Eating Soy
Posted 7/5/2012
Posted in
This is another example of the common experience of competing and conflicting medical advice. I remember being told that coffee increases the risk of pancreatic cancer, and then, not too long later, that coffee reduces the risk of pancreatic and liver cancers - just one example. For decades, the standard advice to women post breast cancer, especially women who had ER positive cancers, has been to avoid soy in even moderate quantities. We were told that occasional tofu was fine, but certainly not to take soy supplements and probably not to use soy milk. Especially for women who are vegetarian, this has often been a problem. The thinking has been based on the fact that soy is a phytoestrogen and might bring unwanted estrogen into our systems.
Here is an older website with this information »
This new study tells us exactly the opposite: that eating soy, even in rather large quantities, may actually decrease the recurrence risk. My own non-medical advice would be to discuss this with your doctor before making any major diet changes. This is a single study that may be challenged, and there is always a place for common sense and personal preferences. Here is the beginning and then a link to read more:
Higher Soy Intake Tied to Fewer Breast Cancer Recurrences
By Will Boggs, MD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jun 26 - Eating soy foods may be linked to a lower recurrence risk in breast cancer, according to a study of Chinese and American women that eases earlier concerns.
Intake of at least 10 mg soy isoflavones per day was also tied to lower risks of all-cause and breast cancer-specific mortality, although those associations weren't statistically significant.
"The findings of our study suggest that moderate soy food intake is safe for breast cancer survivors," said Dr. Xiao-Ou Shu from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, whose report was published online May 30 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"For women who are regular soy food consumers, they should not be concerned about cutting their soy food intake after diagnosis of breast cancer," Dr. Shu told Reuters Health in an email.
Read more »
[will need to complete brief, free registration to read full article]
Tags: