Are soy products bad for breast cancer?

I'm going to go walk in the rain.

Tho, I've heard it can kill ya!

Have a good night!

duckyb1 - yeah - it's hard to know what happens to who. I still think genetics is big and that lifestyle can help some (though if you're late stage I dont know how much) But you're spot on ... you  can  drive yourself crazy reading over the research and you can drive yourself crazy trying to find rhyme and reason.

Rachel

Well, I guess having a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising can help around the margins, so I think Rachel is right that it can help some.  I wouldn't say it has NOTHING to do with it (even though I was a physically fit vegetarian when diagnosed) and I certainly wouldn't say she failed.  I do agree that genetics is overstated as a cause and that so many women think if they have no family history they are not at risk.  

My oncologist said the jury is still out on soy - there are so many different studies and opinions.  He recommends eating a nutritionally balanced diet and not consuming anything that promotes soy on the label (soy milk, soy-based protein powder, etc.)

I hear ya and know what you mean Barbe. Cancer is so common, and does happen to people who do  "all the right things" so I believe theres much to learn yet. But I sure tell my daughter what MAY (as in maybe) cut her risk since nearly half of my family (on my father's  side) has this nasty disease. I figure what harm will helthy life style do? Especially since in  countries where people eat a certain way there is not even one hundredth the cancer as in this country and the follow up studies like Shanghai that certainly give reason to think diet is a factor - though, there are so many factors in each individual's case, I know.  Genetic cancers are thought to be about 10 percent according to FORCE. But both my oncolgists said there are so many mutations that havent event been id'd  yet, and that it's probaby a bit more common than the stats indicate. My BRCA screening came back negative, but oncs said keep taking new tests when they come out based on that I have almost everyone of the risk factors, and all the cancers in my family have been tied to BRCA (breast, ,prostate and colon). Not trying to scare anyone or hype anything, just thinking out loud and sharing some of what I've read for those who want to consider doing what they  can now that they're already in this boat - you know, with diet and supplements and excercise or whatever else the research is telling us is safe in our individual situations to cut recurrence risk.

Sweetbean, thanks for info phytoestrogens supposedly okay for estrogen positive. Boy, they keep going back and forth on the whole estrogen thing - so much to learn! And I agree wholeheartedly, it's not "Not Living" It's a "New Way of Living". I can't beleive how many ways there are to prep veggies that I never would have thought about an am loving.

And what you were saying about sugar - something interesting besides all the studies strongly indicating eating lots of sugar spikes glucose which elevates risk for recurrence - there are interesting anecdotes. I've had friends say around the holidays when they're treating themselves to all the cookies and candies, like clock work, their tumor markers go up, then usuall back down later.  And so many friends who chose to go pretty extreme (vegan  - a personal choice to make or not make, I know) but a few of the ladies I met were stage 4 and after they did total diet change had anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent tumor shrinkage. So far, thankfully they are continuing to see shrinkage month after month. At the very least, they're buying themselves time; I say power to those who make that personal choice and I hope all the best for them.

I agree Lago.  I spent two years under constant stress before being diagnosed. 

Not the "good" stress...but the "gah, I HATE THIS" type of stress...the kind of stress that required liberal amounts of Patron...lol

The fact that someone's tumor markers spike after the holidays probably has more to do with the markers reacting to things like alcohol and diet directly rather than to cancer cells.  These markers are notoriously unspecific.  I can't imagine that tumor activity would increase that quickly.

TonLee and I are going to go out drinking some day. I'm not much of a drinker but I like dry red wine and I find tequila is good in anything! I figure tequila can't be to bad if you are drinking it with cranberry juice.

If I drank anything straight up you'd have to scrape me off the floor. I don't hold my liquor well.

But I do sober up quickly because I can't drink that much.

Ah, the good ole, 1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor!

I like Corona Lite.  But can't drink too much beer.  It gives me bad headaches.

It's also kinda funny we're talking about drinking on the "soy" thread....lol.  If soy concerns people, alcohol will probably give them serious hesitation.

Or just drink the alcohol and don't worry about any of this stuff! 

I'm getting a buzz just reading this thread.

Seems like red wine is also good for radiation posioning....I swear, I just heard it on the news...lol...they said don't worry about iodine tablets, just drink red wine!

Patron has to be good for something.  I mean besides the obvious.  buwhahahahah