Questions about Soy

Christmas Girl said:

Soy
My onc told me no soy. As in no tofu, soy milk, etc. If you plan on consulting a nutritionist, please insure that he/she has specific knowledge regarding your BC diagnosis. Also, there are cancer nutritionists - specialists - out there.

Oncologist's know that there
Oncologist's know that there is almost no way that you can avoid having no soy ever. They just want you to watch your intake of it. Soy is in a million things, and, some you don't even know about. Just watch the labels and talk to your oncologist about it again.

Soy protein !
It's my understanding that soy protein feeds breast cancer cells. Our doctor said to stay away from it, all of it !
Don't take that chance !
Loni------ now cancer free !

Try typing in "Soy and cancer" !
I'm sure you will find a lot to read about, I did !

aurora2009 said:

Thanks every one
I just went to the store and read the ingredients on the things I normally buy, like 7 grain whole wheat bread, and real mayonaise and either they said soy flour or oil, and it went on like this through out the store.

I finally said forget it and bought my stuff anyway, I never eat soy sause or soy milk or tufu, so I'm okay there.

But I appreciate the advice on getting a referral to a BC nutritionist, because it worries me a little. Just another thing I can't control. At least the potato chips I buy don't have soy oil in them

Thanks for the internet info too. I'm not to good at Googling, I always put in the wrong words and can't find what I'm looking for, or unreliable info.

Thanks again

Aurora

I went to a cancer
I went to a cancer nutritionist who told me natural soy, such as tofu was ok a couple times per week. She sais soy oil and soy lecithin were ok because it is trace amounts. She said no soy protein so I did the same as you and went crazy reading labels. Had a hard time finding bread to eat too. Pepperidge Farm does have hamburger rolls without soy. I finally called the nutritionist and told her what I was doing. She said to worry about soy proteins in high fiber, high protein foods such as protein bars, cereals. SHe said read how much protein is in things, if it is high and has soy then don't eat.

Kim

Aurora,
I won't eat anything that has soy on the name of whatever it is,but I still eat everything else. I like to eat and don't want to freak out worrying about how much is in what I'm eating-that's just my take on it though!

cabbott said:

Soy Stuff
There are tons of products with a little soy in them and avoiding them would make life extremely difficult. I love tofu in stir fries and even developed a taste for carrot soup made with soymilk before BC was diagnosed. I asked my oncologist, a breast cancer specialist, how much soy was a no-no. He replied that I could have a soy food( that means stuff like tofu, soymilk, or tempah, not health bars with supplements)once or twice a week and that soy sauce didn't have enough of the chemical that needed to be avoided to be measured. I could have that daily I suppose. But he drew a clear line at soy supplements. You don't have to be in a Health Food store for very long to find the "super soy foods". There are concentrated powders and pills galore. Those are like medicines that could boost breast cancer growth in estrogen positive cancer. So I still have my veggies stirfry with tofu once a week or a veggie or seafood soup with tofu cubes if I want. Once or twice a year I might make that soup with the soymilk, though it is good with regular milk too. But I no longer drink soymilk daily and I avoid "health bars" with soy supplements.

Aurora, how was your
Aurora, how was your surgery? Didn't you just have it?

And, it would be impossible like the others said to cut out soy totally. It can't be done. Your oncologist will tell you that and so will any nutritionist.

Hope you are doing well!

Soy Labels
Hi Aurora,
I'm so glad your surgery is behind you and that all is going well for you. I pray for good, clean margin results on Monday - be sure to post & let us know!

About the soy, I'm ER+, too and stink at details...like label reading. My onco said the easiest thing is to just avoid anything that "boasts" soy on it's label/brand. If it's not in a little blurb, bubble or screaming "hey, eat me, I'm soy", I'm good to go.

Cheering for those good margin results!
KC

TraciInLA said:

Great rule of thumb from KC
KC, love your criteria: "If it's not in a little blurb, bubble or screaming "hey, eat me, I'm soy," then go ahead and eat it.

I'm totally going to use that as my new rule of thumb!

Traci

Considering Avoiding
We live in an estrogen dominant society.
Besides soy, other things ER+ should consider and/or discuss with onco are:

MEATS & DAIRY = may want to consider organic, many are pumped w/estrogen to fatten before market.

PHYTOESTROGENS = too complicated to get into in this post but if you are not aware of them, you may want to wiki them.

WEIGHT = estrogen is stored in fat cells. The more fat, the more cozy environment to host.

STRESS = there is a definite relationship between stress, estrogen and weight.

Since estrogen levels can be stored & cumulative, simple little changes can make a difference over time!

aurora2009 said:

Thanks for the info ladies
It's all a bit scary, isn't it?

I'm a little over weight, have a high stress job, and love meat......... Guess it's time for a life make over!!!

I really can't wait to talk to the nutritionist, I'm open changing my life style and diet, I just need a little more help than others, like a daily plan and schedule, once I'm started, I'm sure I'll excel.

At least that's ny plan. I guess I just need to find some good chicken and fish recipes!

Oh and Thanks KC, I've got my fingers crossed too for clean margins!

What my Onc told me....
I was one who as soon as I found out I was ER/PR possitive, I immediately gathered all the info I could on nutrition. I also switched to hormone free meat (more expensive but taste better) and eliminated ALL soy from my diet. My husband and I went on an "organic shopping spree". Because this is what I thought I had to do.
Within one week, I had all of five foods that I could tolerate and was at the end of my rope!! There was NOTHING I could eat!! I was sure that I would die from starvation. Then reasoned if THAT was going to happen anyway.....I might as well eat anything and everything my little heart desired!!! Hence the reason I had to start the "greatest loser" contest. Trust me when I say I ate ANYTHING and EVERYTHING!!!
When I finally got to my Doctor, this is what I was told.
You can not eliminate ALL soy from your diet, it is impossible. Just try to SLOWLY make some changes. Like if it is the last couple ingredients on the label, then your good to go. Just don't go out actively seeking soy milk, tufu, etc.
Also, do not ingest grapefruit or grapefruit juice while taking tamoxifen. It will counteract the medicine.
Also, try to eat a healthy diet and maintain a normal weight (yes, due to the fat cells which you can not lessen the amount of, since you are born with a certain amount you have your whole life, you can only shrink the size of the ones you already have. Excluding liposuction patients).
Finally.....forget all the other things like organic or hormone free. This is a diet for someone who has chosen not to have treatment and take a holistic approach. If you want to incorporate this into your diet, fine, but it may not be worth the stress. Almost anything you put into your body can cause or help to prevent a host of diseases and illnesses depending on how your body reacts. People tend to forget that age will play the biggest factor in what happens to us and is unavoidable.
She told me I am doing exactly what I should be doing through the treatments to fight my disease that I should not deprive myself of an easy, peaceful, satisfying diet.
I just love her!!
So we left her office, stopped at the store on the way home and I pigged out on Chunky Monkey for an hour!! Ate the whole thing!! And it was good!! Pammy