Fermented soy is ok. Most soy in food today is not fermented and should be avoided.
I can’t imagine excess estrogen is good for female children either, but it’ psobably not as big of a problem as for males. I wouldn’t give my infant or young son soy formla. I was disappointed to learn this year that I was raised on soy formula. I’m already such a fine physical specimen; I’m quite sure that if I breastfed, I would’ve had a 12 inch penis and an extra couple inches of height. A shame, really.
If you are simply looking for a source of calcium (which is the only thing you really “need” milk for) then there are many alternatives. I personally don’t drink cow’s milk and none of my children do. There are just too many bad things in it to list and drinking the breast milk of an animal grosses me out.
To get my calcium I eat leafy green veggies and take calcium. When I used to eat cereal I did use Silk brand soy milk. It comes with added omega 3s now which is a nice benefit. My kids use the same for cereal and calcium chews to get the rest of their calcium intake.
I think a small amount of either type of milk is not going to cause serious harm. I do feel that 4 glasses of either is a lot to take in just to get calcium requirements for the day. If it makes your wife’s upset stomach better then I see more benefit than harm in drinking it. It may allow her to eat the foods she needs while pregnant, meaning she couldn’t eat much if she felt nauseous (sp?).
It was tough for me to start making shakes from whey isolate but I do now to help up my protein intake. I like to think the refining process removes some of the toxic compounds however I don’t know if it does. I just wanted to mention this so I don’t seem like a hypocrite.
As I’m somewhat of a milk enthusiast, bear with me!
I recommend going to a natural food store and trying out various versions of organic milk. You will probably be able to get homogenized, or unhomogenized milk. That could make a difference as far as your wife’s intolerance is concered, as a large portion of milk intolerant people are actually reacting to the way the milk is processed. Perhaps if the fat molecules are intact in the unhomogenized milk it would work out a little better for her. May be worth a try.
Aside from these options, the biggest difference that i’ve found in the milk that I now buy is that it’s in a glass container. I highly reccomend buying milk in glass, the taste is 400% better than milk found in cardboard or plastic. Not to mention the whole plastic container debate.
Another huge factor is how well kept the milk has been since it’s processing. I’ve noticed myself through a keen taste in milk that common grocers do not keep their milk at a low enough temperature, and I believe they often leave it out. The milk is usually already rotting when you open it! My brother can confirm this, as he worked for a trucking company that supplied produce and dairy to superstore(not sure what it’s called in the states). They left their meat and milk out unrefrigerated for long periods of time, and the warehouses were apparently extremely unsanitary. I’m sure that it would be the same for many warehouses wherever you go. However, I believe health food stores are more likely to take extra care in keeping their food fresh. When I used to drink milk from common grocers, I’d feel horrible from most of the milk batches as well. This may be due to any one of the factors i’ve mentioned, or a combination. Since I’ve switched to glass bottled organic milk at the health food store, I could NEVER go back!
Let your daughter try out some fresh organic milk out of a glass bottle. Perhaps the taste will entice her to change. Believe me, it’s quite a difference!
It only costs about $2.50 a litre for me.
I would probably still be drinking milk if I could, but I can’t. I was suprised to find that I actually love soy milk in the same way that I used to crave milk. Even though I’ve read tons of articles arguing both ways, I have to side with ones that say it has more benefits.
I don’t know what the answer is, but I try not to have more than 1-3 servings a day, either. Also, I don’t use soy supplements. And I would never feed a child soy, even a female.
Excerpt taken from Dr. Sears’ Article:
SOY: GOOD OR BAD?
“Hi there, I have heard that soy products are not good for infants and toddlers because of the high level of hormones and estrogen that are in them. Does this have any merit?”
Soy contains substances called isoflavones (specifically genistein and daidzein) that are similar to the hormone called estrogen. These �??phyto-estrogens�?? (meaning �??plant-based estrogens�??) are much weaker than the actual hormone �?? in fact, they have only about 0.1% the activity. Soy has been used for years as an alternative therapy for menopausal hot flashes �?? so there does seem to be a mild hormonal effect in people that already have an estrogen imbalance. But in babies taking soy, I rarely ever see any signs of hormonal imbalance. For older children and adults, I believe the health benefits (decreased risk of certain cancers, heart disease, etc.) of soy far outweigh the potential risks. I use soy myself and for my kids. Populations that eat a lot of soy seem to be healthier than Americans. The only time I don�??t like to use soy is in young babies as their only source of protein, unless they have a documented milk allergy. Many babies are on soy formulas that probably don�??t need to be. There are several reasons for this, click here for full discussion of soy formula.
Dr. Jim
Soy: Bad for your heart?
Could soy, recommended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its cardiovascular benefits, actually harm your heart?
That appears to be the case among male mice carrying the gene mutation responsible for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), according to a University of Colorado at Boulder study.
HCM is the leading cause of death in young athletes and affects about one in 500 people, although milder forms often go undetected, said the study’s principal author, Leslie Leinwand, Ph.D.
The disease causes ventricle thickening and prevents the heart from fully relaxing between heartbeats. In its final stages, the ventricle enlarges, the heart walls thin, contractions are impaired and heart failure typically follows.
Although the gene mutation responsible for HCM is inherited, it may take decades before there is clinically evident expression of the disease’s symptoms. Early detection is possible through genetic sequence testing.
Leinwand’s study, which used mice bred to carry HCM, showed that the heart health of male mice fed a soy-based diet severely deteriorated.
The research team hypothesized that plant-based estrogens in the soy diet “triggered a cascade of biochemical reactions and ultimately increased apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in the heart.”
Interestingly, female mice were largely unaffected - a result, Leinwand said, of the fact that females already had large amounts of estrogen naturally circulating through their bodies, making for a proportionally smaller increase in estrogen compounds from soy. In addition, males are generally affected more severely by HCM than females.
The results of this study stand in stark contrast to the FDA’s 1999 approval of a health claim on food labels stating that consumption of soy protein reduces coronary heart disease risk. Numerous clinical studies have also shown that soy does improve vascular reactivity and plasma lipids - which would seem to contradict the findings of this latest study.
Although specific soy benefits have been documented, the full long-term effects of consuming large amounts of processed soy protein are unknown. Soy consumed in Asia usually involves limited doses that are less processed than the soy often consumed in the U.S.
“We are seeing more cautionary reactions from the medical community in recent years regarding the ingestion of huge quantities of dietary supplements, including soy phytoestrogens,” Leinwand noted.
Plant estrogens have been shown to have a potent effect on living organisms. “There are some very complex issues in this study that we don’t yet fully understand from a biochemical standpoint,” she said.
Although they are sometimes suggested by doctors to treat menopausal symptoms in women, common plant estrogens such as genistein and daidzein can contribute to reduced fertility in farm animals, studies have shown. There have also been concerns publicized about the use of soy in baby formulas.
A 2001 study in The Journal of the American Medical Association examined the association between infant exposure to soy formula and health in young adulthood - with an emphasis on reproductive health. It concluded that exposure to soy formula does not appear to lead to different general health or reproductive outcomes when compared to exposure to cow milk formula.
What does this study mean for people enjoying tofu-rich diets?
“The human equivalent portion of soy fed to the lab mice in the study was approximately 10 tofu burgers per day,” Leinwand said. “Soy can differ quite a bit in its phytoestrogen content depending on a lot of things like soil and climate, and the phytoestrogens can be eliminated from soy products.”
“It does not come as a surprise that soy, when given in such a high dose, might cause harm, particularly in animals already genetically modified to have an altered heart muscle,” said Bradly P. Jacobs, M.D., M.P.H., chair of the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Channel for Revolution Health Group’s Medical Advisory Board. “The results from this finding do not alter the belief that consuming soy is associated with less heart disease.”
So, for now, unless you are a male with HCM, the proven benefits of soy consumption in moderation likely outweigh unproven risks.
Related links
Daily soy benefit not proven
Soy consumption and breast cancer risk
Soy reduces risk of bone fracture
This article is from MyDNA.com
© Copyright 2006 by MyDNA.com
[quote]jsbrook wrote:
I can’t imagine excess estrogen is good for female children either, but it’ psobably not as big of a problem as for males. I wouldn’t give my infant or young son soy formla. I was disappointed to learn this year that I was raised on soy formula. I’m already such a fine physical specimen; I’m quite sure that if I breastfed, I would’ve had a 12 inch penis and an extra couple inches of height. A shame, really.[/quote]
I’m not a scientist, but I thought it BLOCKED all hormones, which would obviously be harmful for a male in large doses. But isn’t it just like RezV? Aren’t they both antiestrogen, antihormone, anticancer? Aren’t hormones=cancer?