To Soy or Not to Soy!!!???

Great topic which requires me to begin at the beginning in order for me to have a better understanding of the benefits or risks of taking supplements which contain soy or eating soy. I am currently taking the supplement Genestein which is a soy isoflavone and admittedly I know very little about it.

Definition of Soy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soybean

Is Soy Healthy? Topics include GMO, Isoflavones, Hormonal Health, Sot and Cancer: www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/soy.htm

Isoflavones: www.isoflavones.info/

Fermented Soy is only Soy fit for Human Consumption: www.naturalnews.com/z025513_soy_food_soybeans.html

Soy and Breat Cancer: http://breastcancer.about.com/od/riskfactorsindetail/a/soy_bc_diet.htm

Soy and Tamoxifen: http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/tamplussoypr.html

Ok, this is my reading so far. At this point I am inclined to continue with the Genestein but that could change.

I think the point about soy is that if you grew up eating it, it was beneficial, but not to all of a sudden add it to your diet. Also, if you are ER+ it is a bad thing.

Well, to keep this topic going, NPR today reproted a big study that says soy may decrease bc recurrence!

http://topics.npr.org/article/0eDE9tR1o71k7?q=Science+%26+Technology

I need to read the study in depth.

Anne

I've reached the point where what I do or don't put in my mouth I can't see really making a difference. It took over 50 years to create the first cancer...I'll take my chances. I can't see how changing my diet at this point would make much of a difference. The only thing I've done (which I think is a biggie) is stop all alcohol. None. That is my contribution to my own good health!

Please note! Luah that article cites the reasearch as coming from CHINA!! Exactly what I said above. Those growing up with soy get a benefit. Those of us who all of a sudden add soy, can cause more harm than good. It also mentions those on Tamoxifen, which I and certainly thousands of survivors are not on. I, too love soy....sigh, but I am ER+ as well. Why add more now? I don't go on a "witch hunt" to find it in the foods I usually eat, I just don't add more.

Bottom line looks to be that soy as a whole food may be okay. But we still need to be aware of all the bastardized soy by-products...

Anne

That study got the same information from the Shanghai study! Same figures that the first link posted about.

Here is the JAMA link - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/302/22/2437?ct

And yep, the JAMA link one also refers to the Shanghai study. I'll wait to see what happens now that soy is in all our food as it is a cheap filler.

I wanted to do Medifast as a diet plan and it's all soy -- the bars, drinks, soups, etc. Since starting on the Arimidex about a year ago, I just have to starve to get any weight off. And I know that having the extra weight produces unwanted hormones also. So which is worse. . . . being fat or eating the soy?????

PLEASE don't do Medifast... I am begging you. I was on Nutrisystem on and off for two years several years ago... I KNOW that cheap junk GMO soy was a contributing factor to my cancer. 

Instead of Medifast or starving, try this. Substitute two of your meals each day with a "green smoothie." That's a smoothie made of a cup of water (filtered or spring), a blender-full of greens (lettuce, baby spinach, kale, etc.), a whole apple or banana, and anything else you have on hand you want to throw in (frozen blueberries, a bit of ginger, half a lemon, maybe some nutritious powder supplements like vitamin C or spirulina, whatever!). 

Blend it up, maybe with some ice, and sip it in lieue of a meal. With the fruit, these are suprisingly delicious AND filling... but best of all, they are pure nutrition. SO different from the chemical junk in Medifast and Nutrisystem!! 

If you Google "green smoothie fast," you'll find people who went for weeks/months drinking green smoothies and not only lost weight, but got HEALTHY (and isn't overall health just as important as weight loss?). BTW, are you walking every day? 

I guess all that is to say... soy in moderation (especially organic, non-GMO, and ideally fermented) is great... but all that cheap genetically modified junk soy they use as a filler in everything these days... RUN LIKE HADES!!!!!! When I see it on an ingredient list, I always think, "that stuff is poison! It tried to kill me!!" Maybe a little extreme, but I'm convinced that large quantities of the garbage version is really bad for us.

Barbe - you make a good point about the Asian study and wether or not lifetime consumption would have an impact on results.  But the article cited by ADK refers to earlier research at UC Berkeley with an American cohort - I think this may be a  reference  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19221874

I agree, I wouldn't be taking chances if I were ER+ until there's more conclusive evidence. But it seems there may be some emerging about diet-based soy.

Barbe, do you take supplements or use any alternative treatment or did you decide on the traditional approach? 

Julia very sound advice to Nelia,  although I am off the ice until further investigation. I read that cooling down our bodies compromises our immune system so I avoid cold food and beverages. Also what can you tell us about fermented soy? I would like to more about a product named Haelan. Do you have any information about it?

Barbe, avoiding the rads and chemo is a blessing! Are you using hormone therapy? I ask because you do not seem concerned about a recurrence, which is something I dread. I wanted to know more about your protocol as you were newly dx but had pos nodes. Maybe you can share more about your overall approach. I can always use a shot of confidence and optimism.

I'm not taking hormones either. The surgeon said to "save the big guns until next time". Doi!

He says the positive nodes are out and so is the cancer.

This IS a very strange approach I had. For one thing, he's a general surgeon as I had no intention of reconstruction.  He told me the tumour board agreed with my double mast. My cancer is extremely rare and they seemed a bit confused by it to be honest. It does historically have a better outcome than most breast cancers so when I was told I was done I was thrilled. I'm post menopausal, HER- and there was just nothing for me to add to the surgery. I wasn't even assigned an onc.

Then....I get on these boards and holy cow!! I'm think I'm the only gal who has had breast cancer that never met an onc! So I demanded to meet one and did in July. She said she agreed with my treatment (like really, what's she supposed to say?) but did wonder if I felt like I "fell through the cracks" her words not mine! Um, ya! She said it's too late for chemo, that window of opportunity is closed.....so, basically good luck.

Anyway, recurrence happens to people who have been treated more aggressively too, so I'll just sit and ignore it all. I even had Isolated Tumour Cells! So I DO get nervous at every twinge but have learned so much on these boards. When I was talking to my surgeon about how even with DCIS the ladies get chemo and/or rads he said "What's DCIS"?......sigh. Did I mention above that he said we'd save the big guns until next time?

So no. This is not a Canadian approach. This is a very interesting approach. Let's see how it goes!