4 ms·

Doesn't soy milk affect hormone levels?

by peter-m80 5y ago

Scandiravian 5y ago
The science in support of the hypothesis that soy affects hormone levels is thin to say the least
0xdeadb00f 5y ago
yeah that's been debunked AFAIK. The "soy boy" meme is still funny to me though.
mrslave 5y ago
I believe it's dose dependent. I've substituted soy milk fortified with calcium for full cream milk in cereal and protein shakes and I love it. My only remaining milk consumption is a small milky coffee most days. Anecdotally I did ask the doctor to include testosterone on my last general blood test and it came back healthy. My belief is that plastics are a bigger disruptor of hormones.
saila 5y ago
I did some research into this recently and it seems there is no definite link in humans. Also, a lot of common foods have phytoestrogen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogen#Food_sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogen#Food_sources).
dotancohen 5y ago
From what I've understood, soy actually doesn't affect hormone levels as much as it itself performs the function of some hormones - estrogen I think. So people who promote soy will (rightfully) claims that it doesn't affect hormone levels but they'll leave out that the effect on human development is very similar to the effect of raised estrogen levels. I'm not a medical professional though the opinion that I share is the opinion of a medical professional that I trust. There's a lot of money to be made in soy products, though, so like fossil fuels be prepared to find zealots on both sides of the argument who have no problem lying or even just being "useful idiots". I certainly hope that I'm not being one.
- dotancohen 5y ago
  OK, it seems that "pseudo estrogen" is the term to google for. You can see the effects of the food industry on the debate, as almost all medical journals that mention "pseudo estrogen" mention it in the context of soy, but the Wikipedia page "Xenoestrogen" (which apparently is a scientific-sounding stand-in for the medical term "pseudo estrogen") doesn't even contain the word soy.

Doesn't soy milk affect hormone levels?

Scandiravian 5y ago

The science in support of the hypothesis that soy affects hormone levels is thin to say the least

0xdeadb00f 5y ago

yeah that's been debunked AFAIK. The "soy boy" meme is still funny to me though.

mrslave 5y ago

I believe it's dose dependent. I've substituted soy milk fortified with calcium for full cream milk in cereal and protein shakes and I love it. My only remaining milk consumption is a small milky coffee most days. Anecdotally I did ask the doctor to include testosterone on my last general blood test and it came back healthy. My belief is that plastics are a bigger disruptor of hormones.

saila 5y ago

I did some research into this recently and it seems there is no definite link in humans. Also, a lot of common foods have phytoestrogen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogen#Food_sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogen#Food_sources).

dotancohen 5y ago

From what I've understood, soy actually doesn't affect hormone levels as much as it itself performs the function of some hormones - estrogen I think. So people who promote soy will (rightfully) claims that it doesn't affect hormone levels but they'll leave out that the effect on human development is very similar to the effect of raised estrogen levels. I'm not a medical professional though the opinion that I share is the opinion of a medical professional that I trust. There's a lot of money to be made in soy products, though, so like fossil fuels be prepared to find zealots on both sides of the argument who have no problem lying or even just being "useful idiots". I certainly hope that I'm not being one.

dotancohen 5y ago
OK, it seems that "pseudo estrogen" is the term to google for. You can see the effects of the food industry on the debate, as almost all medical journals that mention "pseudo estrogen" mention it in the context of soy, but the Wikipedia page "Xenoestrogen" (which apparently is a scientific-sounding stand-in for the medical term "pseudo estrogen") doesn't even contain the word soy.