[startingovernow]

My doctor recommends that I don't add soy to my diet because of the research that shows it can increase your risk for breast cancer, especially since my mom passed from the disease. There goes my lite bars, luna bars, and anything similar. Everything "healthy" seems to have soy. I just started LAWL and have lost 9lbs in 9 days. The bars really helped me get through those days. Does anyone knows of anything else (without soy) I could subsitute?

Also, how do you update your ticker?

Thanks

[Lyria]

Meh...

Sorry, I'm really cynical when it comes to things like this but I swear EVERYthing seems to have some "cancer" risk associated with it.

So long as you eat soy in moderation I am sure you will be fine. After all millions of people have been for a very long time and not all of them have developed cancer and if they have who is to say whether is was soy, something else the ate, something else they were exposed to or maybe they were just pre-disposed to it or their body just gave up.

Liv

[bizlawchik]

Startingovernow... Look at it this way - if your doctor says no soy, then you will save a ton of money on the Lites, and you will learn to eat real food. If you still have "snack" issues, maybe your doctor can suggest a bar. As for your ticker, you can go back to create a new one and it will create a new link for your to post.

[startingovernow]

Thanks Cassi and Liv for the encouragement. It's that TOM too and I'm just naturally a little more cynical as well.

Thanks and have a great day!

[Joni135]

If my trusted doctor recommended I not do soy, I would not do it. However, I agree with Liv that just about everything can be proven to cause cancer. There are many articles and opinions on the web. I think the smartest choice is soy in moderation. One article I read said consume about 15 to 30 milligrams of isoflavones a day; not really sure what the protein grams on an LA Lite bar include, but a lite bar has approx 8g of protein. I eat two a day and that is pretty much my soy consumption.

Cassi is right too - you'll save money and eat more REAL food. I know Katie and others can't tolerate soy products and do great on the program.

Sandi - others may do it differently, but I go to the User CP box (just under the 3 yellow chicks at the top of my page) and change my weight in two places - my signature and my profile. If there is an easier way to do this, I, too, would like to hear about it.

[juliemarie]

(copied and pasted from an article I found . . .)

Soy and Breast Cancer

All of the popular discussion surrounding soy actually started out because of evidence suggesting that soy, likely because of the isoflavones, reduced breast cancer risk by inhibiting the effects of estrogen. Some of the evidence for this comes from the observation that breast cancer rates are lower in Asian countries than among western women. However, many factors that differ among cultures might affect breast cancer risk. And it is interesting to note that, within Asian cultures, there is little epidemiological evidence that shows soy consumption is protective against breast cancer.



A few short term clinical studies have suggested that soy consumption has estrogenic effects in the breast tissue of young--that is, premenopausal--women. This would suggest a possible increased risk for cancer. The significance of these short term studies isn't clear however. For example, the drug tamoxifen, used to treat breast cancer, actually has estrogenic effects when used for the short term, but antiestrogenic effects over the long term.



There are also a number of other considerations. First, research in laboratories on breast cancer cells has shown that small doses of the soy isoflavone genistein cause cells to replicate whereas large doses inhibit cell growth. Furthermore, there is some evidence that eating soy early in life--especially during puberty--helps to protect girls from breast cancer later in life. This would help explain why Asian women--most of whom grow up on soyfoods--have lower rates of breast of cancer than even western vegetarians, who might not begin eating soy until adulthood.



Finally, soy isoflavones have a number of effects that are possibly protective against cancer and that have nothing to do with their estrogenic or antiestrogenic effects. For example, genistein may inhibit the growth of the blood vessels that support tumor growth and may also inhibit enzymes that promote cell growth. Soy may alter estrogen metabolism in a way that protects against cancer.Also, year-long studies have found that soy or isoflavones either have no harmful effect or favorably affect breast tissue density, which is an indicator of breast cancer risk.



For women who have already had breast cancer and whose cancer is estrogen positive (meaning it is stimulated by estrogen) it is difficult to know whether to recommend restricting soy. The anti-cancer effects of soy may outweigh any possible estrogenic effects of isoflavones.



Conclusion: At this time, there seems no reason for women who have had breast cancer to avoid moderate consumption of soy. And for women who have never had cancer, there seems no reason to restrict soy.

[bizlawchik]

Julie - You always have the answers. You're our very own scientific expert!

[juliemarie]

Nah-just like to google stuff!

Seriously-google starch blockers, and soy/women/safe and you come up with all sorts of stuff. The only leg up I have is understanding all the terminology . . .

[startingovernow]

Thanks Julie that was alot more information than the doctor shared with me. You are right we have to do our own research as well.