Soy products and ER+ cells

Earth Balance soy free
Earth Balance soy free buttery spread

http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/#/products/soy-free/

I haven't tried this one but I did try their other buttery spread which was really good. I am not ER or PR+ (am Her2+) however while I was having hormonal imbalance the Chinese Herbalist told me to stay away from all soy products except fermented soy (tempeh and miso) so I went back to butter. I would use any soy product with extreme caution here in the US.

m_azingrace said:

Avoiding soy
My onc told me to avoid soy as much as I can. Then he also said that so many things contain soy that it's nearly impossible to avoid it altogether. It seems that soy lechithin is in darn near everything! Some sort of stabilizer, maybe? I did finally find a calcium supplement without soy. Earth Balance products are very good tasting. I'm glad to know they have a soy free spread.

Avoiding soy is impossible.
Avoiding soy is impossible. But, you should try to when you can.

HUGS

jennytwist said:

me too!
EVERYTHING has soy! Thanks for the input on butter/margarine - I've gone to using real butter, which is wonderful but has too much fat for everyday. Has anyone ever found any chocolate without soy? I do believe there is soybean oil in everything!

Jenny

Soy allergy
My 27 year old daughter has recently developed a soy allergy (severe hives). It has been so frustrating for her as you said everything has soy, soybean oil, soy lecithin, even if it says "natural flavoring" that may mean a soy additive.

There are products that are soy free, if you look for gluten free, it is usually soy free also. Almost all processed food has soy or soy additive (cake mixes, rice a roni, chicken boullion, granola bars, shampoo, make up, lotions, etc...). She has become an aggressive label reader, and had to start cooking from mostly scratch and getting creative in substitutions. The good news is she has lost over 10 lbs by changing her eating habits, this was not the goal, but a definate benefit.

There are chocolate's and butter's that are soy free, you usually need to look in a speciality store like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or organic Outlet. But some of the regular stores like Safeway, Lucky's, and Fred Meyer's have speciality isles. Sorry I cannot remember the name of the one she specifically likes. You can also order on the web if you live in an area that does not have a wide range of stores available.

I am a better label reader now, and continue to be surprised at foods that contain soy. I guess I am on my "soy soap box", it is a cheap ingredient for manufactures to flavor, preserve and stretch food.

-Carrie

sunny_girl said:

controversy: soy, phytoestrogen and breast cancer
Soy is one of many food sources of substances called phytoestrogens (also flax, beans and brussel sprouts). Research shows that phytoestrogens act as mild estrogens in our bodies. They are much less potent than the estrogen we produce ourselves. They attach to the estrogen receptor cells in our bodies, causing women to produce less of our natural estrogen. Similarly, Tamoxiphen works by reducing the amount of estrogen produced, thereby decreasing the "food" for ER+ cancer.

Research published in JAMA last year actually shows a decreased risk of death or recurrence in women with the HIGHEST intake of soy.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/302/22/2437

Also, research indicates that Indole-3-carbinol (I3C),a phytoestrogen isolated from cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli and cabbage) is much more effective in reducing estrogen than Tamoxifen (Cover CM, Hsieh SJ, Cram EJ, Hong C, Riby JE, Bjeldanes LF, and Firestone GL. Indole-3-carbinol and tamoxifen cooperate to arrest the cell cycle of MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cells. Cancer Research. 1999; 59: 1244-1251). It is also used by naturopaths to treat estrogen-caused fibroids. HOWEVER, too much can have a counter effect, so don't rush out and buy it.

PLEASE don't make any drastic changes based only on this information. But I think we need to understand non-pharmaceutical options, do our own research, and ask our doctors about it.

I was also told to avoid soy
I was also told to avoid soy in everything. I haven't started reading labels yet, but, know that I should. We need to be vigilant in avoiding it.

Good luck!

Soy is a Genetically
Soy is a Genetically Modified Organsim. There is very little soy here in the US that is not GMO. Even with organic soy there is no guarrantee that it is not GMO. However it is says non GMO then you know it is not. There is nothing to date to indicate what the effects of GMO soy or corn or any other GMO has on the body and we might not know this for several generations.

Soy was never meant to be eaten in large quantities, since it is put in so many processed foods here in the US we actually get more soy than we need or our bodies can handle as women. THere are many other natural foods that contain phytoestrogens such as honey, carrots ... etc however we don't consume these foods in the same quantities that many people consume soy (unknowningly). So sometimes just adding tofu to an already soy laden diet could be detrimental to some.

I think caution needs to be used here and awareness as to how much soy we are ingestion on a daily basis.

Cairmaid said:

Thanks for the tips
I will definitely look for Earth Balance products. My grocery store has a "special diets" aisle with gluten-free foods, so I'll look there for suitable substitutes, as well.

Holy Moly, I didn't even think about looking at the Hershey bar label (sigh)...it has soy lecithin in it. My friend at work gave me some Trader Joe's chocolate when I was diagnosed (she had just brought it back from vacation and was more upset than I was), but that is long-gone. I think I will be vigilant about soy in everything else so that I can afford to "fudge" a little on the chocolate (pun intended). Dammit Jim, I'm a chocoholic, not a dietician!

I'm taking an aromatase inhibitor (Femara), so my body won't make any estrogen in the first place. Eating soy undermines the effort. Tamoxifen plugs up the estrogen receptors on the cells so they can't "eat" the estrogen around them...so, I don't think avoiding soy is as critical in that case. However, no sense overworking the drugs :-)

Even if you body is not


Even if you body is not making estrogen AND you are taking an estrogen inhibitor, eating foods with phytoestrogens is going to mean you have estrogen in your body and your body has to somehow process this. This is why good liver function is crucial, it helps to process the excess estrogen in whatever form and eliminate it from the body. If your body doens't process the estrogen you end up being estrogen dominant and there are other side affects of that besides cancer.

I have been estrogen dominant most of my life because of Hep. C since the age of 5. I haven't had anything life threatening or serious from it, just uterine fibroids and my breast cancer is not ER+. However I have been living with this issue for most of my adult life and working with Chinese Herbalist and acupuncture just to maintain my health.

I am ER,PR
positive as well,so I avoid tofu,soy milk,etc.,but as some others have posted here-we need to remember that it is IMPOSSIBLE to totally cut soy out of your diet,it really is in a lot of things! I personally just don't eat or drink anything that has the word soy where I can see it really well just by looking at it.
Something that my hubby and I really enjoy are the Bolthouse Farms drinks-in the produce section of our grocery store(the mocha cappuccino and vanilla latte drinks in particular). Not all of them are soy free,but they will say on the label under the words 100% natural,if it is soy free or not.

Frustrating
As so many have said, it's so frustrating to read labels and find soy in so many unexpected things. My onco didn't mention foods like broccoli, etc., which I love - will have to ask her about that next month. She did say that it's impossible to totally avoid soy but do my best to avoid it.
I found a Mexicocoa drinking chocolate (aka cocoa mix) at World Market that's really good and doesn't list soy. It does have that all-inclusive "natural and artificial flavors" so who knows what that is.
Lots of good info in this post!
-rainbow4