With all the loads of scientific data available that soy (even edamame) is not a healthy part of anyone’s diet, it shocks me how many folks are still on the “soy is good for you” bandwagon – even people who should know better like your doctor!
I just got an email from a reader the other day who had been to multiple doctors, both holistic and conventional, and all but one of them were telling her that plenty of soy in her diet would help her menopause symptoms.
I had another shocking conversation recently with a doctor of Internal Medicine who had no idea soy was a potent goitrogenic food and actively suppressed thyroid function.
Be careful folks. It’s dangerous out there! You really need to do your research and be on your toes at all times when it comes to nutritional advice even from someone in a white coat!
For those of you who just sat down because you are so taken aback by the notion that soy is not actually the healthfood you thought it was, here are 170 scientific reasons to back up this assertion.
Fermented Soy Fine in Small Amounts for Some People
Please note that fermented soy in small, condimental amounts as practiced in traditional Asian cultures is fine for those who have healthy thyroid function. Only miso, tempeh, natto and traditionally brewed soy sauce fall under this category. In addition, if you want to sprinkle a few edamame on your salad or have a few small cubes of tofu in your miso soup from time to time, that is fine too. A little soy lecithin in a nonGMO snack food from time to time isn’t necessarily a problem either. Just don’t make it a regular part of your diet!
If you have any sort of thyroid issues going on, however, it is really the best policy to avoid all soy all the time as soy is a potent goitrogen (thyroid suppressor) even if fermented.
Dangers of Soy #1
A 1991 study found that eating only 2 TBL/day of roasted and pickled soybeans for 3 months to healthy adults who were receiving adequate iodine in their diet caused thyroid suppression with symptoms of malaise, constipation, sleepiness, and goiters (Nippon Naibunpi Gakkai Zasshi 1991, 767: 622-629)!
Still think munching on edamame instead of popcorn is a healthy habit?
Dangers of Soy #2
Six premenopausal women with normal menstrual cycles were given 45 mg of soy isoflavones per day. This is equivalent to only 1-2 cups of soy milk or 1/2 cup of soy flour! After only one month, all of the women experienced delayed menstruation with the effects similar to tamoxifen, the anti-estrogen drug given to women with breast cancer (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1994 Sep;60(3):333-340).
Dangers of Soy #3
Dietary estrogens in the form of soy foods were found to have the potential to disrupt the endocrine system with the effects in women similar to taking the breast cancer drug tamoxifen (Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 1995 Jan;208(1):51-9).
Dangers of Soy #4
Estrogens consumed in the diet at low concentrations were found to stimulate breast cells much like DDT to increase enzymatic activity which leads to breast cancer (Environmental Health Perspectives 1997 Apr;105 (Suppl 3):633-636).
Dangers of Soy #5
The soy isoflavones genistein and daidzein appear to stimulate existing breast cancer growth indicating risk in consuming soy products if a woman has breast cancer. (Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2001 Sep;35(9):118-21).
Dangers of Soy #6
Direct evidence that soy isoflavones genistein and daidzein suppress the pituitary-thyroid axis in middle-aged rats fed 10 mg soy isoflavones per kilo after only 3 weeks as compared with rats eating regular rat chow (Experimental Biology and Medicine 2010 May;235(5):590-8).
Dangers of Soy #7
Don’t eat soy when you are pregnant ladies! Scientific research has shown that the developing male fetus which is exposed to soy phytoestrogens may suffer from higher susceptibility to prostate cancer later in life (Prostate 1994;24(2):67-78).
Dangers of Soy #8
Keep that soy away from your daughters! Dietary genistein (soy phytoestrogen) in developing female rats had the effect of significantly accelerated puberty (Toxicol Sci 1999 Oct;51(2):236-44).
In addition, early exposure to soy is associated with less female typical play patterns in girls at 42 months of age (Environ Health Perspect v. 119(12); Dec 2011).
Dangers of Soy #9
Hey guys! Soy protein powder strips your masculinity! A study of 12 men aged 18 years and older experienced a 19% drop in serum testosterone in only 28 days when supplemented with 56 grams of soy protein powder over that same time period (Prev 2007;16:829—33).
Dangers of Soy #10
Do NOT feed soy formula to your babies! Female newborns who are orally exposed to genisin, the glycosylated form of genistein (soy phytoestrogen) experienced harm to the reproductive system in the form of “delayed vaginal opening… abnormal estrous cycles, decreased fertility, and delayed parturition.” (Environmental Health Perspective 2009 Dec;117(12):1883-9).
More information on the dangers of soy infant formula even if organic can be found in this article.
Convinced yet? I don’t know about you, but ten reasons is plenty for me! Still interested to see the remaining 160 reasons? My friend Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of the must read The Whole Soy Story, has compiled the rest of the list for you if you click here.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources and More Information on Women’s Health
The Dangers of Estrogenic Food, Herbs and Supplements to Breast Health
Breast Ultrasound Safer and More Effective than Mammography
When Breast Cancer Isn’t Bad News
Thermography: A Perfect Alternative to Cancer Causing Mammograms?
Even Organic Soy Formula is Harmful for Babies
Birth Control Pill Risks to your Future Child’s Health
if soy is so bad, why all the healthy asian people .
Sarah,
If soy is so adverse to one’s health, how is it that Asian population, namely Chinese, Japanese, Korean etc., does not have systemic heath issues?
As my thyroid is fine, I do eat soy in moderation, and in cultural context — making Asian foods. I stick to traditionally fermented sources — and you do need to read labels when you pick up packets of tempeh or miso. A lot of them have wheat in them in this country. I prefer not to have GMO or to have textured soy protein/soy protein isolate foods. The latter is an industrially-processed food that has not been well-studied and which no one anywhere ate at all. I am not sure whether or not it is in soy milk, or how that beverage is made.
Most of the studies purporting to show that cholesterol is bad for you used oxidized sources of cholesterol. They only showed that oxidized (highly processed) cholesterol is bad. I think the same principle is going to be shown to be true of textured soy protein, which is now showing up in nearly everything in the inner aisles of supermarkets. But I will continue to eat miso soup, gluten-free tamari; and also tempeh on the rare times I can find the good stuff. And edamame beans on occasion. Sarah did say these forms are not bad for you, although she’d probably partake of them less than I might.
I don’t buy that soy is bad for you. Sorry. Read this column. Finally, the Truth About Soy. http://zenhabits.net/soy/
The DH and I are both lactose intolerant, so I would purchase soymilk for us. WE loved it! However, I noticed a trend of painful menstruation after drinking soy milk. The following month, I would have cramps, whereas, I usually have NO cramps. I have since removed soymilk from our diets, now it’s trying to rid soy from every other food we eat that’s the challenge. We now use rice milk as our milk of choice.
GMO soy is bad. Organic soy is good. Soy actually modulates hormones and reduces the risk of breast cancer. More recent research is showing this to be the case. Poorly done studies in the past made people afraid of soy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4izW4maKcgg
I would have to disagree. There’s plenty of evidence that even organic soy is bad for you in large doses. Drinking org. soy every morning may even be too much for some people. It can absoultely lead to weight gain and hormonal imbalance. It is a natural detoxifier for the soil and you EAT those toxins…organic or NOT… I avoid soy unless it is both organic AND fermented….perhaps you have read another poorly done study….soy should not be a staple in anyone’s diet…
As I said, any food in large doses can be detrimental to an individual. Food groups should be consumed in moderation, and those with health risks need to be more cautious, its not just a matter of organic, or non organic its also a matter of how the food is meatbolised in the body and the constituents it contains. Too much flour food can contribute to type 2 diabetes for example, waether its organic flour food or not just means a cleaner source of flour food.
Why is GMO soy bad and non GMO good You have been reading too many bad books, WHy do you fear GMO foods? There is so much false info out there about them. Do not fear them.