soy and breast cancer connection?

unicornassassin

As I was chugging a big glass of soymilk, I realized I should look into this.

I've heard that people with a history of certain cancers shouldn't eat soy. I didn't worry too much about it because a nutritionist whose opinion I trust said that it's best to avoid overly-processed soy (soy lecithin, modified soy protein, etc) but that soy milk and tofu were fine to eat. But then a different nutritionist was concerned that I ate soy, so I looked into it a tiny bit.

According to this article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42462412/ns/health-cancer/t/soy-poses-no-risk-breast-cancer-patients-says-study/ the concern was about isoflavones impacting the effectiveness of tamoxifen.

Thoughts? If you've had cancer, do you eat soy or avoid it... if you like it in the first place, that is...

shano25

I can remember after my mom had breast cancer her doctor recommended she eat soy and tofu. I've seen studies both ways, that you shouldn't have it and you should. Asian cultures that eat a lot of soy tend to have lower incidences of cancer.

Because of my family history, I'm at a high risk for breast cancer. I try to avoid soy, just because I tend to play it safe with certain foods that are said to be an issue. I think the best thing is to do what the first nutritionist said and avoid the over-processed kinds and then just have the other in moderation. Personal opinion, no actual science on my part to back it up

_VoV

Other than my mother having had breast cancer, I have no personal connection to this topic. But, I thought I'd draw you to this study, which is reassuring:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110405141703.htm

issyfit

I've read that soy can increase estrogen production which can contribute to developing breast cancer, sorry I don't remember the source.