So Soy

So, Soybeans?

Soybeans seem to be either friend or foe to people, for some people they’re a staple and others associate it with vegetarian diets and others think they’re weapons of mass destruction for our health. Understandably people are right to be conscious of their health and hormones; let’s keep in mind though that not everything we hear is backed up on fact.

Firstly, soy affects the thyroid, well the quick answer is yes, however this is only in individuals who are iodine deficient and not replenishing their iodine stores through foods and supplementation. So, if you have an under functioning thyroid you can still eat whole soybean foods in moderation meaning 2-3 times a week in this case, if you are working on correcting iodine levels just eat it at a different time to your thyroid medication. If you have an over functioning thyroid soy products can be okay in moderation as well.

The common belief I hear it that soy affects your hormones. Do soybeans contain Phytoestrogens that is a naturally occurring plant compound that looks similar to estrogen, yes but do these affect fertility or male hormones, no there are so many studies showing that they do not and also that babies fed soy formula showed absolutely no more of an increased risk of reproductive issues later in life. I’m not encouraging soy formula just that the research really debunks a myth here. Does soy then cause fibroids in women because of these phytoestrogens? No, it prevents them and protects women’s reproductive health. It does this by being able to balance low or high estrogen because it is not an estrogen which are steroid hormones it is plant based. There is also no research supporting that soy causes cancer, cancer is more complicated than whether we consume soy.

Soy is healthy but soy isolates may not be. Most of the studies showing the health benefits of soy are based on whole soy foods such as tofu and tempeh, processing soy is however showing some potential issues as it changes its effect within the human body. So if buying soy milk have a close look at the label that it says whole soybeans but even better stick to your almond milk and use tofu and tempeh instead which can be very nutritious and are complete proteins, high in calcium and iron. Try some tofu in a stir-fry, as a tofu quiche or perhaps in a salad, or why not try a tofu cheesecake? They are delicious.