Can tofu be bad for your baby?

Question

I feed my 11mo old son tofu mixed in with fruit and oatmeal almost every morning. I have heard a rumor that soy releases estrogen. Is this true? Are there any other negatives to feeding a baby tofu? I want to make sure my son gets his protein. He does eat chicken and some beef, but doesn't always want to eat those things. He eats tofu really well.

The tofu is organic (95% of his food is organic)

Answer 1

Well, I suppose anything has the potential to be bad for your baby. But really, if he has been eating it, and he likes it, keep doing it.
I know several people that feed their babies tofu.
But, if I were you, I would make it organic tofu as soybean crops often have a lot of pesticides.

There may be some truth to the estrogen thing, but I wouldn't worry too much. He would have to eat a lot of it, and it probably doesn't matter when he is a baby because his body isn't producing any hormones yet.

Answer 2

Tofu is entirely healthy for a baby of his age. Once kids are on solid foods it's safe. No, soy does not release estrogen. I suppose some anti-vegetarians will make up anything. Most tofu is organic however you wan't to make sure the label says organic or look under the ingredients.

Answer 3

I ama former chef and the estrogen that is produce ina non-serum type, and as some formulas are soya based, tofu is not an issue.

If he is able to digest it and not have any allergic reactions and his functions are normal, that is fine, basically if you have been able to get him to eat at 11 months then as he grows up, he will be more accepting of other soya and tofu products like veggie burgers, tofu weiners and when his palate grows, then all the Asian based food with it in them.

I wish I had started eating it when I was young, but my mother's 3 favorite cooking ingredients were salt, pepper and water, garlic was for vampires and flavour was a sin in her cooking, that why I became a chef, self preservation??

Answer 4

Hi Lil'mama, you are a lucky mom that the answers are ALL great!!! If the rumors you heard that tofu is bad for your baby...then the millions of Asian babies (and adults) that for millenia have been eating tofu as their MAIN food, would be totally ill. LOL! Luckily, the rumors are all wrong and the tofu-eating persons not only aren't ill but are most probably the healthiest! :o)

I once read (and I wish I had kept it) that a pediatrist said many mothers come to him complaining that when their babies are ready for solid food, they accept all but flesh food and the mothers tell him "so I have to disguise it in order to have them eat it." That's how, continues the doctor, people become flesh addicts from birth because very concerned (but uninformed) mothers force their babies into this addiction.

Of course, reinforcing this damaging position by ignorant mothers, are all the meat, chicken, fish, milk, and egg industries by their false tests and persistent, loud public media advertisements! What a dirty shame!!!

I commend you for continuing doing the right thing for your baby. :o) Adela

Answer 5

I would be more worried about hormone residues in beef and dairy products than phyto-estrogens. I believe they have not been proven to cause any negative health effects in humans or other animals (although I believe their positive effects in menopausal women have also been largely disproven).

However, I don't know whether there may be other issues (such as food allergies) with feeding soy products to a child his age.

Answer 6

Tofu is not bad for your baby. Both men and women have both estrogen and testosterone in their bodies, just in different quantities.

Answer 7

You are on your way to produce a genius.What and who say it produce estrogen?. American scientist survey on academic execellence by asians students is partly due to thier high intake of soya ,Tofu product.