Other vegetarians concerned about eating soy?!
Other vegetarians concerned about eating soy?
I am a vegetarian, and I have been consuming soy foods for the past few months. Not a lot, but I have been eating soy products, especially the soy dairy replacements.
Recently I read several articles stating that soy was harmful to consumers in several different ways. Especially women, because it contains, Phytoestrogens , that mimic estrogen and cause ovarian cysts, and possibly breast cancer.
I am very distraught over this information. There seems to be enough scientific evidence and people's personal experiences to back up the negative claims. For me, it still seems better than meat, but I probably will all together eliminate it from my diet. I have an ovarian cyst, and don't want anymore. nor do I wish to develop ovarian or breast cancer....
Thoughts? Additional Details
1 day ago
http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/index....
1 day ago
For those of you wondering where I found this information.
I did provide a web site
1 day ago
And I don't eat processed foods, at all, or meat subs for that matter. I look elsewhere for my protein.
And I can't disgest lactose, so I'm not eating any kind of dairy.
Answers: 1 day ago
http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/index....1 day ago
For those of you wondering where I found this information.
I did provide a web site1 day ago
And I don't eat processed foods, at all, or meat subs for that matter. I look elsewhere for my protein.
And I can't disgest lactose, so I'm not eating any kind of dairy. It's one of those things where you need to decide what information you decide to listen to. Think about the motives that would make some studies more biased than others. Such as, studies done by the meat industry would obviously try to paint soy in bad light because soy threatens the meat industry. The site you list seems pretty biased.
As for the breast cancer thing:
Can phytoestrogens from soy foods affect breast cancer risk?
It is currently unclear whether phytoestrogens from soy foods affect breast cancer risk. Studies looking directly at breast cancer risk and soy in the diet are not in agreement. Almost half of the studies have reported no effect of soy on breast cancer risk. In addition, animal and cellular studies of soy phytoestrogens have generated both enthusiasm and concern. Animal studies have shown that soy phytoestrogens can decrease breast cancer formation in rats. However, animal and human studies suggest that soy phytoestrogens can behave like estrogen and potentially increase breast cancer risk. Some scientists have suggested that women should be cautious about eating large amounts of the soy products or soy supplements, because of the possible harmful effects of soy phytoestrogens. These concerns and areas of research are discussed below in more detail.
http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/factshee...
As the site above suggests, the findings on soy and breast cancer are pretty inconclusive. Some studies say it can increase your breast cancer risk, and other studies have come out to say eating soy can reduce your risk.
http://www.aviva.ca/article.asp?articlei...
Here is another site for the opposite argument of the website you list.
The key here is moderation. If you still want to eat soy, make sure you are eating a balanced diet and don't rely on it too heavily. If you decide that it is too risky for you, you can obviously have a vegetarian diet without soy. Either way, look at both sides of the argument and decide what is best for you. Agree when eaten by guys, too much soy products result in gynecomastia (man-brests) hmm...im a vegeterian too, and i really did not know this? but, i assume that this claim that soy products CAN be "harmful" and cause types of cancer is an assumption that could compair to "all people that eat junk food have heart problems". this is not always true, and cannot be proven true in EVERY individual out there.
also, there are countless other causes for cancer.....and basing the cause that you MAY get it from consuming soy products is a complete guess. soy doesn't do that. soy alone has no ill effects. stop buying processed foods all together.
there is? negative claims? since when? i've been consuming soy for 25 years... where are you finding all this propaganda?
most likely it's the preservatives, additives and other adjuncts they put in the processed product that is suppose to be soybased.
do your research.
and stop eating prepackaged garbage and buy fresh. Too much of anything is bad. Soy is no exception. Try diversifying your diet. Instead of soy milk, use rice milk. Instead of resort to soy substitutes for the meat products you used to eat, try actually eating more vegetable matter. You have to change your palate, not simply substitute. A soy burger with cheese and fries and a sugary carbonated beverage is really not much healthier than the beef version. Garden burgers are made without soy. Or maybe try something else, like a grilled portabello mushroom on a panini with pesto sauce and sprouts. How's that for palate changing? Remember, if you are vege for health, you must change your palate and taste preferences, not just substitute soy crap for all the meat and cheese you used to eat. Also, there are organic milk and cheeses that come from non-industrial cows. These are cows free of growth hormones and antibiotics. They are healthy cows that live better than the normal dairy cow. You don't have to give up dairy or eggs for that matter. You can find eggs from small farms with free range chickens that are not egg mills. The Isoflavones in soy products act like estrogen. In testing, an increase in estrogen has been known to cause breast cancer in both men and women but the direct link of cancer to soy is still a theory. Only an EXORBITANT amount of soy, they say would really be harmful. Every "fad" so-called "healthy" diet plan over the past 50 years has been proven to be no better than a good wholesome diet. An excess of soy is going to have detrimental effects, after all, this stuff is heavily processed.
If you think soy is bad for women, think of all the vegan men whose pee-pee's are shrinking! I don't know. I'm going with the cliched answer that it's all good in moderation. I have noticed a temporary decrease in my desire to have sex the day after I eat a lot of soy. This usually wears off in 1-2 days. And it's not necessarily a bad thing! I've been concerned about this, too because my period has been really erratic for the past few months and someone told me it might be from eating soy . . . basically, I'm going to talk to my gynecologist about it, but when I really think about it, I think everything in moderation is probably OK. I don't eat tons of soy every day and I know there are benefits, too which are just the oppostite of what the risks seem to be. Mabye moderation is key. People in East Asia have been consuming fermented AND unfermented soy for thousands of years and China is the world's most populous nation. Only now that they are becoming more wealthy and consuming a diet that is getting closer and closer to the average American diet, have they begun to suffer from higher rates of diet-related diseases such heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.
The meat and dairy industries HATE soy and especially since some other huge corporations such as Dean Foods have bought into the soy market. They hire "scientists" with formal educations and credentials to come up with negative propaganda to spread about soy and scare people back to animal products. Then they post articales on as many websites as possible to make their findings seem legitimate. There are two sides to this, the side that says that too much soy can be harmful and the side that says it is fine. Both have come up with their own studies or research. I think as long as you eat healthy and stay away from processed foods you should be fine. If you are worried about it you could always have almond, rice, or oat milk instead of soy milk. Then you can use tofu and not feel like you are having too much. I personally (after researching many articles, and Japanese cultures that thrive off of soy products) do not believe soy to cause harm. However it is up to you to decide for yourself. There's also research out there that concludes that the weak estrogens in soy actually prevent breast cancer by binding to estrogen receptors in breast tissue, preventing your body's estrogens from binding and causing cancer. And based on what I've read about the role of animal proteins in causing cancer, heart disease and diabetes, I'll stick with soy.