{"id":36,"date":"2010-11-28T04:28:36","date_gmt":"2010-11-28T04:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/11\/to-soy-or-not-to-soy-the-sequel.html"},"modified":"2010-11-28T04:28:36","modified_gmt":"2010-11-28T04:28:36","slug":"to-soy-or-not-to-soy-the-sequel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/11\/to-soy-or-not-to-soy-the-sequel.html","title":{"rendered":"To Soy or Not to Soy… The Sequel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to our second post on ‘To
\nSoy or Not to Soy…”  <\/span>I would highly
\nencourage you to read my previous post as you will need that quick update to
\nmake the most out of this post.  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, let’s get back to the idea that
\nsoy acts like estrogen.  Our bodies produce three different types of
\nestrogen: estrone, estradiol and estriol. 
\n<\/span>They are called E1, E2 and E3 respectively.  E2 the most powerful
\nform of estrogen which, when out of balance, can cause or worsen health
\nchallenges from the less severe hot flashes to the more deadly conditions like
\nbreast cancer.  Whole Soy mimics the action of E3 which is a weak
\n(therefore safer) form of estrogen.  Why is this important?  Well, if
\nsoy mimics a weaker estrogen, then having soy present in the body can be
\nbeneficial.  On the other hand, it is believed that Extracted Soy produces
\na ‘stronger’ response than Whole Soy and is, therefore, not recommended in
\npatients at risk for high estrogen or estrogen-like levels in the body.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Take the instance of a pre-pubescent
\ngirl.  Depending on her diet and family history, she may have an abundance
\nof E2 (powerful estrogen) circulating in her blood.  Physiology lesson:  <\/span>All estrogens must bind to an estrogen
\nreceptor that sits on the outside of almost every cell in your body.  <\/span>Weaker estrogens land on the receptor and
\nactivate the cell when compared to stronger estrogens.  <\/span>Putting this puzzle together a little more, having
\na weaker form of estrogen competing to fill the estrogen receptor can ‘block
\nout’ some of the stronger forms of estrogen.  In this case, soy is
\nbelieved to provide a decreased risk of breast cancer when these girls consume
\n1-2 servings of whole soy per day.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Men provide another example of
\nbeneficial use of soy.  Again, having a weaker form of estrogen present in
\nthe blood and binding to receptors will reduce the amount of powerful (E2)
\nestrogen that can land in those receptor sites (yes, men have estrogen
\ntoo!).  Too much E2 is linked to enlarged prostates and also prostate cancer.
\n It is believed that taking 1-2 servings of whole soy products
\nsignificantly reduces the risk of enlarged prostate and prostate cancer in men.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Wow!  Soy sounds terrific right? 
\nWell, it certainly can be as outlined in the samples above.  <\/span>However in the case of post-menopausal women,
\nwe’re a little more cautious.  When a woman is post-menopausal, all of her
\nforms of estrogen are on the decline.  Even though the rate of this
\ndecline is responsible for all of the sometimes challenging symptoms associated
\nwith ‘going through menopause’, the decline itself is beneficial.  You
\nsee, estrogen is a hormone that tells cells in the body to ‘grow and
\nmultiply’.  As we age, we tend to have more cells that grow and multiply
\ndefectively.  Generally speaking, the body knows what to do with these
\ncells and they are quickly killed.  But consider too much estrogen present
\ntelling these defective cells to grow and multiply.  There is a chance
\nthat these cells will grow too much before the body can eliminate them. 
\nThese are the beginnings of hormone-related cancers.  
<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

So, going back
\nto soy….. the natural decline of estrogen with menopause is nature’s way of
\nreducing the risk of stimulating cell growth.  Said differently, nature is
\ngetting rid of the E2’s in the blood as She knows it’s not a great thing to
\nhave around at this stage in the life cycle. 
\n<\/span>Now, let’s say you start eating even the weaker forms of estrogen like
\nthose found in soy, you are eating something that can still cause some level of
\nestrogen stimulation, albeit weak.  <\/span>This
\nweak stimulation could actually be higher than what you would be doing naturally
\nand without soy intake.  <\/span>In the end, this
\nextra estrogen stimulation could cause defective cells to grow and multiply
\ninto cancer, too. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The above scenarios represent
\nanother aspect of the confusion and controversy over soy.  <\/span>Again, understanding estrogen physiology…right
\nhere…you get the reason why we cannot rely on a simple ‘Soy is Good’ or ‘Soy is
\nBad’ statement.
<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

My final thoughts on soy:  Soy
\ncan be good for some, not so good for others.  It’s beneficial for men,
\nboys and younger women….not so beneficial for post-menopausal women and always to
\nbe taken in whole, organic form versus extracted form.  <\/span>I hope the next time you find yourself evaluating
\na soy based food, you feel the comfort of science and understanding as you make
\nthe smartest, most individualized choice for yourself or the ones you love.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to our second post on ‘To Soy or Not to Soy…”  I would highly encourage you to read my previous post as you will need that quick update to make the most out of this post.    Now, let’s get back to the idea that soy acts like estrogen.  Our bodies produce three…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":220,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-global-health-wisdom","category-healthy-eating","category-womens-health"],"yoast_head":"\nTo Soy or Not to Soy... The Sequel - Medicine to Move You<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/11\/to-soy-or-not-to-soy-the-sequel.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To Soy or Not to Soy... The Sequel - Medicine to Move You\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Welcome back to our second post on ‘To Soy or Not to Soy…”  I would highly encourage you to read my previous post as you will need that quick update to make the most out of this post.    Now, let’s get back to the idea that soy acts like estrogen.  Our bodies produce three…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/11\/to-soy-or-not-to-soy-the-sequel.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medicine to Move You\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-11-28T04:28:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Shilpa P. Saxena\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"To Soy or Not to Soy... 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