Soymilk Unhealthy?

[Guest guest]

Hi, Jessica.

There was a whole string of messages on this list about the benefits

and risks of soy a while back. You can find them by searching on soy.

I think you will find many different opinions about soy and you'll have

to make up your own mind. My opinion is that it is not the great

remedy for every health problem that some say it is, but it is also not

the great health risk (in moderate amounts) that others seem to think

it is.

Karen

 

, jessica hoh <surferjh1 wrote:

Yesterday somone was telling me I should NOT drink soymilk because it's

so terrible for your health....Can anyone shed some light on this

issue??? "

[Guest guest]

I'm no expert on this subject, but I also eat lots of soy and never had any health problems; at least none I was aware of. In my last physical, I was told I'm fine.I believe the Chinese also eat lots of soy. About a year ago, I heard that soy might cause impotence in men, but I also heard that China made a law allowing only one kid per family; or something like that. It seems that if soy really caused impotence, China wouldn't be worried about about overpopulation and thus feel compelled to make such a law.Just my $0.2. Would love more details about China's legislation, if anyone has any.- RosalindOn Oct 20, 2006, at 10:37 AM, jessica hoh wrote:Yesterday somone was telling me I should NOT drink soymilk because it's so terrible for your health. Something about it has estrogen in it and it really messes up your body. I've been drinking soy and rice milk for years and have never had any weird side effects....Can anyone shed some light on this issue???

[Guest guest]

Soy contains phytoestrogens, which are not estrogen but they are

chemically similar. The reason for the " concern " is that the media

went nuts and blew the phytoestrogen thing out of proportion,

allowing milk industry advocates to trumpet misinformation like " soy

formulas are like feeding birth control pills to babies " . So far I

have not read a single study that confirms anything other than a weak

effect either way (beneficial or harmful) about phytoestrogens.

 

So, there are really only two things to remember: (1) if all you eat

is soy and processed soy products, you're not going to be as healthy

as you would be if you ate a variety foods, and (2) the media is

crazy. Remember, the Atkins diet survived for years without any

scrutiny in the media, but all it took was one weak and questionable

study about soy to completely change the conversation. Soy went from

a " wonder food " to " dangerous " overnight.

 

On Oct 20, 2006, at 10:37 AM, jessica hoh wrote:

 

> Yesterday somone was telling me I should NOT drink soymilk because

> it's so terrible for your health. Something about it has estrogen

> in it and it really messes up your body. I've been drinking soy and

> rice milk for years and have never had any weird side

> effects....Can anyone shed some light on this issue???

[Guest guest]

I agree with Steve's observations. The Chronicle had an article about

soy in its Sunday magazine a couple of months ago. It started with an

alarmist headline, and the first few pages contained nothing but

negative statements about soy, mostly from that person who wrote the

book recently (can't think of her name). But if you took the time to

read to the end of the article, the final conclusion was that there

were a few studies that concluded that soy is great, a few that

concluded that soy is dangerous (the ones that got all the headlines),

but the majority of studies didn't show great benefits or risks either

way.

 

Karen

 

....the Atkins diet survived for years without any scrutiny in the

media, but all it took was one weak and questionable study about soy to

completely change the conversation. Soy went from a 'wonder food'

to " dangerous " overnight. "