Susan, this is what Dr. Andrew Weil has to say on the subject. Note that he emphasizes the big difference between highly processed soy (like your mayo product and soy supplements) and whole soyfoods, such as tofu and tempeh.

Oh my, I put soy milk on my cereal and have for quite a few years now.

I really hate blanket statements like "soy causes breast cancer". There are so many variables included and I think for the most part it's nothing but a scare tactic for the general public because it doesn't give the whole story. I'm not arguing her doctor's instructions as I certainly don't know them or the situation, but my opinion is based on public proclamations on the dangers of soy.

Soy is in almost every packaged item now in some form or another and it's not the soy that will harm you. It's all the other crap in the cookies, chips, mayo, processed meats and cheeses - the saturated fat, chemicals and preservatives and other additions.

As alisande mentioned, there's a huge difference between packaged junk food with soy in it and tofu or edamame. The natural, unprocessed sources of soy actually do have health benefits. Countries that have been ingesting a lot of soy for centuries actually have lower breast cancer rates, and it's because it's not in the form of the junk food.

For me personally, I use soy in moderation and only in the natural forms. Soymilk on occasion, or tofu. That's not because I'm scared of it, but because I like all my food, except fruits and veggies, to be moderated and rotated.

If there's going to be a blanket statement, I think it should be something like "avoid packaged and junk food with all that crap in it" but no one wants to listen to that one ;)

Schoolhouse, almond milk is my favorite non-dairy milk. It tastes great. Might want to try it. If you have a Trader Joe's near you, their vanilla one is really nice in cereal and only 40 calories a cup. :)

My oncologist told me NO soy. None.

It's OK - I don't eat packaged crap. :)

Soy contains phytoestrogens, similar to human estrogen. Women with estrogen-positive (ER+) breast tumors and breast cancer should avoid eating soy. I'm also one that needs to avoid soy because my cancer was ER+, meaning that estrogen would make my cancer spread because it likes estrogen. That is also why some of us with breast cancer are put on drugs such as Tamoxifen and Femara while those that are ER- are not given these particular drugs but may be given a drug called Herceptin instead.

I avoid soy most of the time...unless it's organic...and even then very limited..

I recently did some reading and found out that soy baby formula has been linked to fertility in later life too.

Wish I would have had that knowledge when I was feeding it to my oldest as a baby.. just make more informed decisions with more knowledge..

There has been a suspected connection of soy to breast cancer for quite a while now.

That's why I cringe when I read how some women take mega amounts of soy which mimics to reduce symptoms of menopause thinking it is a safer than traditional HRT. "High estrogen" is "high estrogen" no matter how you get there. The body doesn't recognize that which comes from a lab or that which comes from a food or so called "natural" product. Too much estrogen, increased risk of cancer.

I don't know about cancer and soy... but I do know that soy affects me in a negative way. After a couple weeks of drinking just a bit of soy milk I definitely feel worse (much more hypo) than usual.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thyroid and soy

My primary as well as my gynocologist both say "no" to soy for the reasons that heather stated.

My biofeedback therapist is seeing an increase in teenage female patients complaining of debilitating migraines and severe PMS. The common thread between them is a daily intake of soy products such as milk and tofu. She had them stop all soy products and within 7 to 14 days they reported a drastic decrease in symptoms. It's certainly not a scientific study, but sure does make one wonder.

My dr. told me no soy now that I'm on thyroid drugs. My two sisters had estrogen positive ca and told not to eat soy in any form.

I would never have known any of this if I hadn't read it here. Just thought Soy milk would be a healthier choice, didn't do any reading up on it. I'm going to try the almond milk.

Schoolhouse..also try rice, other nuts and definitely coconut.

You may find you like one over the other better or to use for different things.

My oncologist also said NO!! Which was ok with me as i don't like it anyway.The little that is in Mayo and stuff like that i don't worry too much about as i don't use it a lot.

What does get me is people like Dr OZ hyping soy all the time,edamame, and a few other things like that.I always yell at him and tell him "not all of us can eat soy and soy products",LOL.
I'm also ER+,and havn't had a thyroid in years.Had it all removed in 2 separate operations,20 years apart,and that little pill is what keeps me going everyday.So i steer clear of soy.
kathi

It bothers me that soy is touted as a healthy food, and many people are eating it thinking it's a good thing. But it's NOT. I avoid all types of soy, and I've never had cancer. I've considered almond milk, rice milk, etc. but have you read the labels on these products? Carrageenan is in them all, another thing I avoid. It's also in a lot of dairy, so I read labels to find products without it.

Soy, carrageenan, aspartame, the list goes on of poisons we consume. The worst of all may be genetically modified foods, and most everyone is eating loads of GMO "foods" and they don't even know it.

The only way around it is to eat a whole-food, organic diet with no pre-packaged foods, snack items or restaurants. This is very hard, time-consuming and expensive. But boy can I tell a difference in the way I feel. I'm just coming off of several months of lots of eating out and snack foods, and it is hard but I'm determined to get back to a healthier diet.

From the studies I've read, soy is very bad for those with cancer and thyroid, but it also is bad for anyone. Just be aware of all the other bad things in our food supply, and take the time to read up about GMO's. It opened my eyes about the FDA, for one thing, and made me realize that we are all on our own for finding healthy foods to consume.

Well, since some cancers thrive on estrogen, and soy can mimick estrogen, it makes sense that you would stop eating it if you already had cancer.

But people have been eating soy for thousands of years, especially in Asia...and Asian countries have a lower rate of breast cancers than the US, so I don't believe for one minute that soy actually causes cancer that wasn't there to begin with. If soy was a cause of cancer, those countries that consume the most of it would likely have the highest cancer rates.

As someone who doesn't eat meat and has looked into this quite a bit, I believe soy is pretty safe to consume, especially compared to all the pesticides, food colorings, MSG, aspartame, HFCS, etc...that are put in so much of our food. I would avoid it if I had a cancer that reacted to estrogen, but otherwise I'm not worried about it.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_bre_can_inc-health-breast-cancer-incidence

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/soy-000326.htm

I second what Jennmonkey said. People in Japan consume lots of soy and have a low breast cancer rate.

It's very easy to make your own nut or oat milk. Just nuts or oats in a blender with water and strain. No additives or preservatives.

Thanks for the info on carrageenan. I hadn't realized the downside of it, but it makes for interesting reading. Just another reason why I like to make my own because I know exactly what goes in it.

I think our country's nutritional standards are a joke. So much meat and dairy touting, protein-heavy 5-a-day nonsense. We need far less protein then we've been led to believe and it should be 10-15 fruits/veggies a day at the bare minimum given their recommended serving sizes. I've already had 7 servings of fruit and veggies this morning alone and I'm looking at another 5-6 in my lunch salad.

There have been a lot of studies done on US medical schools and how many hours they devote to nutrition, which is sadly very little. My own doctor rolls her eyes at how I eat and is always trying to send me to a nutritionist which I refuse because I believe the nutritional standards they tout are dangerous. All I know is my blood work is perfect and I feel amazing.

It's nice to see a thread where people are trying to eat healthy!

I went to the grocery store thinking to pick up bottled olive oil salad dressing and mayo made with olive oil. Well guess what--the "olive oil" products also contain soybean oil. I'm not saying soy is bad or good, just surprised at how prevalent it is in our prepared food items.

The U.S. raises a lot of soy.

There's some soy of a fairly wide variety of types in a large proportion of the foods in our area.

The U.S. raises a lot of corn.

Same deal: some corn or a derivative of it in a wide variety of our foods.

A large proportion of U.S. farmers get massive subsidies.

Canadian farmers, many of whose products must compete in the world marketplace, don't get such subsidies.

ole joyful