witout the risks of side effects . Plant hormones are sometimes called "adaptogens," which means that if you have too much estrogen in your system these phytoestrogens (plant derived) will actually prevent your own estrogen receptor sites from being overstimulated, helping to prevent abnormal tissue growth etc, etc"<....back in a mo'. First, a pretty little tale, I think(for variety!): I read a charming report a while back of the french pragmatic sense of the fitness of things. It was told that they frequently have their veg. gardens in the front yard (Gasp!). No pesticide, herbicide laden cloverless beeless lawns for them! And they have the mandatory cow (manure and organic uncooked milk, you see), plus the odd chicken and rabbit, comprenez? And, too, they have good ol' Petunia the pig to take them on a pleasant outing for excercise and truffles. They tend their garden in tough cotton clothes, prepared for serious weight bearing labor (not darling, chic little gym outfits). The article was nostalgic--happy healthy faces in a joyous, riotous jungle of fresh produce lovingly nurtured and nurturing deliciously.No wonder Burger's health theorem was born in this healthy land!Dunno about you, but I put this picture into action at my homestead. Believing is doing is better than seeing and talkingdo you agree? But then we have the American dreamhouse, 2500sq.ft on 1/8 acre(!) with the mandatory bluegreen lawn on what is left of the now useless soil; >This Faustian bargain between money makers and, as Plato would say, "the city", has endangered the very execution of the instinctive selection of food for the simple reason that unless you raise your own food organically or purchase only organically raised food which is near enough by that eating it it is still akin to grazing, (mmmmm!) this biological (that's us,!) experiment may fail simply for want of uncontaminated supplies; the same contamination which does an absolutely noble job of screwing up your endocrine system so that you physically have no interest in (!), or cannot, procreate healthy offspring. Or any offspring at all. < Bollixing up your immune system and confusing your whole health blueprint, leading to massive invreases in all diseases great and small, I ask you: which came first? The seed or the flower? Which endeavor should consume you with primary fire: government inaction against these killer poisons being let loose upon us, or whether to eat one polluted vegetable at a time, or is it permitted to eat a salad of reshly pulled mesclun, carrots, radishes, cukes--with a few drops of oil and vinegar? What I am suggesting is one blaspheme stacked against an absolutely intolerable food supply, trying to show you another perspective of the basic problem as documented by Theo Colborn But I have again run out of time--this week has been already chewed,consumed and digested, there is nothing left but to complete it. I must run now... I beg your forgiveness, I do not mean to draw this out so long, but the science I will report to you soon is, I hope you will agree, worth getting to, and the background is just as important in life as it is in art. (to be continued, with your permission...) Pat