Is it harmful to eat soy products?

Question

I'm a vegetarian, and my stepsister recently brought to my attention that she believes I should eat soy products very sparingly. She said that soy products can cause skin problems (acne, etc), over-production of estrogen, as well as other problems. Who agrees with my stepsister, and who believes that soy is not problematic to eat?

Answer 1

Soy products are totally healthy.
I have been eating all kinds of soy products and drinking tofu milk for many years, and I am totally healthy.

Answer 2

There is no harm in soy products unless you have an allergy.

That thing about men getting too many female hormones is nonsense. I'm a 50 year old male vegetarian who ate a lot of soy products for the last 25 years; I have seen no feminizing effects, except I have this urge to buy lots of shoes (just kidding).

Any high fat food can promote acne.

Answer 3

You need to look at where you are getting the info from. Most people find the "soy danger" info from people who have some agenda. For example much of the information or misinformation comes from The Weston A. Price Foundation, which advocated a meat based diet(obviously they will attack the benefits of soy, which many people use as a meat alternative)

You need to search out your info well and be sure you know where it is coming from. There is more research on the benefits of soy than the dangers.

You should vary everything you eat and not rely too heavily on one particular item. Too much f anything can cause problems.

Answer 4

Here is an article from FDA Consumer Magazine. Every food has controversy. it is a good alternative to meat and is a healthy lean protein. However, used as a diet supplement (pills to aide weight loss) there are concerns. There are also concerns about using it as a way to lessen menopause symptoms. Men already have estrogen. The amount in soy isn't going to make you grow breasts... I had soy milk as an infant an I have no food allergies.

Answer 5

While soy products do have a small amount of plant estrogen in them - its nothing to worry about.

My wife and I are both vegetarians and have been for 7 years now. We eat a lot of tofu and drink quite a bit of soy milk. Neither one of us have any problems at all. No acne - and as far as I know, I don't have excess estrogen (I'm a man). Soy is good for you. And its definitely more healthy than eating meat.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/soynorris

Answer 6

everything in moderation.

replace soy milk with rice milk.

tofu is fine there are many people who eat it, and it;s a great source of protein. Yes, soy contains estrogen, but the Japanese have been eating it for far longer then us. eat lots of veggies and rice and beans is actually better for then tofu because it has all your essential amino acids. If you're vegetarian I'm assuming you can eat cheese and many other things then soy products.

my aunt wasn't allowed soy because of its' estrogen content (but she was going through menopause after intense surgery for cancer) Unless your doctor says no on the soy ur fine. For most peopel the estrogen content does not matter.

Answer 7

Honestly, check your sources. The only negative studies I've seen about soy products were from organizations that were already advoating a meat-based diet. Same with the whole "soy makes guys too effeminate!" thing.

Moderation is good. Over-dependence on anything is bad, but just make sure your sources are unbiased.

Answer 8

A friend of mine told me the same thing, and I think different people have different opinions. I don't think that the experts are in agreement. There are so many benefits to counteract the bad things even if they are true. I drink soy milk on occasion, and don't see a problem, but now I might hesitate if I was planning on drinking it on a daily basis.

Answer 9

It's mostly the soy grown in the US that is high in the estrogen. This soy is of lower grade or quality.

This is mostly a US problem. If you have any concerns just buy the organic soy. Other countries know how to grow their soy better.

Answer 10

This is ridiculous. These people saying soy's so dangerous rarely ever give credible proof of it's so-called harmful effects. It's just stuff like "Yeah, Rush Limbaugh, he says tofu makes boys gay!" or "My aunt's best friend ate tofu one day? And three days later she had a RASH??!??!??!!??!"
Yes, soy contains PHYTOestrogens, chemicals that are similar to estrogen. But you'd have to eat a whole lot of tofu to get health problems.
Don't eat too much of ANYTHING, and you should be perfectly healthy.