Is soya bad for your health?

[eve]

Must admit I got my leg pulled at the swimming pool this morning, with comments about looking out for me at the butcher's shop! And a couple of people were tut-tutting about their neighbours who eat so much soy. I'd love to see an article, such as we read on the pcrm site about the dangers of cows milk in relation to breast and prostate cancer.

[Woodsie]

I've been vegan for ages, but I never really ate started eating soya till a few years ago. Since then I have developed hypothyroidism, which I have just discovered is a known effect of eating soy.

Sorry to be anti, but I will be avoiding it altogether from now on.

It's strange as I've had hypothyroidism for 10 years and neither my GP nor my endocrinologist has ever told me to avoid soy products or other 'goitrogens'. I have read reports that soy products can inhibit the absorption of thyroxine and 2 naturopaths have told me to avoid them (one even told me to avoid soy, all cruciferous vegetables, almonds, apples and God knows what else and frankly I refuse to as (a) I'm not prepared to cut all those healthy foods from my diet and (b) what the hell else am I supposed to eat?!!) I was at my GP the other day and mentioned that I'd suddenly put on quite a bit of weight lately and wondered could it be from eating more soy products and his response was 'we'll soon see by your blood tests'... I am getting my thyroid levels tested this week so watch this space!

[Manzana]

Sorry!!! really, I did not mean to start another thread here!!!:(

I had a friend that used to work in nutrition. He was a doctor and especialised in how our bodies absorb the nutrients in food. He once told me that soya milk (this does not include tofu, tempeh or other soya foods where the bean has been germinated) has something that stops your body from absorbing certain nutrients and therefore can have a negative effect on health...

also, soya contains phyto-oestrogens that can potentially (aparently, I am not a doctor so I dont know!) play a bit with your hormones and make you quite emotional if you are female... and lots of other things that people claim...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,,1342291,00.html

I am sure that it is much better than pumping cow pus and growth hormones into your body but for the moment I tend to use it just for some cooking and little else... I love oat milk (tastes like porridge!):rolleyes:

[Tikkin]

Hmm interesting, thanks for that article. I'm deffinitely going to have a try of oat milk and maybe almond milk...but I think I'll still have soya milk because it's so much cheaper.

[Mr Flibble]

He once told me that soya milk (this does not include tofu

My best friend when I was growing up claimed to be allergic to tomatoes, except when on pizza or in ketchup.

Tofu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu) is coagulated soya milk.

[Manzana]

erm, ok, as i said, i didnt really want to start a new thread... everything seems to be bad for you! :P

[Korn]

Sorry!!! really, I did not mean to start another thread here!!!:( ... which is why I just merged your new thread with an existing soya thread... :)

[Manzana]

Thanks Korn :)

[Jamie]

I think it's quite depressing how much the information differs!!! When there is so much industrial/political pressure behind it, how will we ever find out what the case is?

[magpie]

I don't think its bad as such, much better than meat, but there are things about eating too much of it that are bad for women of childbearing age as it can affect the thyroid.
Personally GM soya is the real problem though, loads of companies claim to be GM free when they aren't and GM soya is still getting mixed up with non GM. GM foods are known to have serious health implications and we all know that the authorities have covered up research that links GM foods to serious health concerns. And yet GM is still being fed to the public and most of all to vegans, we are the guinea pigs. I'd advise you only eat organic soya, or soya from a cast iron source. Otherwise twenty years from now we'll be in the same state those rats were, that they fed GM potatoes to.

[RedWellies]

Yes, GM is a problem. It makes me cross! Anyway, about soya...I don't think I ate much of it as a child/teenager. I probably eat more now that I am vegan but I know if I eat too much (for me), I get belly ache. It's the only thing that does this to me so there has to be something "not good" about it. The biggest problem comes when it's in burgers/icecream, etc.

[Mermaid07]

Is all organic soymilk GM free or does it depend on the company?

[aubergine]

All Alpro is GM free, and some of it is Organic.

[steven1222]

Is all organic soymilk GM free or does it depend on the company?

All organic soymilk is GMO-free, regardless of the company.

[hazelbunny]

I'm not at all sure about soya anymore, because of the phytoestrogens. But I have just discovered that hemp contains more essential amino acids than soya and can be made into milk, tofu etc. so am planning to try it. Its also got the perfect omega balance apparently.

[eclectic_one]

Here's a link to an article on WebMD:
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/Soy-Wars

[rianaelf]

I'm not at all sure about soya anymore, because of the phytoestrogens. But I have just discovered that hemp contains more essential amino acids than soya and can be made into milk, tofu etc. so am planning to try it. Its also got the perfect omega balance apparently.

i love hemp :)
i use the flour in my vegy pies, put the oil in my salads, on my hair, on my body, drink the milk, wear the shoes, would wear the cloths if i could afford them XD

[coy division]

Processed soy is very bad for your health supposedly; Asian cuisine is known to be "soy healthy" because all of the soy they use is fermented (ie: tofu and other soy staples), but none of the soy ingredients that go in vegan meat,dairy-alternative foods are fermented and 'pure'. Most of them seem to be chemically derived in some way, shape, or form, and while moderate amounts might provide some decent protein, I think ample heaps of processed soy can't possibly be good for anyone's body.

[Becky9679]

OK, I've come here from the thread on eczema as I've been told soya can make eczema worse. I've been vegan since May this year, my soya intake did go up, I did get an eczema outbreak but after about 2-3 months. Could my outbreak be soya related? I've been reading a lot of bad things about soya since this and I'd like to know if people think I'm eating too much soya, regardless of whether or not it may affect my eczema (I'm a new vegan - not sure how much is too much or what the alternatives are).

I have alpro yoghurt on my cereal in the morning, a couple more yoghurts as snacks during the day, and I have some cauldron tofu and some TVP every day too. At the weekend (which is my "treat" time) I tend to have some of the more highly processed meat analogs like redwoods stuff.

There's also a lot in this thread (I haven't read all of it yet, sorry) about bad versus good soya. Does anyone know if I'm eating the bad or good kind?!?!

[Manzana]

HI Becky,

I think too much or too little are relative terms and depend on the individual. So, bearing this in mind, personally I think you are having a lot of Soya (at least that would be a lot for what I usually have).

I tend to have tofu only once or twice a week. Sometimes I have soya milk or yoghurt but most times I have oat milk. I never have any TVP or processed meat analogs as (like most processed products) they tend to be less nutritious (and argueably less healthy) than other foods...

If you are a new vegan, it might be hard not to use processed meat (as you are probably trying to adapt slowly from your previous diet)... but there are a couple of simple changes you can do... instead of snack soya yoghurts, have bananas, apples or other fruits... TOfu is always a much better choice (in my opinion) than processed meat alternatives. Pasta dishes, rissotto or stir fries don't need any soya to be delicious so maybe they could substitute some of your processed soya meals?

[steven1222]

TVP and highly processed meat analogs are said to be unhealthy, as are so-called 'excessive' amounts of any soy products. It does sound like you eat a large amount of soy, but the fact that people blame it for anything does not necessarily mean it is the cause. The whole idea of "good vs. bad soy" is controversial.

Edit: someone posted while I was replying.

[eclectic_one]

From what I've read, it's specifically products that contain soy isolates or soy concentrate that aren't good for you. Whole soy products seem to be healthy, though anything can be done in excess. Pretty much everyday I have a soy smoothie (containing soy yogurt & often soy milk along with fruit) and almost daily I eat a "soy" meal (tofu, tempeh, etc). I'm sure it's mentioned elsewhere, but you may want to check out this site: http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about_soy.htm

[Becky9679]

Thanks for all the replies.

This week I've made the attempt at cutting back on the soy, which is a lot easier than I thought. I've not had any so far, will take the suggestions on board about just having "whole soy" products like tofu, as I know too much processing's bad anyway.

As I'm a bit clueless about vegan cooking I've also ordered a book, Vegan Cooking for One (my husband is a meat eater) to give me ideas for stuff beyond using soy.

To be honest I doubt that it's soy that's given me the eczema outbreak, there have been occasions where I was having it daily before going vegan with no ill effects.

[xrodolfox]

I went to a homeopath, and my eczema went away within months after having it for a year. I ate LOTS of soy before, during, and after, and it's been 5 years since I had eczema and I eat more soy than ever.

Go to a homeopath and get that fixed. It's likely that your diet has little to do with it.

[vegan]

Wow, there are a lot of people on these forums... kind of makes me a bit dizzy.