How bad is Soy milk for you?!

Hormones wise, it depends on the type of Milk you purchas if you want to be sure that your food does not contain hormone you should buy organic produce. Organic is the safest way to go, ensuring you to be free from chemicals and hormones 98% of the times. It all depends on these factors other wise you are not sure how much hormones goes into a cow or soy beans. You can go on enjoying Milk if you purchase it organic.
Yes organic Soy Milk does not contain hormones or it is not organic.Organic:" of, relating to, yielding, or involving the use of food produced with the use of feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employment of chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides <organic farming> <organic produce>". Thats all I can say. My teacher who is crazy about ecology gave great lesson about organic and we saw a movie If you wish to see it give me a shout and ill ask my teacher for the Name of the film. Youll find it disturbing.

My biology teacher.
Movie about hormones.
Marriam Webster.

I suppose you would get a varied response to the question depending upon whom you ask. Soy is a considerable staple in the modern veg*n population, and most consider it to be a valuable food product, if not a panacea. Other groups like the Weston Price Foundation seem to think it is akin to poison and should be banned from infant formula and otherwise avoided by adults as well.

Soy does appear to contain a high concentration of antinutrients, such as phytic acid, which readily bind with important minerals such as magnesium and limit their absorption. It is a common food allergen along with dairy, shellfish, wheat, and peanuts.

Some benefits include reduced cholesterol, reduced risk of prostate and colon cancer, and the fact that it is one of the richest plant sources of protein available.

My guess is that, like most issues in life, the answer to your question lies somewhere between the extremes. Dose and context must always be considered. You most likely can use soy milk without detriment, but should probably not rely upon it as a dietary staple.

http://www.johnrobbins.info/blog/what-ab…
http://www.westonaprice.org/soy-alert.ht…

Soy milk does not contain any estrogen. It does contain isoflavones, which have a chemical structure that is similar to estrogen. However, the two function very differently in the body. So, while soy milk may not actually relieve menopause symptoms as some have claimed, neither does it detrimentally effect developing girls, or cause men to become feminized.

Soy can make the body feed certain types of cancer by increasing estrogen, especially in females. So for females, soy anything is a no no. Stick to non homogenized milk. Organic. (the kind where cream floats on the top). Pasteurized is ok, but try to get some farm fresh milk. It is a lot better for you. Or if you are in the country, buy a cow for milk. Give away what you can't drink.

retired chef. And friend of a cancer survivor.

it's not.
They don't give soybeans artificial growth hormones like they do cows.
There's no hormones is soybeans. Pesticides maybe, but usually not.
SOymilk is not bad for you at all, and it does not make your body produce acid to gigest the sugars.

Actually soy has a large amount of estrogen. Estrogen is a hormone.

Who said soy milk is bad for you. It is really very healthy.

Soya milk as far as i know it's good for health.

Soya proteins contain isoflavones that can mimic a weak oestrogen effect. It's not the same as the oestrogen your own body makes though - it is 1,000 times weaker than your own body's oestrogen, but it's this that has led to concerns (and rumour) about oestrogen dependent cancers and adverse effects on men.

Someone has said that soya feeds cancer, especially female cancers. There is no scientific evidence at all to back up this claim.

In fact there is no actual scientific evidence that any food, including soya, causes, prevents, contributes to or affects the progress of any cancer (the exception being high consumption of red and processed meat, which is a major risk factor for colorectal cancers).

This is as true of oestrogen driven cancers as of any other cancer.

There are those in the field who argue that isoflavones may be of help in preventing breast cancer or be beneficial to women who have had breast cancer.

There is current research into whether increasing phyto oestrogens in the diet helps to prevent breast or prostate cancer, and a study in 2002 found that women with the highest levels of soya products in their diets had the lowest breast density - higher breast density being associated with higher breast cancer risk.

Women with the highest levels of isoflavones in their diet are reported to have significant risk reductions for uterine cancer.

I have had oestrogen dependent breast cancer, and have never been warned against soya. I'm vegan, and have soya on most days; I have been in complete remission with no sign of cancer for over 6 years.

Check with any reputable cancer information service or charity - go to their websites and do a search for breast or ovarian cancer (or any other cancer) risk factors; you won't find soya consumption listed anywhere. In fact Cancer Research UK actually lists plant oestrogens under 'Protection factors for ovarian cancer'. They say: ''Your risk of ovarian cancer may be lowered by ... Plant oestrogens known as phyto oestrogens are found in soy foods, pulses (beans, lentils and peas), a range of plant foods, and tea, coffee and cereals. Some studies have shown that phyto oestrogens can reduce ovarian cancer risk.''

Nor do breast cancer information sites list soya as a risk factor. Breakthrough Breast Cancer addresses the issue of soya quite thoroughly. It says:

''Because phyto-oestrogens can act like oestrogen they can have similar effects to oestrogen, but at high doses they may actually block the effects of oestrogen. ''

and

''Some studies found that regularly eating foods that contain phyto-oestrogens might lower the risk of breast cancer, whereas others found that they have no effect.''

You can download Breakthrough's fact sheet on soya:
http://breakthrough.org.uk/breast_cancer…

As for soya's effect on men, there are no credible studies that there is any adverse effect. I've noticed that nobody who makes claims about soya's effects on men - from lower sperm count and lower testosterone through to more bizarre claims about breast development - is ever, when challenged, able to cite one example of a man for whom this has been the case. It's something of an urban myth.

Soya is contraindicated for certain thyroid conditions, and with certain thyroid medications; obviously those with such conditions and on such medications should avoid it. As far as I can tell, there is no suggestion that soya actually causes or triggers such conditions.

I'd draw a parallel with my own situation - as a diabetic I have to avoid or treat with caution a number of foods because of their high GI rating. These foods include healthy things like pineapple, beetroot and melon. No reason for someone without diabetes not to eat as much as they like; similarly, no reason for a person without a thyroid condition to avoid soya