Soymilk or milk or ??? for smoothies

DorothyB

I've started making smoothies many days. I include several items that I believe are good for me: frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries, ground flax, matcha, greek yogurt (just 2 ounces as I'm still building up taste for it). I also include Orgain Plant Protein w/ Superfoods but don't like the taste of it if I put in more than about 1/4 of a serving. I've also been including collegen although not sure I will buy more of that as it is an animal based protein.

For liquid, I've been using soymilk. I've read several places that one serving of soy per day (especially if it is not over processed, so not "soy burgers") is not harmful and could be beneficial. I've read several places that milk isn't that good for us, even if it is organic.

So, today someone posted a link that I've seen before https://foodforbreastcancer.com/amp/recommended-fo... but I read something I hadn't seen before under Soybeans "Soybeans should also be avoided during treatment with tamoxifen, since soy foods have been shown to weaken the effects of this treatment in premenopausal women with luminal A breast cancer." I am taking tamoxifen, but am not "premenopausal".

I hadn't read this before. Now what? I've avoided almond milk because I wanted the protein of soymilk (or regular milk). What do you use in your smoothies?

Hopeful82014

Dorothy, I use hemp milk and love it; you might also like it. You have to be careful which brand you buy - some have tons of added sugar and carbs but Living Harvest does not. In that regard it's definitely superior to alternatives such as rice milk. I hope that helps! (I use the unflavored, original but the vanilla is good, also.

ETA - Kroger stores generally carry it in the organic section

SUPer52

Dorothy, I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk for the calcium added to it, but I often throw a handful of cashews into my smoothies to get some protein. If you use a regular blender, I'm not sure how ground up the cashews would get, but if you have a Ninja, Nutribullet, Vitamix, or something like that, they really pulverize the nuts and they just add a thickness to the smoothie without chunks of nuts. I also feel like I stay pretty full until lunch on the days I've added the nuts. I also add a handful of baby spinach to my smoothies too. It does make the color a little funny sometimes, but the fruit really does mask the taste of the spinach. The spinach is like the nuts though....when I used a regular blender, it left little chunks of greens floating around which I found very unappealing, but a power blender pulverizes it right up.

DorothyB

I googled soy milk tamoxifen post-menopausal and found:

https://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/features/soy-e... "Some experts worried that soy might interfere with breast cancer drugs that lower estrogen levels, such as tamoxifen. But the same study showed that soy also protected against recurrence in patients who took tamoxifen."

https://www.ascopost.com/issues/february-25-2017/s... "Interestingly, consumption of soy foods reduced mortality and recurrence, regardless of tamoxifen use, in patients with breast cancer.¹⁵ But findings from a study of patients with invasive breast cancer suggest that soy supplementation may stimulate overexpression of breast cancer genes.¹⁶" (my understanding is that "supplementation" is things like protein powders made with soy, not soy milk or other "not too processed" forms of soy)

So, I'm feeling a bit better about limited soy milk

Jackster51

There are so many alternative milks now on the market... not only almond milk, which I usually use, but plant based milks as well.. Soy free. You might need to go to a health food store or a Whole Foods to find a good substitute.... but there are lots of choices.. other than cow milk and soy milk.

Rah2464

Dorothy - my MO was very specific that I limit my exposure to Soy in all forms. Others have MOs that aren't as convinced. Wish we had clear information on the subject.

flashlight

Hi Dorothy, I only use one scoop of the vanilla Orgain Plant Protein. I started out using 12oz of almond milk, but now I use 1% milk. At first I added Oikos triple zero nonfat Greek yogurt in a fruit flavor, but now I just add the plain Greek yogurt. One of my concerns was getting enough protein. I throw in some chia seeds, but you can't use too much because it acts like a thickener. I feel I'm not really using that much of the collagen to worry about it. I also throw in some baby spinach or kale with frozen fruit. The sweetness of the fruit helps to make it tasty.

moth

so, I'm vegan and I consume soy.

phytoestrogens (plant based estrogens) are processed differently in the body than regular estrogens. Here is a good up to date info sheet on the topic. As usual, part of the answer is 'it depends' - based on your overall risk, your specific cancer, your menopausal status etc. https://www.bcpp.org/resource/phytoestrogens/

One other thing I'd point out - dairy and meat products have natural PLUS added *artificial* hormones. If anyone is super worried about the small amount of phytoestrogens in soy they should definitely not be consuming meat and dairy either.

imo safest bets are organic beans, legumes, grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts & seeds.

I also think the evidence is stronger for maintaining normal BMI and exercising regularly than for specific foods to eat/avoid so I think it's best to put most of my energy and focus there.

to health

santabarbarian

My personal faves which are, additionally, keto-friendly: Califia Kefir which is nut based, and CoCoYo Yogurt which is coconut based.

pingpong1953

I've tried a variety of nut milks and all of them have a metallic taste to me. I like dairy milk, and luckily I live in Canada where growth hormones are not used. Of course, I've heard that cow's milk is naturally high in hormones because it comes from a lactating cow. Does anyone know anything about that? It's so frustrating trying to get reliable nutrition information.

DorothyB

PingPong, I'm wondering the same thing about milk - is organic milk that bad for us?

Beesie

pingpong and Dorothy, there is nothing wrong with dairy. In fact low-fat dairy and yogourt reduces breast cancer risk.

The Association between Dairy Intake and Breast Cancer in Western and Asian Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4705082/

"We analyzed 22 prospective cohort studies (1,566,940 participants) and five case-control studies (33,372 participants). High and modest dairy consumption (>600 and 400-600 g/day, respectively) significantly reduced the risk of breast cancer compared with low dairy consumption (<400 g/day; risk ratio [RR], 0.90, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83-0.98, and RR, 0.94, 95% CI, 0.91-0.98, respectively). A significant linear relationship between dairy consumption and breast cancer risk was found on dose-response analysis. Subgroup analysis found that yogurt (RR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83-0.99) and low-fat dairy (RR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.75-0.96) reduced the risk of breast cancer, while other dairy product types did not. A reduced risk was observed for people in the United States (RR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83-0.99) and in those followed for ≥10 years (RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.81-0.99)."

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This meta-analysis was looking at breast cancer risk, not recurrence risk, but my recollection of previous studies I've read would suggest that the same relationship applies for recurrence risk.

Beesie

This massive assessment of all dairy studies, published in January of 2019, looks at all cancers, and includes a reference to breast cancer.

Dairy product consumption and development of cancer: an overview of reviews https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/1/e023625

" Breast cancer

Thirteen meta-analyses explored associations between various dairy products and risk of breast cancer. Eight meta-analyses showed non-significant associations between 'all-dairy products', whole milk, milk, low-fat milk, cheese, dairy calcium or high-fat dairy consumption and the risk of breast cancer. Three meta-analyses showed decreased risk of breast cancer with higher consumption of 'all-dairy products', yogurt or low-fat dairy. Two meta-analyses showed increased risk of breast cancer with higher consumption of milk or cheese"

The strongest link between dairy and cancer appears to be for prostate cancer, which most of us here don't have to worry about.