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Soy and Health Concerns

MynameisnotDeja

Bluelight Crew
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Im a vegetarian and a great portion of my diet comes from TVP and tofu. I eat TVP burgers maybe twice a week and have a tofu dish maybe another two meals a week. I also have soy milk in my cereal.

Im concerned because Ive read a lot of articles saying soy disrupts the thyroid and causes a lot of problems.

Here is one of the articles:

http://thyroid.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/darkside.html

I guess my question is should I be concerned about the amount of soy I eat? Ive wondered if I have thyroid issues before..but some of the symptoms are so vague its hard to know. I know I generally feel good after consuming soy products...

What do all the other veggies think about this topic? I did a search but couldnt find anything. My boyfriend is always trying to tell me soy burns holes in your brain and all this other crap and I never listen to him cuz he is really anti vegetarian. But reading that article made me kinda nervous....
 
I wouldnt worry about it, japan and china have consumed soy products for ages and there has not been much of an issue. of course, nothing is for sure, but i would continue to consume soy. Im a nutrition student and have never heard anything like this. theres much worse shit in most of the meat and some of the dairy on the market. eat your soy, its good for you. and your bf is just bein silly
 
If you aren't diagnosed with having hypo or hyperthyroidism I don't think you should be worried about soy. I have had a thyro ultrasound last year and a thorough medical exam and have been taking levothyroxine (thyroid hormone) because my T4 levels are not up to par. This is the reason why I have cut down on all soy products from my diet.

My parents who are very health conscious drink soy milk, take isoflavone supplements and all that, which is good for them as they have no thyroid conditions or whatever. I think this is an INDIVIDUAL thing that needs to be assessed personally ......what may be good / bad for another person may not apply to yourself (I think this is a very important thing to remember since all things considering,a lot of stuff you read / find out about diet and health are very contradictory) and knowing ones individual needs before coming to conclusions is extremely vital .

The one thing I have against the soy industry is this huge propaganda they did in the 70s-80s that put palm/coconut oil in such a bad light just to further the cause of the soya bean....that it still reverberates up to this day. That's another thread altogether.
 
Don't worry about soy. It raises estrogen levels, but most of the the junk you read is contradicted by another article anyway.
 
I agree with the others that you should take studies with a grain of salt.

Background: I was an avid vegan for 7 years.

But I know that since I started incorporating some animal proteins into my diet: first real milk (skim) then eggs, cheese, fish, chicken, and the occasional good-quality steak (every few months) I've never felt better, and lost a lot of weight to boot. I don't know... I really think we're meant to have *some* meat in our diets, and that's from 13 years of research and experience... and I do sympathise with the reasons of vegetarians, I really do.

But seriously, I feel so much more alive with a varied diet now including animal products, after 7 years subsiting on soy/lentils/vegetables etc. ps. I still adore tofu! But I now can eat a good-quality, organic steak without barfing (not sausages or other processed meat though... urgh)
 
They say soy and MSG causes all these health problems, but Asian people pretty much live on food that contains both and they are ALOT healthier than most people in the western world.
 
MynameisnotDeja said:
Im concerned because Ive read a lot of articles saying soy disrupts the thyroid and causes a lot of problems.

The soy-thyroid connection has been established to be due to iodine deficiency. A number of studies have confirmed that non iodine deficient humans do not have thyroid problems resulting from soy consumption. As long as your intake of iodine is watched, then it won't be an issue.
 
Apparently it's not tofu so much that's the problem, but rather soya milk and stuff like soya yoghurt and cream. Because of the way that soya milk is made, it's quite hard for the body to process and digest, which is why rice milk, oat milk and even cows milk is better for you.

I still drink soya milk occasionally though, because I can't stand rice milk in my coffee, and if I have more than a sprinkling of cows milk a day then I feel rather sick. :(
 
>>The one thing I have against the soy industry is this huge propaganda they did in the 70s-80s that put palm/coconut oil in such a bad light just to further the cause of the soya bean...>>

On the other hand, palm and coconut oil (coconut oil more so) are highly saturated, no matter how you cut it.

ebola
 
soy plays no effect on estrogen levels at all. it is a phyto-estrogen yes, but does not play out any estrogen effects within the human body. theres been research to support this

take what you read on body building forums with a grain of salt...they dont always know what theyre talking about, and tend to believe anything they hear ( i worked in a gym for ages, and got so frustrated with people asking me stupid questions).

asian men, and women for that matter, have smaller bone frames mostly from genetics, not eating soy. and ive seen asian bodybuilders who can compete with the best of them. ive also know huge vegan bodybuilders in the industry.
 
>>>>it's quite hard for the body to process and digest, which is why rice milk, oat milk and even cows milk is better for you.

That is highly questionable. Did you know that half of the human population is lactose intolerant? I would find it hard to believe that cow's milk is a better option, especially considering the high sat. fat and cholesterol content.

I would suggest almond milk, anyways.
 
cupcakez said:
soy plays no effect on estrogen levels at all. it is a phyto-estrogen yes, but does not play out any estrogen effects within the human body. theres been research to support this

take what you read on body building forums with a grain of salt...they dont always know what theyre talking about, and tend to believe anything they hear ( i worked in a gym for ages, and got so frustrated with people asking me stupid questions).

asian men, and women for that matter, have smaller bone frames mostly from genetics, not eating soy. and ive seen asian bodybuilders who can compete with the best of them. ive also know huge vegan bodybuilders in the industry.


did you even look at the link I posted?

in that thread, they, unlike you, actually gave studies and links to support their arguments, both for and against whether soy had an effect on estrogen levels.

for every study that said one thing, there were five more that said the other, as in many cases.

What tipped the scale for me was at least 3 firsthand accounts found in that thread that explained adverse effects from using soy protein, one of which included sensitive nipples.

Now I'm not saying that eating tofu is gonna make your nipples sore or turn you into a girl, I am saying that soy protein supplaments have side effects I'd rather do without. Plus whey protein is better for post workout anyway.

I was more than half kidding about that asian remark too, im Indian
 
cupcakez said:
soy plays no effect on estrogen levels at all. it is a phyto-estrogen yes, but does not play out any estrogen effects within the human body. theres been research to support this

take what you read on body building forums with a grain of salt...they dont always know what theyre talking about, and tend to believe anything they hear ( i worked in a gym for ages, and got so frustrated with people asking me stupid questions).

asian men, and women for that matter, have smaller bone frames mostly from genetics, not eating soy. and ive seen asian bodybuilders who can compete with the best of them. ive also know huge vegan bodybuilders in the industry.

Unfortunately, you are absolutely wrong. There are thousands of scientific studies that prove the estrogen increase through soy protein. Thanks for the input though...
 
ebola? said:
>>The one thing I have against the soy industry is this huge propaganda they did in the 70s-80s that put palm/coconut oil in such a bad light just to further the cause of the soya bean...>>

On the other hand, palm and coconut oil (coconut oil more so) are highly saturated, no matter how you cut it.

ebola


High saturated yes but Coconut oil and it's associated medium chain fatty acids are a LOT healthier for you than mono-polyunsaturated vegetable oils. MUCH healthier. I recommend this book :
1583332049.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1583332049/002-7790558-3251266?v=glance&n=283155

Don't knock it till you've tried it , look how healthy most asians are ;)
 
StagnantReaction said:
>>>>it's quite hard for the body to process and digest, which is why rice milk, oat milk and even cows milk is better for you.

That is highly questionable. Did you know that half of the human population is lactose intolerant? I would find it hard to believe that cow's milk is a better option, especially considering the high sat. fat and cholesterol content.

I would suggest almond milk, anyways.
I put down cows milk for those people who aren't lactose intolerant, as it is easier to digest than soya milk is. Obviously if you have that problem of being lactose intolerant then you aren't going to go for that choice, are you?

Almond milk is nice, but you can't use it for everything as it can be quite sweet. Nothing worse than putting something like that in your tea or coffee when you don't want it to taste sweet in the first place. Oat milk has a nice mild taste, and can be pretty much used for anything, and it's awesome for using for your cappuccino as it froths up quite nicely. :)
 
I stick with soy products for that reason alone really, that I'm somewhat lactose intollerant. I even get lactose free yohgurt. I can deal with chocolate, bits of icrecream/gelati and the occasional bit of milk in coffee but beyond that its diarrhea city.

Studies or no studies, I just now happen to enjoy the taste of soy over normal milk.

I'm inclined to think there are much bigger health factors in peoples diets rather than the everlasting debate of whether they should drink soy milk or not.
 
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