[followthebeat]

I replaced regular 2 percent milk with soy milk a few months ago. I've heard soy milk is good for women, but I'm wondering what the pros and cons are. Anyone know?

[LindaT]

Well soy milk can act as a plant based estrogen replacement - lots of theories on that. Some say yes. Some say no. Some studies have shown soy to beneficial in preventing certain diseases.

I personally had a little trouble with it when i was younger, but not now. When I was drinking a lot, I got some minor palpitations. Since I wasn't perimenopausal, the doctor agreed with my idea that sicce soy can act as a plant estrogen and I wasn't low on it, that I essentiully was getting too much. Now I am older and am running low in that department, I don't have any troubles.

Here is a blurb from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_milk

Another alternative milk is almond milk. Quite good. if you get unsweetened stuff, it can run ~ 40 calories a cup. Almond breeze is a brand I get most.

[sharonrr]

http://www.womentowomen.com/nutritio...efitsofsoy.asp
I personally drink soy milk. I put it on my cereal and drink it by the glass.
I like the taste and the health benefits.
Read the above article and decide for yourself.

[problysewin]

I think the almond breeze is a good idea. I'm not too fond of soy products. I used to force myself to drink it because I thought it was better for me. I'm hypothyroid and have learned that soy products are not good for this condition. I thought I read somewhere on here that it "may" be good for your heart but not for women's breast health. Might be something you could google or whatever search engine you use to find the pros and cons. But almonds are great for cholesterol and taste delicious. Personally I like 2% milk usually I buy organic, I think you'll find pros and cons for just about anything we put in our body.

[Jasmine31]

I ditto what probably sewin says. I would NOT recommend drinking it!

http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.co...on?q=soy&sa=Go

Take your pick of articles to read.

[cinderly]

What I like about my soymilk is that I will drink it! I dislike the flavor of regular milk, so I tend to not get enough dietary calcium without my soy milk. I also have noticed that my menstrual cramping seems less severe since adding soy to my diet, but that's anecdotal, of course.

[ennay]

pros: my PMS was less, less cramping, less bloating and my boobs didnt hurt as much. Theoretically there is some help with menopausal symptoms as well.

cons: may be linked to thyroid disease.

[Bek]

Lots of conflicting info out there on soy. If memory serves, 15 grams of soy isoflavins ??? was where studies showed problems. All kinds of ungood issues. But I still have a half cup every day in my smoothie. One of the supposed problems, is that we get so much soy in so many unlikely products. I personally eat almost no processed foods, so feel fine about my 8-15 grams most days. Do you like skim milk? Or nonfat yogurt (which has many benefits beyond calcium)?

[cinderly]

Originally Posted by Bek

Do you like skim milk? Or nonfat yogurt (which has many benefits beyond calcium)?

I do eat nonfat yogurt, as well, again, to try to up the calcium intake.

I think I should have been more specific when I said "regular milk;" I was referring to cow's milk. We typically buy 1% at my house, since that's what the Other Human drinks, and I don't care for the flavor of it. (2% is worse - it's like drinking cream!)

I haven't read anything compelling to encourage me to get rid of my ~8 oz a day of soy milk. If I was consuming huge quantities, I'd be worried, but I don't eat a lot of tofu, and most of my food is purchased raw and unprocessed.

I also like that it gets me one step closer to a veggie diet, but that's a different issue altogether.