Soy Milk
 

I'm lactose intolerant and like soy with my Starbucks lattes. It was listed as one of the Super Foods at one time, but now research is starting to slide the other direction with soy. From what I understand, it wasn't meant to be eaten in it's raw form as our body can't really digest it unless it's fermented...such as soy sauce or miso. There's a list of negative impacts it has on your body.

This is very new to me so I'm still doing some research on it. We're really focusing on the Super Foods and working to improve our overall health. Still wondering how to have my lattes. ;)

I avoid all soy as much as I possibly can. I try to not even have chocolate that has soy lecithin in it (which certainly cuts down on my chocolate consumption!) I drink raw cow's milk, mostly as kefir I make at home (lactose intolerant folks can drink kefir however it doesn't solve the creamer in the coffee problem...). I go through a gallon of milk a week and since I started drinking only raw cow's milk my cholesterol levels have significantly improved.

I've made yogurt but never kefir. Is it a similar process? I'd love to make my own.

ETA - don't want to hijack the thread :) I limit my soy intake so no soy milk. It's also twice the calories of my favorite, almond milk. We actually have almond, coconut and hemp milk in the house right now. I like them for different things.

Kefir is much easier to make than yogurt and supposedly has more health benefits. It doesn't get as thick as yogurt but it makes great smoothies. You can also use it in place of buttermilk in recipes.

I'll start a kefir topic in in the whole foods section. Maybe other folks who drink or make kefir will chime in.

The Soy Milk taste sooooooooo good but it sounds like it's not good for you. I wish that I could find goat milk. I love milk but I have to find something that is healthy for me.

Why can't you drink cow's milk? I buy low-temp pasteurized non-homogenized milk. Only my son drinks it though, I mostly use it for cooking and making yogurt. I get goat's milk at a local farm sometimes too. I also like nut milks and will make them sometimes.

There have been several studies that suggest homogenization is what makes cow milk "bad." From what I understand, the process makes the fat globules stickier and smaller. Because of this they get into your blood stream and stick to your arteries.

As far as soy, I avoid non-fermented or non-sprouted soy. Raw or cooked (if not fermented or sprouted) soy is hard to digest and you don't really get any benefit from it.

In my opinion, cow's milk is not healthy for me and there is no taste to it. It's kinda yuck and bland. I did a lot of research and found that raw goat's milk is the best milk to drink. Although I do love the taste of soy milk, I know that's not healthy either.

I don't think soy milk is bad for you but processed soy has ended up in many products. I buy organic soy beans and make my own soy milk. I think it is good to have a variety of foods and I have no issue with eating soy as part of a varied diet.

I have really been enjoying my soy milk. YUMMY !!

I used to be a soy milk drinker until all the bad stuff started coming up on it. I switched to almond and coconut milks... but I sorta miss the soy milk since it has more protein. Then I sometimes think I should just switch back to cows milk, I still eat cheese sometimes so why not drink cows milk... although I am trying to limit all animal products so I don't know.

is soy still a big thing in Asian countries? I thought they drank soy milk there often and it was healthy.

Yup, soy milk and tofu are still big in asian countries. Korea apparently has tofu restaurants which sounds fascinating.

As I said, I personally have no problem with soy. If you take thyroid medication, you are supposed to have wait 4 hours before eating soy but you don't have to limit it. I wouldn't do soy protein powder personally but some people do.

I bought the Very Vanilla Soymilk and it was DELICIOUS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A lot of the anti-soy propaganda is based on no scientific evidence, or cherry picked information from a small number of studies with serious flaws or biases. As far as I can tell, the jury is still out on what the exact benefits or drawbacks of consuming soy are, more studies need to be done. It is important to evaluate your information sources and think critically about claims and where they come from before you start changing your actions (e.g. changing your diet) based on them.

I think it helps to put this in perspective and remember that soy is a bean. I find it hard to believe that a legume consumed by humans since time predating recorded history could be the evil health-wrecker that some make it out to be. Also, remember that all the foods we eat are full of chemical compounds that interact with our physiology, some helpful, some harmful and others neutral. Our bodies have adapted to make the most of the useful substances available in our foods and have mechanisms to defend against harmful ones. If there is good evidence that soy is really bad for humans I would be all for hearing about it, but I just haven't found any credible sources that claim that to be the case.

How about Almond milk or Coconut milk? Those are my go-to non dairy milks :). GOOD stuff!

I like almond milk and it's super easy to make your own so you know what's in it. You can make milk with any nut. Or rice. I sometimes use tofu or soy milk, but I try to buy organic since soy today is gmo. But then, so is corn and a lot of other food we eat. My brother, a registered nurse and also health fanatic, told me not to give my boys much soy due to the hormones.

I tried to go that route and I purchased both of them on separate grocery visits. Both of them taste like Mylanta. It was horrible in my opinion. I was hoping that I liked them but I was VERY disappointed.

You might want to experiment with different brands, as they tend to vary a lot, but you might not care for any of them and that could be expensive. Some brands sell juice box size so you can try those. I like coconut milk in the can for making curries and soups, but the kind in the milk carton for drinking isn't my thing. My husband really likes Blue Diamond and Silk brand chocolate almond milk, too much sugar in those for me, but they taste good! I like to rotate my plant-based milks for variety, and some are better in certain things than others. The ones we generally buy other than chocolate almond are Temp hemp milk, 8th Continent soy milk, Pacific oat milk, and Good Karma flax milk. Not a huge fan of rice milk myself, but lots of people like it. There are so many options, you're bound to find something you like if you try a few different things.

I will continue to try different things. Really the only milk that I really love is Very Vanilla Soy Milk but it has 16g of sugar in 1 cup.

FYI - For those following this thread, there was a bit of a cleanup. It seemed to get way off topic and other mods got involved. We understand that some people can have strong beliefs about certain subjects but you should always look at health claims critically.

I just want to point out that most soy and soy milk is not the soy our ancestors were consuming. Nearly every soy bean grown in north and south America is a GMO patent owned by Monsanto. Theses new crops really haven't been around long enough to know the impact they have on our health. There are the concerns about phytoestrogens which I find pretty scary and really don't think children or men should have soy for that reason alone.

Also most non-organic soy is fertilized using bio-solids(processed human waste) (I lived near soy fields in my home town and can assure you that is not a made up fact there is a distinct difference in smell between bio-solid fertilizer and animal fertilizer).

On a broader scale beyond health impact there is also the environmental impact. Soy is one of the most widely grown crops in north and south america and is used in both animal feed and for human consumption. Many areas of South America are using slash and burn agriculture to expand soy fields. I think soy is bad on many levels and really should be avoided.

On a side note I finally convinced my boyfriend to switch to almond milk which he says tastes the same as soy. I also know that by looking at him that making that change alone he has lost at least 5lbs. He also has lost some of the excess weight in he chest. It might be lower in protein but I think it is a much healthier alternative. Almond milk is also super easy to make yourself if you have a blender which can handle it you also know exactly what goes into it that way.

Most soy milk I've seen is organic (which also means non-gmo) and the soy beans I buy are grown in Canada. I think the environmental impacts have a lot to do with agriculture as a whole and soy milk really isn't the culprit there. That is an entirely separate conversation though. I know it has been mentioned a few times but there seems to be no scientific reason that someone should avoid soy. Studies have been inconclusive at best.

Personally, I tend to mix it up. Even hemp milk once in a while but it tends to be expensive.

I love soy milk, I actually prefer the taste of it to dairy milk. Almond milk is also one of my favourites! I always go for the organic varieties since they seem to have fewer cals in, and when I was on atkins they were ideal for low carbing!

I avoid soy as much as possible also, because just the vast majority of it in America has been treated/sprayed with Monsanto Roundup.

It is certainly possible that you could have some sort of intolerance to soy milk. I've never encountered bloating from soy milk myself.

I've actually started making it myself again. It is easy and fairly cheap. I bought some non-GMO beans online at a little over $1/lb and a lb of soy beans makes a good amount of soy milk. I'm also venturing into making soy yogurt because my husband loves it so it'll make that cheaper too.

Wow! Before reading this thread, I didn't realize there WAS a negative spin on soy! I use soy-based protein powder every day in my breakfast smoothie and I love it! I was once told at an Herbalife meeting that our bodies process more protein in non-animal sources. I can't recall the percentages, but it basically implied that even if cow milk has more protein, my body would absorb more of the vegetarian protein.

Damn...just when you have something figured out, eh!?

I personally will keep up with the soy. In regards to the soy milk, just make sure it doesn't have added sugar in it. I always get plain- it's tricky since it looks just like the Vanilla packs though!

Alright so, this week, I've had hummus and now soy milk derailed for me. If any of you ladies reveals that flax seed or anything similar is also harmful, I will hit my head on a wall :P

I've never been a milk person. Even chocolate milk. Ever since I was weaned (not kidding) I've never drank milk. And when I ha my allergy test last year I found out about my intolerance. I LOVE almond milk. I'm obsessed with it. I really recommend trying it. I get the chocolate flavour. Gives me my chocolate fix and tastes delicious.

Can you tell me what brand you are using for the almond milk? I'd love to try it!!

Well soy has a spin because there is a 'dark side to soy' in terms of Mosanto but the thing is, most of that soy goes toward animal feed and never makes it into human food. The human food that it does go into isn't soy milk (which is largely non-GMO) but rather processed foods like cereals, cereal bars, etc. Soy growing is a necessity due to the corn/soy relationship but again, most of that corn goes into animal feed along with processed foods like high fructose corn syrup. If people ate less processed foods and less animal products from factory farming then you'd see a huge decrease in GMO soy & corn.

I love soy and do well with it, but like all of our food supply, yes, there is a dark side to it and it can be problematic.

I also love dairy milk, almond milk, etc., have concerns about rice milk but like it.

I think in decades past there has been a bias against animal products (and I was a vegetarian for three decades), but our food supply, in my opinion, is messed up on all levels.

I try to buy the safest products I can find and also mix up my protein sources.

I like hemp milk also as a base, don't like the taste by itself.

I rarely drink soy milk (if ever anymore). I've heard many negative things about it and I mostly stickto coconut milk, almond milk, or hemp milk.

I drink plain unsweetened almond milk and love it. I've never been a milk drinker for me entire life. But I've fallen in love with almond milk. I've tried soy and it just wasn't for me.

I absolutely love my organic vanilla soy milk and wouldn't go without it anymore. I have one cup every morning since I cook my oatmeal in it. Also, I use it for smoothies.
I tried Almond Milk twice (unsweetened, vanilla) but it gives me heartburn and also, not enough protein for me.

I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk for cereal and baking. If I didn't live with my parents now, I would be using soy milk to cook with. I don't mind it myself. They don't like the idea of it though.

I used to have soy milk for years, then I didn't bother with it for about a year and now I'm back to having it again. These days I also have soy yoghurt as well. I also like almond milk but none of the brands have vitamin B12 added so I don't buy it.

I have mild lactose intolerance (mainly just towards milk or ice cream), so I don't cows milk. As far as milk replacements go, I like almond milk the most due to the flavor and cost. It doesn't contain as much protein as soy milk, but I like the flavor and consistency more. Out of common supermarket brands, I've found that I like Almond Breeze the most.

Almond milk does taste a lot better than soymilk but where I live it's a lot more expensive! :(

I drink soy milk all the time because it's the only non-dairy milk that I like the taste of. I don't care if it's potentially dangerous. I just buy organic, Non-GMO stuff and hope for the best. It's gotta be better than drinking from cows, which isn't natural at all.

I've tried coconut and almond milk. I hated almond milk and I'm not surprised since I don't like almonds. The coconut milk I thought I might like since I like coconut in other things, but I didn't like it either. Soy milk is fantastic and tastes like sugary cow's milk to me.

x1000

THIS is one of the biggest reasons I don't consume soy.