Soy- good or bad for you?

nstock

Hey,

I’ve recently began incorporating vegan/vegetarian meals into my week. I am loving Gardein products but noticed they have soy in them. I have heard that soy based products are not good for you in the past- is this true? Anyone have more knowledge about this topic?

janejellyroll

You can "hear" that all sorts of things are bad for you. What specific things are you worried about? Unless you have a medical condition that requires you to limit or eliminate soy, I wouldn't worry about it. There is no reliable evidence that moderate soy consumption (like moderate consumption of most foods) is bad for your health.

You may find this science-based overview interesting: https://veganhealth.org/soy/

Although it's written for a vegan audience, it can be used by anyone who is curious about soy consumption.

GottaBurnEmAll

I read all the research and talked to my endocrinologist and decided it was perfectly fine. And then found out I had GI issues when I ate too much of it after becoming a vegetarian.

It makes me sad, because I really liked tofu, tempeh, and TVP.

kimny72

I know at one point, there was a lot of noise that soy foods caused hormonal imbalance and may encourage some reproductive cancers, but much (or all) of that didn't pan out upon further study. I think most of the controversy now is tied up in the GMO issue, as I guess a lot of the soy (on the US market at least) is GMO, but since there's no evidence GMOs are harmful, IMHO it's a non-issue.

With stuff like this, I fall back on the balanced diet approach, like @janejellyroll alluded to. If you are eating a balanced diet where no one food is an overwhelmingly large part of your diet, I personally wouldn't worry about it.

MikePTY

For most people, it really is just "one of those things they say". Soy consumption, especially minimally processed soy, can be a healthy part of any diet. In fact, there actually are a lot of health benefits associated with it.

If you suffer from PCOS, a thyroid condition, or certain other conditions, then its recommended to limit soy intake. But unless you have a medical condition that requires avoiding it, you don't need to worry about it.

GottaBurnEmAll

MikePTY wrote: »

For most people, it really is just "one of those things they say". Soy consumption, especially minimally processed soy, can be a healthy part of any diet. In fact, there actually are a lot of health benefits associated with it.

If you suffer from PCOS, a thyroid condition, or certain other conditions, then its recommended to limit soy intake. But unless you have a medical condition that requires avoiding it, you don't need to worry about it.

I have a thyroid condition and my endocrinologist said it was fine, according to the latest research. Same for cruciferous veggies, which is another one that gets bandied about for thyroid patients.

janejellyroll

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

MikePTY wrote: »

For most people, it really is just "one of those things they say". Soy consumption, especially minimally processed soy, can be a healthy part of any diet. In fact, there actually are a lot of health benefits associated with it.

If you suffer from PCOS, a thyroid condition, or certain other conditions, then its recommended to limit soy intake. But unless you have a medical condition that requires avoiding it, you don't need to worry about it.

I have a thyroid condition and my endocrinologist said it was fine, according to the latest research. Same for cruciferous veggies, which is another one that gets bandied about for thyroid patients.

My sister also go the go-ahead to continue eating soy from her endocrinologist, so it's certainly worth asking and not just assuming one should avoid it.

nstock

Thanks for all the advice everyone! Most of my concern was based on old information I suppose. I do not have any medical conditions that would limit my consumption!

apullum

MikePTY wrote: »

For most people, it really is just "one of those things they say". Soy consumption, especially minimally processed soy, can be a healthy part of any diet. In fact, there actually are a lot of health benefits associated with it.

If you suffer from PCOS, a thyroid condition, or certain other conditions, then its recommended to limit soy intake. But unless you have a medical condition that requires avoiding it, you don't need to worry about it.

There is not scientific evidence to support the assertion that people with PCOS should limit soy. Recent studies suggest that it has no effect or a positive effect on some hormone levels, and several studies indicate that it may help improve cholesterol and triglyceride levels in people with PCOS:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3214337/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6130471/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5225686/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18166189

kshama2001

nstock wrote: »

Hey,

I’ve recently began incorporating vegan/vegetarian meals into my week. I am loving Gardein products but noticed they have soy in them. I have heard that soy based products are not good for you in the past- is this true? Anyone have more knowledge about this topic?

I had heard that fermented soy was better than not but it seems I was misinformed: https://freefromharm.org/health-nutrition/vegan-doctor-addresses-soy-myths-and-misinformation/

bigbandjohn

I read something from a heart doctor that said there is an issue with a certain chemical that will "slow you down". I just go back to my mantra - "Moderation is key". You are less likely to have issues if you are careful to have anything in moderation if you like it.

janejellyroll

bigbandjohn wrote: »

I read something from a heart doctor that said there is an issue with a certain chemical that will "slow you down". I just go back to my mantra - "Moderation is key". You are less likely to have issues if you are careful to have anything in moderation if you like it.

What chemical is that?

AnnPT77

FWIW, I've followed the soy controversy pretty closely for about 15 years. I'm a long-term survivor of advanced breast cancer (stage III), and have been vegetarian for 44+ years. Since part of the controversy was about whether soy fueled estrogen-fed cancers, and my tumors were estrogen-receptor positive, this was a pretty big deal to me.

For years, research results were ambiguous, and the mainstream cancer organization (American Cancer Society and others of that sort) recommended caution. More recently, their guidance has changed, basically saying that best research understanding now is that moderate soy consumption (probably up to around a couple of servings per day) is OK, and more may be safe (but there isn't enough evidence from US/Western population studies, because too few people eat that much soy and they can't get sound statistics based on the data; not because of evidence that more is harmful).

My comment is specific to the breast cancer/estrogen/soy question, and may or may not generalize. Soy contains phytoestrogens, which are similar to human estrogen, but not identical. In theory, putting it in simple terms, it can behave like estrogen in some scenarios (depending on what's going on biochemically), or block regular estrogen from having certain effects (by hooking up biochemically to receptors that estrogen would normally bond with).

ladyreva78

It's bad for me.

But then again, I don't digest it properly and it leaves me with some serious GI distress (flatulence in the best of cases, diarrhea in the worst) if I eat it in larger amounts.

GottaBurnEmAll

ladyreva78 wrote: »

It's bad for me.

But then again, I don't digest it properly and it leaves me with some serious GI distress (flatulence in the best of cases, diarrhea in the worst) if I eat it in larger amounts.

That's the case for me too, sadly. I really loved baked marinated tofu too. Oh well. I can eat small doses of edamame, but that's about it.

happytree923

Be careful researching this as lot of anti-soy information comes from the Weston A. Price Foundation, a quack nutrition organization that has a bizarre hate for soy. My understanding is if you already have hypothyroid it is good to limit soy but it won't cause hypothyroid in a healthy person. I've never heard of traditionally soy-consuming cultures having higher rates of the diseases soy is blamed for so in the context of a varied diet soy has little to no risk.

paperpudding

I have had half my thyroid surgically removed. I am on thyroxine for life

No doctor or endocrine specialist has ever told me to avoid soy.

whitpauly

Bumping this cuz I'm too lazy to start a new one I've been researching this cuz I'm in perimenopause and noticed one of the ingredients in Estroven is soy,I'm not sure if I'm gonna use it so I bought some soy milk just to see how I do,alot of what I googled tends to seem contradictory,one says it's good another says it's bad,any thoughts?

paperpudding

My thoughts are follow reputable sources and medical advice.

As I said, none of the several doctors and endocrine spcialists who I saw told me to cut out soy

( as it happens I don't eat soy anyway - but they are not mind readers, they didn't know that - and none found it neccesary to bring the topic up )

apullum

Estroven is an herbal supplement. Like all other supplements, it did not have to go through any clinical trials to prove that it works and does not cause undue harm. Prescription drugs, on the other hand, all must be vetted in this way.

There is some scientific evidence showing that soy isoflavones slightly lower the frequency of hot flashes in menopausal people (https://examine.com/nutrition/is-soy-good-or-bad/). Before menopause, soy isoflavones do not affect estrogen levels because the body is still making a lot of estrogen. There do not appear to be studies about soy isoflavones in perimenopause, but based on the existing studies, I would expect them to do nothing.

Estroven also contains other ingredients: black cohosh, green tea extract, yerba mate extract, and magnolia bark extract (https://www.cvs.com/shop/estroven-maximum-strength-multi-symptom-menopause-relief-caplets-28ct-prodid-246274). Black cohosh has a small effect on menopause symptoms, but the evidence is mixed and we can't rule out that it's just a placebo (https://examine.com/supplements/black-cohosh/). Green tea extract has no effect on blood estrogen level (https://examine.com/supplements/green-tea-catechins/). Yerba mate extract has not been tested for anything related to menopause, but doesn't have much effect on anything else (https://examine.com/supplements/yerba-mate/). Chewing gum with magnolia bark is probably good for your teeth (https://examine.com/supplements/magnolia-officinalis/).

Overall, for perimenopause symptoms, I would not use either Estroven or soymilk. A black cohosh supplement may be worth trying after checking with your doctor, keeping in mind that it may not do much either.

RelCanonical

Soy...lent green is PEOPLE!!!!

psychod787

Fine.... the amount you would have to eat to get the estrogenic effect is massive!

apullum

psychod787 wrote: »

Fine.... the amount you would have to eat to get the estrogenic effect is massive!

Not exactly. It’s more complex than that. In the studies I linked, the effects of soy isoflavones on *menopausal* people’s symptoms were observed in doses equivalent to about two servings of tofu or soy milk per day. BUT that effect is not observed in premenopausal people because their bodies are still making much more estrogen, and the observed effect is pretty small anyway. There isn’t much evidence to support use of soy for menopause symptoms, either in small or large doses.

glassyo

RelCanonical wrote: »

Soy...lent green is PEOPLE!!!!

To Serve Man is a....COOK BOOK!

Safari_Gal

Same here / thyroid condition and my endocrinologist said no prob to have a few servings of tofu/soy products per week.

jgnatca

Well, the protein content is excellent and as finding enough protein is tough enough on a vegan diet, more soy. (Marinating tofu as we speak).

jwoolman5

I'm a chemist and have not been impressed with the studies the "soy is bad" folk cite. So unless you are sensitive to soy yourself (allergy or intolerance), I wouldn't worry about it. Animal studies tend to be bad science in general.

Thinking about its risk in certain diseases keeps shifting also, although fermented soy generally seems to be considered safe even then (tempeh, miso).

I myself wouldn't eat it all the time, though, it's not the only bean available.... There are also many alternatives today to soy milk that are dairy-free and high protein. So it's not hard to alternate them.

The American diet is already overloaded in soy, which is not the best situation for people tending toward food allergies. So just making sure it's not all-soy all-the-time is wise for many people, but that is also true for many other foods.

anthocyanina

@whitpauly have you considered flax? Flaxseed contains immensely more lignans than any other food source.

Scientific evidence on flaxseed's effects on perimenopause is mixed and may not work for everyone, as hormonal situations can be wildly different. However it has helped me noticeably, and my doctor supports my using flax for peri. It has other health benefits as well. I grind 2 tablespoons daily and mix it in my overnight oats.

I also eat a fair amount of soy foods daily, mostly minimally processed ones such as tofu and soymilk. Since I ate soy in the same amount before peri, I have no idea what effects, if any, it has.

whitpauly

Flaxseed gives me shortness of breath for some reason? Anyhoo after a week using soy milk I started getting terrible stomach probs so I guess I answered my own question