[Jessikah]

I am stuck in a rut

Half the information I've read on the internet says soy is okay, the other half says no. I am not sure if it's the diary industry fighting back or not...

I trust you Veg-Heads, so any suggestions?

I have put on some weight over the last year and I am not sure if

1) It's related to my diet

2) It's related to soy

-Jess

 

[PsychoCola]

Well, what's your diet?

 

[K.Von]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessikah

I am stuck in a rut

Half the information I've read on the internet says soy is okay, the other half says no. I am not sure if it's the diary industry fighting back or not...

I trust you Veg-Heads, so any suggestions?

I have put on some weight over the last year and I am not sure if

1) It's related to my diet

2) It's related to soy

-Jess

I've been doing a variety of reading and most of what I've seen talk about thinking of soy as "processed" or "unprocessed". The unprocessed ones seem to include soy milk, tofu, tempeh, miso, edamame.... where the processed are a lot of the TVP and processed soy products made to resemble meat products. The opinion being (just like with anything) that the less processed a food is and the closer to nature, the better it is likely to be for you. I have seen things about phyto-estrogens. Some say they aren't a problem, others seem to think they are a big problem. I came to the conclusion that moderation is a good thing - soy included - and made the effort to increase other protein sources and decrease slightly my use of soy.

 

[Guacivore]

I am constantly befuddled by all the controversy surrounding soy. Soy is a bean.

A bean.

Unless someone's allergic, I say go ahead and eat/drink it. *tremendous shrug*

 

[laurie15]

GM soy is, in huge amounts.

Like guavicore said, it's a legume.

In it's pure form, it offers you utmost health.

 

[taurushead]

and soy flour?

today, for example, i only had soy milk in my coffee. no fake meats, no other soy products, no soy icecream, nothing. i make sure i dont consume too many servings in a day. and i very rarely touch fakemeats coz sadly i get stomach cramps (really annoying, they're an easy source of protein etc!).

but i had two pieces of spelt bread, with the first ingredient being wholegrain spelt but the second being soy flour.

very high protein bread.

for dinner i was going to make a rye (varying my grains ) pita vegetable thing. second ingredient in the delicious rye bread...soy flour. and it takes 2.5 slices of that to make this..

hadn't really questioned it til reading a few threads round here on soy today.

does soy flour count as bad? i thought it was just TVP.

 

[laurie15]

soy flour is a processed version of soy.

most 'soy products' don't even contain much soy - it's mostly fillers.

you can eat it - you'd have to have an awful lot for detrimental affects on your bod.

there are many sources of protein, even easier than a prepackaged meat.

i don't know what you mean by 'counting' as bad. it's not bad.

 

[taurushead]

wow i just did a LOT more reading. i now stand with the opinion that fermented soy is ok. and nothing else. the soy bean, (the label 'whole non-gm soybeans' tempts me often) is apparently a bad idea also.

soy in general is starting to sound nasty.

NOOO. i can't exclude another food.

perhaps im wrong about dairy and it IS ok...

maybe ive been making the wrong choices. damnit.

 

[Guacivore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taurushead

wow i just did a LOT more reading. i now stand with the opinion that fermented soy is ok. and nothing else. the soy bean, (the label 'whole non-gm soybeans' tempts me often) is apparently a bad idea also.

soy in general is starting to sound nasty.

NOOO. i can't exclude another food.

perhaps im wrong about dairy and it IS ok...

maybe ive been making the wrong choices. damnit.

Just make sure you take a close look at who (and whose money) is behind the websites you've been reading. There is a lot of big money out there with a vested interest in keeping folks eating meat.

Again, soy is a bean -- nothing more, nothing less. It's not a miracle food, and it's not bad for you (unless you're allergic). I don't believe the hype on either side myself. I do find it to be a convenient and tasty food in its various forms though.

 

[Jessikah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guacivore

Just make sure you take a close look at who (and whose money) is behind the websites you've been reading. There is a lot of big money out there with a vested interest in keeping folks eating meat.

Again, soy is a bean -- nothing more, nothing less. It's not a miracle food, and it's not bad for you (unless you're allergic). I don't believe the hype on either side myself. I do find it to be a convenient and tasty food in its various forms though.

That's a very valid point

I know I went a bit overboard with soy chai lattes at Gloria Jeans the last few months, so I think the weight gain is more likely to be related to that, rather than the soy

I am just going to limit my amount of soy processed foods and keep to good ole' unprocessed beans

 

[ghelfling]

I, too, used to be befuddled with the whole soy thing. I've asked my nurse practitioner and an ER doctor and they both said soy wasn't harmful. My NP even stated the fact that most Asian diets consist of soy daily, i.e., tofu, tempeh, miso, etc. and that hasn't brought any harm. I guess, as with everything else, intake of too much processed anything is not ideal.

I eat tofu almost everyday (cuz I just luv it!) and so far I'm still alive. I eat the stuff with the isolate soy or texturized soy protein stuff once in a while. I've resorted to rice milk, which has actually become a preference. I just try to make sure as much as I can that it's not GMO, and I normally buy the organic stuff.

Of course, I've only been vegan for less than a year (was a vegetarian before that), so we'll see in maybe 5 years?

 

[Bobby_Jo]

Whether or not soy is bad for you depends on the individual. Here's my personal experience:

I became vegetarian a year ago, and oddly enough I started putting on weight like crazy (about 18 pounds, which for me, is a lot). I'm not an unhealthy vegetarian, who gorges on junk food! I attributed it to me hitting 30, and tried not to get too depressed about it. During all that time I had been drinking soy milk with my cereal every morning, and eating soy products probably 3 - 4 times a week.

For the past 6 months, I've tried dieting. Like, serious dieting, combined with exercise. Only about 1000 calories a day. I could NOT lose weight. Talk about depressing.

I started having some strange symptoms as time progressed...constantly cold hands and feet. Weird sleep patterns. Irritability. I went to the doctor and found out that I'm hypothyroid, which is not uncommon in women my age. I'm on medication for it.

I had high hopes that my thyroid meds would help me start losing weight, since inability to lose weight is a common symptom of hypothyroidism, but I had no luck there, despite continuing to diet and exercise. I continued to plug along with the diet and exercise, making no inroads.

Two weeks ago, I read some information about soy contributing to complications with hypothyroidism, and also causing weight gain in such situations. I dropped my soy intake immediately. I've lost 4 pounds already.

Could my soy intake have caused my hypothyroidism? Possibly. There's some claims about that in the media. On the other hand, hypothyroidism is common in women my age, so who knows? I DO believe that my soy intake combined with my hypothyroidism (whatever the initial cause of it) was causing my weight gain, and preventing me from losing weight. I'm now limiting my soy intake to no more than once a week, and am hoping to get down to my target weight within a few months.

My husband, on the other hand, eats soy almost every day, and has no issues. It all comes down to the individual -- everyone has certain things they can and can not eat.

 

[Jessikah]

BobbyJo, that is a very good point. I am worried that *I* may have an thyroid problem, so I am eliminating lots of soy from my diet to see how it goes. If all else fails I will see the doctor.

It's frustrating cause I exercise like mad (I am in love with spin classes) and I eat healthy food. Maybe I am eating *too* much hehe

Glad your thyroid problem is better!

 

[specialK12]

so is tofu healty its oragnic non gm?

also is yoghurt healthy?

 

[GhostUser]

I try to avoid soy as much as possible. I'll have soy milk wiht my coffee.

I will limit on tofu.

Most of the food contains soy protein.

 

[Julia K]

Actually, it's very difficult to digest, has harmful hormonal effects and leaves a lot of debri in your colon. It inhibits protein digestion as well. Dairy industry is not going after soy at all. I use avenas herb cocktail to clean out my system, and they have a great soy-free protein powder.

[email protected]

 

[Guacivore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julia K

Actually, it's very difficult to digest, has harmful hormonal effects and leaves a lot of debri in your colon. It inhibits protein digestion as well.

Wow... those are some weighty claims. What are your sources?

I ingest soy of one kind or another on a daily basis and haven't had any problems at all.

 

[ketivnilloc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julia K

Actually, it's very difficult to digest, has harmful hormonal effects and leaves a lot of debri in your colon. It inhibits protein digestion as well. Dairy industry is not going after soy at all. I use avenas herb cocktail to clean out my system, and they have a great soy-free protein powder.

[email protected]

hormone effects? the only hormones in soy and phytohormones that have been found to be beneficial not harmful. besides, the dairy industry uses hormones that ARE harmful and GM as well.

debri in colon? this is the first time i've ever heard that. but...since meat can stay in your colon for more than 10 years in some people....i dunno.

protein digestion? the protein digestion is actully caused by a pesticide that causes the inibility to absorb amino acids-not a problem in organic soy

 

[GhostUser]

i have always been a bit confused by this...i usually drink soy milk a few times a week...usually in cereal and am not a tofu fan so i eat that like twice a year max...but have read many stories on this issue and nobody agrees...and it gets confusing to me...Thanx for all the info much appreciated.

 

[nkace]

I think it affects people differently. Since soy is a bean I end up w/ lots of gas & had to switch from soy milk to oat or rice milk. Tofu is VERY fattening but obviously it has some good qualities as well. Soy & corn are the most genetically modifed foods out there, so organic is usually the way to go. Soy is becoming a huge allergy problem. Too much of anything is bad.