Have anyone talked to your doc about soy? I am wanting some feed back. My doctor says NO soy at all. The last doc I had said NO soy too. Studies are showing soy is not good for us.

Shy,
Do you have thyroid problems? The only reason I have heard that someone would advise against soy is thyroid issues.

I think there are studies that show soy is good for us but there may be some issues in eating heavily concentrated amounts of soy and your thyroid. I personally try to limit my amount of soy so I use it sparingly.

I had also read about a study that it may even be the packaging in some soy products, like tofu, that has issues rather than soy itself.

No problems here.

Studies show soy is causing children ( girls ) to go into puberty early. Effects male development for boys, so they are going into puberty later. People who do without beef and rely on soy are not getting the vitamins and such that they need from beef. This is just what I have been told by the docs and what I have been reading. This is why I wanted feed back. I am very confused on this subject.

I actually have been reading something lately that says eating lots of animal products has been causing girls to go into puberty early. Girls in asian countries (where soy is prominent and meat is infrequent) go into puberty in their late teens.

I am unsure what vitamins you get from beef that you don't get from vegetables? You get iron from beef but you also get lots of iron from vegetables.

I think (and hope) these questions will be separated out into their own thread for discussion

There is nothing in beef that we need that we can't get from other sources. The only concern is B12, which is lacking in a vegan diet. Vegetarians can get it from dairy and eggs, but vegans must take a b12 supplement.

I think one of the biggest valid concerns with soy would be whether it is non-gmo and organic. Genetically modified soy could have serious health implications down the road. Even the soybean oil that is present in almost every processed food could be and probably is GMO. Manufacturers are not required to disclose this on labels. That's a scary thought

Well, avoiding soy is definitely important for people with thyroid problems.

I think the question has more to do with an "All or Nothing" mentality associated with our eating patterns in the US. Soy is definitely a part of healthy, traditional Asian diets...but it isn't all that they eat! Everything in that traditional diet is in moderation. The "soy is part of a healthy diet" part was preserved when soy because popular in America, but the "in moderation" part disappeared, like it does for most things. So people start eating massive amounts of soy, even supplementing their diets with extra soy protein, and food manufacturers, noting this trend, start flooding processed foods with soy and soy byproducts. Multiple brands of soy milk become widely available, dozens of new energy bars are created with soy protein, and basically, soy goes everywhere, because we assume that if SOME soy is good, LOTS of soy is better!

The truth is, unless you have a thyroid problem, soy probably won't harm you in small doses. But if you take the (all too typical) "soy is healthy so I will eat it all the time!" path, it could cause you some problems, just as an excess of ANY single food might. Humans evolved to eat a varied diet, so getting too much of any one thing is rarely going to be very healthy.

Just my 2 cents.

I totally agree with moderation. I am on my second week of following a vegan diet (no meat, no dairy) and I have eaten very little soy. I don't believe I need soy and can do without but there are some soy products that I like and think add a nice texture to the foods I'm eating. I'd say that my diet for the past couple weeks has been 99.5% plant based and .5% soy based

I have been getting plenty of vitamins through the foods I've been eating though and as Suzanne said the only concern is B12 but I've added some B12 into my diet through nutritional yeast but not a lot because our bodies don't require a lot and can store it for up to 3 years.

Thank you for all the feedback. I am finding this very interesting. Think I might make an appointment with the dietitian and see what she says too.

I have to agree that in the U.S. we don't do moderation well. To the point that even doctors think this way, or don't believe that their patients can.

I think you have to ask your doctors specifically whether they mean

1. Don't overdo soy
2. Don't go out of your way to eat soy
3. Don't eat heavily processed soy protein products
4. Avoid soy in any form (ask specifically why)


I use dry tvp to stretch ground beef in ground beef dishes (maybe once every month or two, as we don't use ground beef that often). I use soy sauce when I make oriental dishes (maybe once or twice a month),
and I love edamame (fresh soybeans - maybe once a month).

I don't go out of my way to eat soy, and I don't go out of my way to avoid it. I've never really asked my doctor about it, because I figured that moderate use was probably neither a health benefit or a health risk.

One food I am asked to avoid is grapefruit, because it interferes with the absorption of some of my medications and could be dangerous. One day I had a can of Squirt, and my husband said "you shouldn't have that, it has grapefruit in it." I thought, yeah, but how much grapefruit could it really have in it, and how much could it hurt. So I asked the pharmacist, and he told me that one glass of grapefruit juice, or one grapefruit a week wouldn't be a problem as long as I made sure not to take my pills with or within a short time of the grapefruit. The tiny amount in the diet soda wasn't a problem at all, unless I drank ridiculous amounts of the stuff.

I think it pays to ask your doctor more specific questions.

I have done MUCH research into this issue and have to agree. I read many case studies to support this. My doctor is amazing and is always on the lookout for the latest research into complementary medicine and natural healing.


My own daughter started going into early puberty around 8-9, presenting with secondary sexual characteristics. My doctor said that she would be menstruating regularly, the way things were going.

Well, I did a lot of research and that led me to a vegan diet. I took all animal products out of her diet, the early development halted and it wasn't until she was 14 that she began to menstruate and more fully develop.

kap
I did ask the doc, two of them in fact. Both said avoid at all costs. I listed a few of the reasons why. Said they have been reading for years the bad effects of soy. I just am not sure, with so many people eating soy. If they are right.

I just returned from a medical school conference, where the Deans and admissions faculty were present from all the major schools (Yale, Harvard, Stanford, UCLA etc.) and it may surprise you to know that the average time spent on educating future doctors on NUTRITION at these schools is LESS than 15 hours.

I think the average woman who has been dieting has that under her belt in a week or two, right?

I eat soy, but not all the time. Really the only soy products I eat would be the Boca and Morningstar Farms burgers and Veggie Slices soy cheese and the only reason I eat these things as opposed to regular beef and regular cheese is because I'm strict about how much saturated fat I eat while at the same time trying to get more mono fats.

Shy Moment, I would be getting new doctors if they told you to avoid it at all costs, especially if the reasons you stated, were the reasons they gave.

Soy contains plant estrogens, and so it theoretically could affect hormone levels, and has been used as a herbal treatment for menopause (though study results are mixed on whether this is effective or not). Even if the research you mention can be substantiated I would again ask how much soy is dangerous. Unless you're a teen girl (or boy) or in menopause (although that might be an argument for not against soy), or as mentioned have a thyroid condition, I don't see a specific risk. Oriental cultures have been eating soy for thousands of years without ill effect.

I have to conclude you either misconstrued their advice, or they have given you bad advice.

I have always assumed that I can never trust an isolated opinion, even if it comes from someone who "should" know, especially when that advice is extreme ("always," or "never" is a good clue). I think seeking the opinion of a dietician is a great idea.

I have read a bit on soy over the years, and it was praised as a miracle food (practically a cure for everything if some sources were to be believed). I've been aware of more research that says soy is not the miracle cure that it was once thought, and that there may actually be some health risks to a diet TOO high in soy (probably found because some people assumed if some is good, tons are better) Basically, there seem to be some benefits to soy, and some risks. Nothing that I've read would indicate that soy be avoided like a poison, just that excess should be avoided. But you know I can't think of anything off hand that isn't bad in excess (even water).

One thing to keep in mind....many menopausal homeopathic remedies include soy. Soy is natural plant estrogen that mimics the estrogen in our bodies. Girls who are going through puberty have twice the typical amount of estrogen in their bodies already....the addition of more estrogen can confuse the natural progression of puberty. Another thing to keep in mind....we store a form of estrogen in our fat cells...yet another thing we overweight women need to watch out for. Too much estrogen has been shown to contribute to breast cancer, heart disease, etc. Studies are currently underway that are looking at the effect of weight loss and the release of excess estrogen into our bodies. This might not be the time to be consuming large amounts of soy products that might be adding to the estrogen floating around in our system. Like all things, moderation should be the key. We tend to hear that something is beneficial to us and we think "more must be better." No....more can create more problems. Afterall...isnt that what created this overweight problem for most of us?