# Soy Milk



## Mason_M (Nov 25, 2001)

Hey this stuff isn't bad!Yesterday in the grocery store I was walking through the cereal asle and was stricken with a powerful urge for a bowl of cereal. I haven't actually eaten a bowl of cereal in years because of the milk.I had just read an article about soy milk so I decided "what the heck, how bad can it be"?I just ate my first bowl of rice chex in years and it was soooo good. The soy milk was actually good. It tasted just like milk (as best as I can remember the taste of milk).If dairy is a trigger for you, you really should try this stuff.


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## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

I think rice milk is better. I'm biased because I'm allergic or very sensitive to soy, but it has phytoestrogens in it and I wouldn't give it to men or children. You may have noticed the promotions of menopause supplements and foods targeted to women that brag of containing soy. There's reason for that.I love rice milk and it can be used in cooking just like cow milk.


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## Mason_M (Nov 25, 2001)

From the Silk is Soy FAQ pages:Soy contains active plant compounds called phytoestrogens or isoflavones. These compounds are similar in shape and size to human estrogens produced by both women and men. However, unlike human estrogen which can cause disease in humans when in excess or deficiency, "phytoestrogens have a built-in barometer, acting like estrogen or anti-estrogen depending on the body's needs." When the body needs estrogen, phytoestrogens help to bring the balance to a healthy level. Similarly, when an excess of estrogen is detected in the body, phytoestrogens will help to lower the level by blocking the more potent human form of estrogen (1). Since soy contains a plant-based form of estrogen, concern has been raised regarding the potential for soy to have a negative effect on fertility and sperm production in men. It is true that in the 1940's farmers observed a decline in fertility of rams that grazed on red clover rich in phytoestrogens. However, the sheep's intake of phytoestrogens was at an extremely high level, nearly 100 - 500 times greater than an isoflavone-rich human diet (1). For humans there has been no evidence that a diet rich in isoflavones is harmful to men and while there is currently no scientific research that has determined the upper limit of soy a person can eat, in Asian countries such as Japan, China and Korea where the daily intake of soy protein is over 10 times higher than that of Westerners (2), infertility does not look to be a problem (1). In addition, a major study conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that infants fed soy formula grew to be just as healthy as those raised on cow's milk formulas. The study evaluated 811 men and women between the ages of 20 and 34 who had participated in soy and cow's milk studies as infants. No significant differences were found between the groups in more than 30 health areas including adult height, weight, body mass index, infertility and timing of puberty (3). As with any health issue, we highly recommend speaking with your physician about your concerns regarding soy and your health. Refrences: 1. Wharton, Lynda. "Boy oh soy." http://health.nzoom.com. September 2003. 2. http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/3421.html. September 2003. 3. Brian L. Strom, MD; Rita Schinnar, MPA; Ekhard E. Ziegler, MD; Kurt T. Barnhart, MD; Mary D. Sammel, ScD; George A. Macones, MD; Virginia A. Stallings, MD; Jean M. Drulis, BA; Steven E. Nelson, BA; Sandra A. Hanson, BA. JAMA. 2001; 286:807-814.


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## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

Oh, no, the Silk is Soy company isn't biased at all - and they don't have an interest in soothing your fears so you will continue to buy their product - not at all, right? ;p And the medical establishment knows everything about everything, so there are no unknown risks about what the food companies are doing.......right?







As a person who has been reading ingredient labels for about 10 years now, I know food companies will print anything as long as it makes their product sell. They will put contradictory information on the front and back of the same package. I've seen things marked "sugar free" on the front that list more than one kind of sugar on the ingredient label. There's a letter in the Oct. 6 issue of Newsweek from a woman who's dairy allergic child got hives within minutes of eating a product marked "dairy free". It wasn't of course. If the food companies cared about anything but selling, there would not have to be laws requiring them to list their ingredients, and they would not try to hide unacceptable items behind terms like "natural flavors" (which often include soy products, btw). I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.I'm not much for unnecessary risks - I see no reason for a person to drink a product with potentially harmful hormonal substances when products without such substances are available. It's also possible to live with no milk at all. Many generations of humans have done it.


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## Mike NoLomotil (Jun 6, 2000)

Indeed this topic remains a volatile one, with a wide range of opinions expressed each supported by one or more investigations into potential untoward effects vs. theoretical protective effects, and range from studies of brain size in rats to effects on prevention of possible breast cancer.To date, at least, it appears someone has finally come up with a possible method of translating the divergent results of divergent studies into a potentially useful human model so that who, what when where and how one should or should not be concerned about soy consumption. Thi is all of course assuming natural soy is investigated, no one has yet done any thorough human immunologic investigation of the effects of introducing so much Roundup Ready Genetically Modified Soy into the American food-chain the past few years.Reamins an open question...FYIRegul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2003 Oct;38(2):196-209. A Model to Estimate the Oestrogen Receptor Mediated Effects from Exposure to Soy Isoflavones in Food.Safford B, Dickens A, Halleron N, Briggs D, Carthew P, Baker V.SEAC-Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth, Sharnbrook, MK44 1LQ, Bedfordshire, UKThe advantages that regular consumption of a diet containing soy may have on human health have been enshrined in a major health claim that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the USA, regarding potential protection from heart disease by soy. This could have a major influence on the dietary consumption patterns of soy for consumers and lead to the development of soy enriched foods to enable consumers to achieve the benefits thought to be associated with increased soy consumption in a Western diet. If an increase in soy consumption is beneficial to particular disease conditions, there is always the possibility that there will be effects other than those that are desirable. For soy-containing foods there has been concern that the phytoestrogen content of soy, which is composed of several isoflavones, could be a separate health issue, due to the oestrogen-like activity of isoflavones. To address this, a method has been developed to estimate, relative to 17-beta oestradiol, the activity of the common isoflavones present in soy phytoestrogens, based on their binding to and transcriptional activation of the major oestrogen receptor sub-types alpha and beta. Using this approach, the additional oestrogen-like activity that would be expected from inclusion of soy supplemented foodstuffs in a Western diet, can be determined for different sub-populations, who may have different susceptibilities to the potential for the unwanted biological effects occurring with consumption of soy enriched foods. Because of the theoretical nature of this model, and the controversy over the nature of whether some of the oestrogen-like effects of phytoestrogens are adverse, the biological effects of soy isoflavones and their potential for adverse effects in man, is also reviewed. The question that is critical to the long term safe use of foods enriched in soy is, which observed biological effects in animal studies are likely to also occur in man and whether these would have an adverse effect on human health. _________________________________MNL


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## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

Thanks Mike, but I don't understand what this is? It seems to be giving the model for a study or thesis without giving any results. Did I miss something?It would be good to have some real information instead of just opinion and rumor. But I would have doubts about the conclusions of so-called experts because those same experts were saying it's "impossible" to be allergic to lecithin or soy oil when we allergic folk knew we were. When it comes to food allergy and sensitivity there's no such thing as a true "expert".......


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