Thoughts on Soy Products

I talked some with my doctors on soy products and their pros and cons. My breast cancer is also estrogen positive. Before you get cancer, soy products seem to work like a weak estrogen (rather like the tamoxifen does) and can therefore keep the body's own estrogen from powering up the breast cells to start cancer. To get the preventitive effect, you have to have a significant level of the soy stuff. I believe the isoflavones were supposed to be the stuff that had the medical effect. Some soy products have a fair amount of isoflavones while others don't have much at all. Once you get cancer though, getting the estrogen level as low as possible prolongs survival. The tamoxifen works better than the soy products. Soy (at least the concentrated sort pushed by "health food" stores) plus tamoxifen might be too much weak estrogen rather than the right level. But the amount of soy you would have to take to get medical significance is more than a bit here and there. Lots of products on the American market separate out the isoflavones and concentrate them. That may not even be safe for the folks who don't have cancer. See the Johns Hopkins article at http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2006/10apr06/10soy.html for more on it. My oncologist said that I was safe eating tofu (soy curd) once or twice a week or drinking an occasional soymilk if I liked it. Soy sauce doesn't have a significant level of isoflavones in it so it is okay as a seasoning. He just didn't want me to start any megadosing with soy products thinking that that would ward off cancer since in reality it would probably have a negative effect. He also pointed out that if I was taking any herb remedies for hot flashes that actually worked that they too might be working because of an estrogen-like effect in my body which would be disasterous for me in the long run. I threw out the soy nuts, quit buying soymilk, and went back to navy beans, lentils, and regular skim milk. But I still enjoy stirfries with tofu once a week from the carryout Chinese restaurant. If I were you I would check out the amount of isoflavones in various products and avoid the ones that are high. I bet the soy oil is not a problem child while the soy protein probably is. Concentrating on eating a mostly vegetarian diet with lots of fresh fruits, whole grains, vegetables and including dried beans of various types several times a week will naturally limit how much exposure you get to soy products, not to mention all the estrogens used by farmers raising chickens, eggs and beef. Plus it will give you lots of the cancer fighting properties of the different vegetables. I let my husband eat his high meat diet since I'm the one with the breast cancer, I love vegetables, and he hates them with a passion. By the way, as soon as you are post menapausal, the aromatase inhibitors are more effective than tamoxifen. You still have to avoid soy supplements and estrogen-like substances, but they are getting better results than tamoxifen. Good luck!

I agree with the others. I am on Tamoxifen, and have been told that it will handle most of the soy products that are in a regular diet. But avoid Soy Milk and hot flash herbal stuff. This contained natural estrogen.
Foster Farms bases their ad campaigns on "no hormones added" to their chickens. But, beef doesn't enjoy the same respect. Even dairy cows are given stuff to increase their milk production...so be careful about milk.

BTW, NAKED HAPPY dance for the 4 years!!!!! YEA!!!!

Hugs, Kathi

BBK said:

The problem is...there's soy (or some soy byproduct) in almost ALL the prepared or processed foods we eat. I'll have to go back to lettuce and cucumbers, and raw foods-- essentially a vegetarian diet -- in order to stay away from soy. "They" have said that "probably" eating "some" soy won't hurt you...but, I just went through my cupboards, and literally everything has some sort of soy in it...that's not just "some" soy -- that's TOO MUCH soy! Who would think that even chicken noodle soup would have soy lechithen in it? I mean, really! And, the clam chowder that I had for dinner (BEFORE I read the label)...had so much soy in it that they listed it among the things that people could potentially be allergic to. COME ON! People should be aware of this problem, because it's going to affect a bunch of us. Who knew?! I mean, really! I sure didn't! This topic hits the top of the questions I want to ask my oncologist at my November appointment, that's for sure! thanks for all your replies! I appreciate them very much!

I was told that maybe large doses wouldn't be great idea but once again moderation comes to mind. I was estrogen negative and not on any drug therepy after chemo and radiation. I was told that estrogen still plays a roll and why smoking and drinking are so bad for females. Both of these activities affect the estrogen process in our bodies something men don't have to contend with.
Just something else to think about

BBK said:

The problem is...there's soy (or some soy byproduct) in almost ALL the prepared or processed foods we eat. I'll have to go back to lettuce and cucumbers, and raw foods-- essentially a vegetarian diet -- in order to stay away from soy. "They" have said that "probably" eating "some" soy won't hurt you...but, I just went through my cupboards, and literally everything has some sort of soy in it...that's not just "some" soy -- that's TOO MUCH soy! Who would think that even chicken noodle soup would have soy lechithen in it? I mean, really! And, the clam chowder that I had for dinner (BEFORE I read the label)...had so much soy in it that they listed it among the things that people could potentially be allergic to. COME ON! People should be aware of this problem, because it's going to affect a bunch of us. Who knew?! I mean, really! I sure didn't! This topic hits the top of the questions I want to ask my oncologist at my November appointment, that's for sure! thanks for all your replies! I appreciate them very much!

My girlfriend decided to stop taking Tamoxifen. She did research on this. The trouble with soy is that SOME of it contains natural estrogen...and some does not. She is careful about what type she eats, but still enjoys some soy products.
If you are interested, I could get her resource list for you....

Hugs, Kathi