Is soya bad?

[tireesix]

Apparently I give my kids a crap diet becuase I feed them soya products (they don't eat meat and are allergic to cows milk). It was the dietician who told me to use soya.

So, am I an awful parent who gives them a rubbish diet with not enough fat and proteins simply because they are veggie and don't have dairy products or is soya not that bad and their diet ok including the soya?

I just never know what to do food wise these days, you give them one thing and thats good and then a few weeks later its the worst thing yu could have given them. Things are difficult enough, we are all Ehler Danlos sufferers, I have fibro too, DH has health problems, food isn't easy for us, to top it off, DD2 has major food issues (although she is now on anti spasm medication for her bowel, looks like she has IBS as a result of EDS, she gets diarhoea as does DD3 and me and DD2 gets constipation, same diet, typical).

Gah.

I guess I just need to know I am not killing them with soya.

[Sayward]

You are not killing them with soya.

No one food should compose too much of a diet, so go easy on soya and make other choices where you can (like almond milk). Soya is genetically modified if it's not organic, so I'd definitely aim for organic. Fermented products (tempeh, soy sauce, miso, natto) are better choices than unfermented products (soy milk, tofu). Highly processed products are not good choices (faux meats, faux cheeses, protein bars/powders, etc)

You are NOT killing your kids with soya (despite what some of the . . . erm . . . *enthusiastic* . . . members of this forum may tell you.

Here's some resources:

http://www.vegfamily.com/health/vega...nformation.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neal-b..._b_453966.html

[Doodlebugsmom]

Originally Posted by Sayward

Soya is genetically modified if it's not organic, so I'd definitely aim for organic.

If I remember correctly, the OP is in Europe. GMO foods have been banned there for quite a while, I believe. It sure would make things a lot easier (and cheaper!) if they were banned here!

OP, like Sayward said, try to avoid the processed products as much as possible. Other than that, if they're getting a well balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, I wouldn't really worry about the soy.

[tireesix]

Ok, I can't lie and say our diet has been fantastic because it has been rubbish recently. Normall we are really good mostly eating salads etc but what with the whole step son thing, me and DH being particularly bad health wise, adjusting to the girls now being in school etc, we have found ourselves just trying to make it through the day as best we can.............

However, I have remembered to order my shopping this week so we will be back on salads etc. Really, when we are eating as we would normally do, the soya products we have are soya milk (that is, a wee bit for cereal), soya spread for sandwiches and every now and again in a burger or for chunks in a wrap (as I mentioned in the other post, we have issues with DD2 and her food intake and I am happier with her eating something rather than nothing if you know what I mean, she already suffers from fatigue and other issues and I dont want to make it worse by her refusing to eat everything we put down, I dunno, she is a tricky one that one, very cute though).

I feel happier about the soya now, I figured that it would be like everything else 'as part of healthy diet' kinda thing, as long as you don't go over board.

Thank you!!!!!!!

Oh, and yes, we be in the UK although I wish I was somewhere warmer and sunnier!

[cristeen]

Since nobody else is speaking up, which i find surprising, i'll be the one to say it. I avoid soy. If i do have it, it is very rarely (couple times a year), and in a fermented form. Soy is one of those foods that i read ingredient lists looking for. Because it is pervasive, most people are getting way more of it in their diet than they realize.

Yes, you will find studies and articles saying its perfectly "safe" and even healthy, but you can find those that say the exact opposite, too. I know for myself, soy seriously messes w my body, so we dont eat it. I absolutely would not be giving it to my children, and particularly in an unfermented form like soy milk. There are so many better options when it comes to milk replacements.

[beanma]

I avoid it because it's bad for my thyroid. I'm hypothyroid (low) and it exacerbates that.

I have a friend/aquaintance who was a vegetarian for years who ate a lot of soy and she found that when she went off it her IBS symptoms completely cleared up. It's a common allergen also. Since you report IBS symptoms in your family you might try subbing some other foods in place of soy and see if that makes any difference. For cereal, rice, almond and hemp milks are good. Some people like to use coconut oil on bread/toast in place of margarine/butter. I might just go with peanut butter or jelly myself.

I do know many people who consume soy with no apparent problems, but it is a tricky food and if you're having health issues in your family I'd take a closer look at it.

[Llyra]

We avoid it. That's mostly because my DS is moderately allergic, and because it bothers the heck out of my ulcerative colitis. But even so, I have concerns about soy. The evidence available is so mixed. Everybody seems to have an opinion about it, and there's very little agreement about whether soy has positive or negative effects in an otherwise healthy diet. I would encourage the OP to do some research on her own, and explore both sides of the issue.

I like to distinguish between traditionally-prepared soy products, like tofu or tempeh or soy sauces, and the highly-processed modern soy products like soy lecithin and texturized vegetable protein and stuff like that. In general, I avoid highly processed foods of every kind. So if we were able to tolerate soy, I would probably stick to more traditional types of soy foods.

[beanma]

Oh, if you're looking for a Veggie Burger w/o soy, you might try Amy's California Burgers. You can also make your own, of course, but when you're looking for something fast I think the Amy's are pretty good.

[JMJ]

Hugs mamma. We do the best we know how to do for our kids. You're not trying to poison your kids, but as we grow and learn more, we can make even better decisions. When I took soy out of my diet, my IBS symptoms went away and so did my intollerance to lactose (for the most part at least. I still tend toward cultured milk products to be more safe). Because of my lactose intollerance, I was consuming a whole lot of soy milk, and I never knew that was a problem until my 6 month old chipped a tooth and got a cavity. I now have to control it very carefully with nutrient rich foods and no soy.

It's really hard to take an ingredient out of a child's diet. As adults, we can have some self control, feel hungry while we figure out something else to eat, lose a bit of weight, and it's not a problem. With children, we have to find something for them to eat. We have to have food in the house that works for them, and it has to be easily on hand. We can't let them starve, so we can't feel like food is their enemy, even though many of us reach a crisis where we feel like everything we feed our children is junk. Trust me, I've been there. I understand the feeling of "what do you mean soy is bad? I thought I was making the best nutritional decisions I could make. Criticize my love of chocolate chip cookies, but my soy milk is how I get my calcium." I learned that soy has antinutrients that inhibit the absorption of minerals such as calcium.

I know that there are different ideas out there about nutrition, but the one piece of advice that is pretty constant in most nutritional advice is to try to eat whole foods in as close to a natural state as possible. There is also pretty objective research out there on how to maximize the nutrient content of individual foods. I really feel better that I'm able to choose foods for my family based on what it will do for us nutritionally rather than an attempt to avoid foods that might hurt us. Read up a bit on what different people regard to be super foods, and maybe you'll get some great ideas on what to feed you kids.

[Doodlebugsmom]

Originally Posted by beanma

Oh, if you're looking for a Veggie Burger w/o soy, you might try Amy's California Burgers. You can also make your own, of course, but when you're looking for something fast I think the Amy's are pretty good.

Mmmmm. My favorite store-bought veggie burgers ever!

[mamaofthree]

i think it depends on the person eating it. i have a friends who do great with soy and have had no issues what so ever. i think any one diet isn't great for all people, so you need to find the food combinations that work well with your family.

can you or do you eat eggs? they are a good protein and have good fats too. also, i don't know if you can but heavy cream and butter, although dairy have no dairy proteins in them, so that might be a way to get fats in your dd and yourselves (if that is an issue).
also trying to eat as close to how the food is in nature usually works out the best. alot of the food substitutes are very highly processed, so unless you need to drink some sort of "milk" you might just void all the substitutes all together.
find a new way of eating. instead of, say, eating pizza with "fake" cheese and "fake" pepperoni, on a GF crust... try something else instead.

it is hard to eat when there are so many choices and seriously every single day something that was great for you is now evil and so many people are so set in what they eat as being the only way to eat. you gotta do what works for YOU.

h

[debrah.h48word]

Hello,

Soya is certainly not bad for you. The diets followed by people living in many far eastern countries contain sizeable amounts of soya and these nations have considerably lower levels of cancer and heart disease than their western counterparts.

Indeed, soya has actually been shown to contain nutrients that have a positive effect on both cholesterol and the potential cancer creating toxins in our bodies.

Soya is also an excellent source of protein and many essential vitamins and minerals.

For more information visit: http://www.womenrepublic.co.uk/diet_fitness/soya/

[MountainMamaGC]

I am no longer veg*n, but we still eat organic soy products on occasion. We will have a stir fry with tofu, or we will use soy milk when almond milk or goat milk is not available. I buy organic soy milk that does not contain soy protein isolates. I have read that soy protein isolate is very bad for you. I believe organic soy in whole form occasionally is not bad for you. I have read both sides of the story and this is my conclusion.