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Soy And Heart Palpitations

48K views 30 replies 25 participants last post by  Nora Cordelia 
#1 ·
Awhile ago I started having heart palpitations. I went to my doctor, but they seemed to come and go (week on, week off). I believe they were PVCs, but nothing came up on the day I went to my doctor and the ECG came back normal. He told me they were probably harmless, but suggested a Holter Monitor if they were bothering me that much. I declined and went home. I thought about when they started and noticed it was a bit after I went vegetarian that they began to occur. Preliminary thinking was that it might be a B12 issue, but B12 deficiency takes a long time to develop and, as far as I knew, I was getting enough B12 in my diet, so I started to look for other answers. When I went vegetarian I started drinking soy milk in the morning and wanted to test that hypothesis so I have since cut soy from my diet. My heart palpitations have since stopped. I'm not sure it is a causal link yet, but I'm wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar.
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Farmrush' date='22 June 2010 - 01:01 AM' timestamp='1277186461' post='2662701 View Post

Awhile ago I started having heart palpitations. I went to my doctor, but they seemed to come and go (week on, week off). I believe they were PVCs, but nothing came up on the day I went to my doctor and the ECG came back normal. He told me they were probably harmless, but suggested a Holter Monitor if they were bothering me that much. I declined and went home. I thought about when they started and noticed it was a bit after I went vegetarian that they began to occur. Preliminary thinking was that it might be a B12 issue, but B12 deficiency takes a long time to develop and, as far as I knew, I was getting enough B12 in my diet, so I started to look for other answers. When I went vegetarian I started drinking soy milk in the morning and wanted to test that hypothesis so I have since cut soy from my diet. My heart palpitations have since stopped. I'm not sure it is a causal link yet, but I'm wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar.
I had the same symptoms. I suspected a food allergy after some time. Then one day I ate a Genesoy bar and got a severe reaction. Mostly palpitations. I then went for allergy testing. It did show a soy allergy. Also I have a allergy to wheat. I believed that was causing my hives. I really noticed it because I ate a concentrated soy protein bar. Have allergy testing done. I have heard that skin tests are more accurate.
 
#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Farmrush' date='06 July 2010 - 09:56 PM' timestamp='1278471386' post='2670012 View Post

Haven't been having much soy lately. I have some soy milk and cereal every now and then. No palpitations since I reduced intake.
That is good to hear. If you have health insurance to cover most of the cost of allergy testing it would be a good idea if you can. If not I would cut out the soy and use something else. If you do have a reaction or symptoms again write down what you had to eat that day. I have heard that soy is giving more and more people problem. Soy is an additive in a lot of products so I am going to not eat so much packaged foods. I am going to try almond milk. Glad you are feeling better.
 
#7 ·
I tried almond milk and it was really... uhh... horrid. What brands do you guys drink? I forget what this one is and I don't feel like going to check, but I would never buy it again and, if not for feeling bad about wasting food, I wouldn't finish this carton.
 
#8 ·
Almond milk and hemp milk are my favorites. Hemp milk more so only because it's the healthiest of all the milks but also the most expensive and not as available as the other ones.
 
#9 ·
I had severe palpitations after completing an olympic length triathlon. I have been using soy milk for several years, this was the first time for the palpitations. I had to be hospitalized and have had an irregular heartbeat for the past three weeks since the race. Yesterday, I changed from soy to skim milk and I am already feeling better; less palpitations, and able to exercise comfortably again. I had been pouring soy milk on my morning cereal. My arrythmia was worst in the mornings.
 
#12 ·
I have benign PVCs. There is really no cause to mine that I could find. I make sure to get enough potassium in my diet, exercise and stay hydrated which seems to help. Stomach problems can cause heart palpitations, so if you have a sensitivity to soy that *might* be causing it. I hope you figure out the cause of yours soon... they are annoying little devils!
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocrob37 View Post

I have been eating a lot of Boca Vegan Burgers and have noticed lately that I get hearrtburn and chest pains after I eat them. Once I finish them, I am done eating them.. I am not sure if it is the soy, but I thiink those burgers are very unhealthy.

Yes...look whats in them:
Ingredients: WATER, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, WHEAT GLUTEN, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF METHYLCELLULOSE, SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, DRIED ONIONS, YEAST EXTRACT, SESAME OIL, HYDROLYZED WHEAT PROTEIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR (NON-MEAT), DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE. CONTAINS: SOY, WHEAT, SESAME.
 
#15 ·
I know this is an old thread, but I have to chime in.

I have gotten heart palpitations since my late teens. They always would go away within a half hour, most within a minute or two. One day last december, I ate a cup-o-noodles and they started and didn't stop. I think they went about 12 hours. Doc couldn't find anything wrong with my heart, and dismissed the cup-o-noodles theory (I thought maybe triggered by MSG). But they ran a thyroid test because if your thyroid is out of whack it can mess with your heart. Thyroid came back low, I went on their meds, and started reading. There are foods call goitrogens, which aggravate the thyroid. Soy is the biggest. Also almonds (I've always felt crappy after eating too many almonds), and raw broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. There are others, but those are the biggies. I eventually (against medical advice), took myself off the synthetic hormone and focused on healing my thyroid. I have been taking 600mg of kelp and 1000mg of l-tyrosine daily plus avoiding goitrogens.

I am not vegan, but I don't think cow's milk is a healthy food, so I use coconut milk on cereal. I didn't think I'd like it, but it's really good.

I have had no major tachycardia episodes since treating my thyroid. I have also avoided MSG, just in case. :)
 
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by badkelpie View Post

I know this is an old thread, but I have to chime in.

I have gotten heart palpitations since my late teens. They always would go away within a half hour, most within a minute or two. One day last december, I ate a cup-o-noodles and they started and didn't stop. I think they went about 12 hours. Doc couldn't find anything wrong with my heart, and dismissed the cup-o-noodles theory (I thought maybe triggered by MSG). But they ran a thyroid test because if your thyroid is out of whack it can mess with your heart. Thyroid came back low, I went on their meds, and started reading. There are foods call goitrogens, which aggravate the thyroid. Soy is the biggest. Also almonds (I've always felt crappy after eating too many almonds), and raw broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. There are others, but those are the biggies. I eventually (against medical advice), took myself off the synthetic hormone and focused on healing my thyroid. I have been taking 600mg of kelp and 1000mg of l-tyrosine daily plus avoiding goitrogens.

I am not vegan, but I don't think cow's milk is a healthy food, so I use coconut milk on cereal. I didn't think I'd like it, but it's really good.

I have had no major tachycardia episodes since treating my thyroid. I have also avoided MSG, just in case. :)
Even if it was put down to your thyroid, your MSG theory is correct and a usual culprit for tachyarrhythmias xxx
 
#18 ·
So interesting to read this. I have been trying to figure out what is causing me to have palpitations.

For the past 2 days I had a chocolate soy milk with lunch and immediately got palpitations.

I would not have figured it out if I hadn't had the 2nd drink today and also read this.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I do love almond milk so I'll switch to that and stay away from soy.

I am mostly a vegetarian so I'll have to really start reading labels!
 
#19 ·
I have been struggling with anxiety/depression my entire life (was an agoraphobic for several years when I was younger). Still got palpitations quite a bit. I started consuming potassium (naturally found in founds, not supplemented!) and these for the most part went away. I'll always deal with these, but it's nice that it's once a month, if that, instead of 2-3x / week.
 
#20 ·
I also went vegetarian many years ago and in the last year I became very sick with gastritis and palpitations, after a while it became evident that almond milk, almonds and sesame seeds were causing both, even consumed in small amounts, allergy tests were consistently negative. Also bloating and intestinal gas has been an increasing problem thought first to be caused by garlic and onions. In reality it has been greatly helped by broad spectrum digestive enzymes. I continue to be vegetarian for conscious health reasons but my intestine tolerated chicken fish and kosher meat much better during the more acute episodes.
 
#21 ·
I never had anything like this happen to me, but my BIL was having trouble sleeping, and thought is was sleep apnea. One day, on the way to work, my BIL and sister stopped to get a Starbucks, and he asked for soymilk in his. 5 hours in the hospital emergency room, it was diagnosed he had a soy allergy. I am that Royal P.I.T.A. in the grocery store that reads the ingredients labels on everything just to make sure there's no soy, soya, soy lecithin, or even processed in a plant that uses soy in it. Trust me, I reaaaaalllly love Enjoy Life chocolate chips.
 
#22 ·
I had palpitations too but it turned out to be low taurine which turns out some people can't produce. Taurine comes from mostly meat/seafoods so when I went vegetarian my heart started palpitating, I had no appetite because taurine is necessary to make bile to digest your food, I got irritable and stressed when I played Xbox 360 because it keeps your nervous system calm, etc, etc. No fun at all not sleeping because all you feel is your heart freaking out. Hope this helps someone else.
 
#24 ·
Taken from http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/amino

"Technically, taurine is not an amino acid, but rather an amino sulfonic acid. But it is often referred to as an amino acid, even in scientific literature.

Taurine is not an essential nutrient; in other words, the human body makes its own taurine. Cats, on the other hand, are not able to make taurine and it must be supplied by the diet in order to keep their retinas healthy.

Taurine is made by the body from cysteine, which is a protein amino acid. If you eat the recommended amounts of protein, you should be getting enough cysteine to provide enough taurine.

Taurine is not found in plant foods. Non-vegetarians typically eat 40 - 70 mg of taurine per day (1). Vegans have been shown to have lower blood levels of taurine (3). It is not known whether this compromises health in any way, but very few vegans supplement with taurine, including healthy teenagers who have been vegan from birth."
 
#25 ·
well i dont know much about heart palpitations but my uncle is a nurse in a cardiac surgery place and i asked him about heart palpitations he says most heart palpitations are harmless but theres 1 particular deadly 1 that younger people are susceptible to i think thats what he said... anyway I wouldnt worry about it too much just because it seems more likely that you're fine than that you're not... but ya i would get them measured on the machine so they can know for sure what kind of palpitation it is. mine was confirmed harmless
 
#27 ·
Heart Palpitations from Soy

I also have heart palpitations from Soy or soy lethicin. If I continue to eat it I then get body tremors. I have found out that some Guar Gums contain up to 10% soy and I have been getting bad palpitations after eating some paleo bread containing Guar Gum so I suspect it is the soy I will find out from the supplier.
 
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