Today’s topic was inspired by a recent debate I overheard in the grocery checkout line where two health-conscious consumers were passionately arguing why soy should be lumped into one of two simplistic categories:
Category A: a wonderful nutrient-rich superfood, or
Category B: a horrible, hormone-disrupting poison that should never be eaten.
Now maybe you’ve heard the same arguments about soy, and as a result, caught yourself nervously wondering: Is soy good or bad, and should I be eating it?
To answer this question, let’s quickly review what soy is and in what foods you’ll primarily find soy when you go to the grocery store (Hint, Hint – it’s not where you think!)
Alright, so what is soy? Simple. Soy is a protein derived from soybeans which are a type of legume, and soy is used to make a wide assortment of foods in the US. Now interestingly enough, whole soybeans are rarely consumed in the US, and instead what you find is that most of the soy produced here is used to make soybean oil, which is then used to make many of the processed foods we see on our grocery shelves. As a homework assignment, just cruise the grocery store aisles and take a moment to peruse the ingredients of your favorite boxed foods and you’ll see that soy (often in the form of soybean oil) is in a ton of them – from cereal to protein bars to crackers to frozen meals and even in odd places you won’t expect like canned tuna. And then of course you’ve got soy in places you would expect like tofu and soy milk.
This is all to say that soy is everywhere – and if you’re eating processed foods, you’re most likely eating soy.
So now let’s move onto the question at hand: Is soy good or bad for you?
Well truthfully, what research says is a mixed-bag of sorts. For example, on two hot button health topics that most women usually inquire about – thyroid function and cancer – research has shown that soy consumption could lead to hypothyroidism in healthy adult women, as determined by a landmark study in Japan. Then as far as cancer risk, some studies have found that soy consumption decreases risk of breast cancer as well as reduces the risk of breast cancer recurrence – meaning that if a woman had breast cancer, it’s less likely to come back if she eats soy.
See what I mean by mixed-bag?
Now fortunately, there is one area of the soy debate that both sides can agree on, and it’s that soy products are actually a good source of protein if you’re looking to go meat-less. And then there are also very waist-friendly foods like miso (which I love!), natto and tempeh, which are all fermented soy foods commonly eaten in Asian countries.
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So here’s the bottom-line-to-the-point-take-home-message that I want you all to walk away with from today’s post – despite all the sometimes confusing research: Soy (like many foods) is not a totally black and white thing – and like all foods, there are both pros and cons to soy. That point totally understood, after combing through some of the research on soy (and there’s a lot of it!) here’s a very concise bullet point approach to soy that I’d recommend:
- If you’re pregnant, plan on becoming pregnant, or breastfeeding, try to avoid eating too much soy since it does contain compounds that can disrupt our hormones, particularly the hormone estrogen.
- In the case of babies, I’d advise avoiding soy infant formula since studies have linked it to early puberty and early breast tissue development in girls.
- Go organic, since over 90% of soy produced in the U.S. is genetically modified and crops are sprayed with pesticides which may be associated with adverse health effects.
Last but not least, if you’re going to eat soy, just do so in moderation – which honestly is very easy to do if you don’t eat a ton of processed foods, and instead make your diet more whole foods rich with foods like meat, veggies, fruit, whole grains, and dairy. Or you can make your diet more on the Paleo side, which is my dietary preference. But hey, I don’t need to tell you this because you’re a healthy living rockstar, which means you’re already mostly eating whole foods, which means you’re already not eating too much soy. *wink*
What are your thoughts on soy? Let me know in the comments!
Peace, Love & Healthy Living! – Doc
Yes, when I first gave up cow’s milk I started drinking soymilk and eating other soy products. Then I heard soy wasn’t healthy to consume. I did some research on soy and gave it up. I found that it does produce estrogen in the body and too much estrogen can lead to breast cancer. It also affects the nervous system and a host of other conditions. I also have a benign breast cyst that i discovered some years ago and I really believe that the soy contributed to that. People are always saying that asian women have low rates of breast cancer and it is bc they consume soy products. Clearly that is not the reason why they are not going to tell you there secret. Bc I find that Asians smoke a lot to but you never here about them having lung cancer. They also drink a lot of herbal teas and use herbs so if anything I think that is the reason there less susceptible to developing cancer in my opinion.