Re: Is there any benefit in steaming soy milk?


"Craig Andrews" <alt.coffee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:65fq86F2fleliU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
> Yeah, & in the news & radio a week or two back., they said Soy was > turning
people gay.
Craig. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada.)
I assume this is related to the alleged estrogen like effects of soy. Here is what one (admittedly not unbiased - sponsored by the Silk people) page has to say:

"Myth: Soy foods contain estrogen compounds that may cause hormonal disturbances.
The isoflavones found in soy foods are sometimes called phytoestrogens (plant-estrogens) because they have a chemical structure similar to the hormone estrogen. Also, isoflavones can bind to estrogen receptors and exert some estrogen-like effects in cells.18, 19

That said, isoflavones are actually quite different from estrogen. Estrogen-like effects are rarely observed in clinical studies measuring the ingestion of soy foods or isoflavones.20-22

This is not surprising since receptor binding – a common in vitro measure of estrogenicity – is a poor predictor of in vivo activity.23

Compounds that bind to estrogen receptors often have different, and sometimes opposite, physiological effects depending upon how the isoflavone and receptor interact within different cells.24-26

Clinical studies do show that neither soy foods nor isoflavones affect serum levels of testosterone or estrogen.27-39 In fact, several studies have found no effects on testosterone despite ingestion of isoflavones at levels that were 20- to 30-times higher than the typical Japanese intake.40, 41

No hormone-related abnormalities, such as thelarche or precocious puberty, have been ascribed to soy formula use in infants. "

http://www.soynutrition.com/SoyHealth/SoyMyths.aspx

This is a little weasel worded - "rarely observed" implies that such effects have been observed in some studies.

OTOH, I have a friend who is recovering from an estrogen sensitive cancer and on the advice of her physician she avoids soy products. I suppose that in a matter of life or death it is better to err on the safe side. Some of the rice milk products seem more palatable if not particularly nutritious. For people who are lactose intolerant there is Lactaid milk. I've never understood the appeal of soy milk, which I find to be yucky tasting and a pale shadow of really dairy flavor. I understand that some people are vegans, allergic, etc. but the popularity of soy milk seems to extend beyond that group for reasons that are unclear (to me at least). I have nothing against soy products - I enjoy a good ma-po tofu, but soy milk just doesn't do it for me.

.

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