Soy and Breast Cancer
Something I’ve been avoiding for the past five years of my breast cancer remission are soy products. Specifically soy sauce, tempeh, soy milk, edamame beans and tofu ; basically anything with high levels of what I was told would be an estrogen elevator. Okay, I’ll admit I was never a big fan of any of it unless it seasoned my Chinese food, but still...there was an edamame bean craze I had to curb and I did worry about the dark brown liquid I used in salad dressings and stir frys quite often.
Having had a hormone driven cancer, (both progesterone and estrogen meaning my tumor had been fed specifically by these culprits), I had been advised to curb these products. Now new evidence is saying using these products may actually suppress the chance of developing cancer.
I recently discovered an article at www.oncologynutrition.org donated by Diana Dyer MS, registered dietician and a three time cancer survivor that discusses this “Soy Fear” and all that it means.
Seems that soy products do contain “phytoestrogens” , which led many to believe soy contains estrogen.But the term phytoestrogen simply means the chemical structures in soy products resemble natural female estrogen, thus the “phyto.”
There is no estrogen in natural soy foods. And ...
Tests of thousands of women over many years showed those who ate soy regularly had a lower chance of contracting breast cancer. Or experiencing a recurrence. The study did admit it was possible that women who ate things like Tofu or soy milk might already be prone to healthier than normal lifestyle practices.
I can see where they’re going with that. We used to call the vegan and tofu enthusiasts“Granolas.” Nothing wrong with it, it just seemed to be a certain hippy-thing which went hand-in-hand with floor length skirts, smoking pot and free love. Granolas were often fond of a diet rich in tofu, nuts and seeds, fruits and home grown vegetables while the rest of us ate everything we could get our hands on: the unhealthier the better.
But the study further admits that while it might not be able to prove soy protects against breast cancer, it can say that it didn’t contribute to a higher rate of breast cancer. And amen to that! The article also cautions that soy “supplements,” and isoflavone enriched products were not part of the study. Maybe best to avoid them until further testing.
So my never-ending quest for a dietary regime that will help me to reach my goal of “staying alive til ‘75” has brought me back to considering the meat alternative Tofu. No more excuses. The next question is how to get this past my hunter husband. My next research will be on How to DisguiseTofu as a moose steak or deer burger.
