Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So I just got back from girls weekend with my mom and sisters and they made fun of me like the whole time because of the food I ate. I haven't really said anything about the change in my diet or my families, so they were a little weirded out that I ate veggie sandwiches and asked for a chicken rollup without the chicken. Anyways, we got on the topic of soy and here is an exact quote from my sister:

"my friend had a daughter that was growing boobies and she was really young, and her and her dr decided it was from a shampoo she was using that contained soy, and as soon as she stopped using it, the boobies went away."

Say what? And then my joking response was, maybe I need to start using that shampoo.

And then they were talking about how soy causes cancer and all this stuff. I didn't really have any comebacks other then, "have you read your food labels lately, because we are all consuming hidden soy daily."

My one sister gave her first daughter soy formula because the other ones were giving her to many issues, and for her second daughter she wanted to but the pediatrician was strongly against it saying they don't recommend soy formula to anyone anymore "because it is evil". Well that last part was a paraphrase.

Is anyone here worried about having soy and feeding it to their children? I mean I drink soymilk daily and we use soy sauce in some cooking, but other then that, tofu and tempeh only show up on the menu once a week. I also know of the studies in how the cancer incidences are lower in countries that consume higher amounts of soy.

It is just so frustrating.

I'll repeat what I've said in other threads: you do not have to justify your diet to anyone. You just don't. It isn't any of their business.

I would also base your decisions on your own doctors and pediatricians (most doctors know very little around nutrition, so find one who is veg friendly and knowledgable). The whole shampoo thing sounds very sketchy. Stuff like that always happens to friends of friends.

If you are really worried, you can always switch up your milks and rotate through soy, rice, or almond.

there is just as much pro-soy research as there is anti-soy i think. you could spend days googling about soy and be even more confused at the end of it.

i think in the end it's just a personal choice. i eat tofu all the time and i have no plans on stopping.

i think there is a lot more evidence that milk and milk products can be detrimental to a girls development and developing far too early because of all the crepe that is pumped into cows.

it's frustrating because people can say all sorts of weird crepe to you without any evidence to back it up but for us to prove them wrong we need to be walking encyclopedia's of vegan health and nutrition. that happens to me alot where someone says something and im like "but but but" but i dont have every fact in my head straight.

in the end it's like lavawitch said, you dont need to justify your diet to anyone but yourself. i dont argue with people anymore because most of the time the people who are trying to argue with me dont have genuine questions where they are honestly curious their just dipshits trying to wind me up. i just smile and say im perfectly happy with my diet.

hundreds of thousands of years of Asian culture cant be wrong! soy is a huge staple in their diet!

You should get the book Vegan for Life! It will help explain a lot of questions about nutrition. Soy is definitely not evil and that shampoo thing is utter nonsense, but it's usually impossible to convince people of things that they are sure about. Next time your family says something like this about your diet, ask them to provide you with facts that prove that "soy is evil." It's not your job to be able to disprove everything anyone says to you.

The shampoo thing with soy is new to me...now, there is a thing about Tea Tree Oil body products and males, so maybe they got their wires really, really crossed.

Anyway, people are always going to have an issue with something you do. Just let it be their problem and not yours.

Usually when you ask them for the details, they back down, because they don't really know either.

Most of the "soy is evil" research is funded by the dairy lobby.

The last time someone lectured me about how unhealthy my diet was and how it was impossible for me to get the nutrients I needed, I asked him specifically which ones he is worried I am missing. He hemmed and hawed and dropped it.

i second the recommendation for the book Vegan for Life!! great book, easy to read but lots of facts and charts that explain nutrition stuff!!

You guys are right and I don't usually defend anything I do, because I have always been a little off-beat of my sisters. I did quiet one sister when she asked "how do you get protein if you don't eat meat?". I told her all the things I eat with protein and then I asked her if she even knew how much an adult women and young child need in a day, because I do. She didn't. I have read Vegan for Life, so I have the information, but I never remember specifics when needed for argument.

Oh well. It is always a losing battle with older sisters. I am the youngest, so...that is that;)

Again, if soy really did cause boobies, I would be eating a lot more of it.

Yeah, that's tough! I never remember the facts in the heat of the moment either, but you can always just tell them that you have a book they should read that explains it all if they are interested. Most likely they won't be interested, but it will probably make them feel better (or at least shut them up) to know that you have done the research.

I do remember hearing about about something with a hair product that caused early puberty, but it wasn't soy. It was some kind of placenta, I think.

List of things that I don't want in my hair:

1) Spiders
2) Placenta

Eeeeewwww...spiders gross me out more.

I personally only do organic soy products and feel okay about that. I don't trust GMO. I would go with Monsanto soy is evil maybe. I also don't eat a lot of processed food which tends to dump extra soy protein in a lot, not so much for the soy specific reason, but just overall healthiness.

As for the shampoo...that it ridiculous. There are so many chemicals in beauty products that I think are awful (all the sulfates, phalates, fragrance chemicals etc) how in the world would soy be the worse to put on your body than those.

As for the puberty issue, there are so many chemicals in our environment, BPA, sulfates, beauty products, cleaning products, hormones given to animals etc. that I'm sure it is a combination of everything that leads to problems. When the term "Fragrance" on items can be a mix of thousands of chemicals just in itself, who knows what we are putting on, or in our bodies. Oh and breast buds are one of the first signs of puberty (girls and boys) which sometimes fade before coming back in full swing.

yeah this is me. im always like "well if i could just run home and reference my vegan library for you cause i cant remember right now!" haha

i do think your comeback about knowing how much protein a woman and a young child need per day is a great one!!!

Oh yeah, and I do make sure to buy mostly organic soy. If not organic, I try to make sure the the beans were NonGMO.

We don't really eat much processed food besides some cereals.

What is the job of your skin? Oh yeah, to keep shiitake out. Your skin is not so permeable that for the brief time that shampoo is in your hair, enough soy could leech into your skin to do anything. How much soy was in that shampoo? I would wager that I could pour a half gallon of soymilk on my head, followed by a good scrub with tofu and ....experience nothing. (except gross hair)

From Ginny Messina: http://www.theveganrd.com/2011/08/soy-i ... rogen.html
From Jack Norris: http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/soy_wth

They are both RD's and know their stuff.

Ginny Messina is great.

One day I'll tell you all about the time I met her.

Okay, well, that's actually the whole story.

Did she swoon when she met you? You are Footface.

Someone recently told me "I hope you're not eating too much soy, because that's not good". My reply: "I've actually read the research and I'm quite confident it's fine". I didn't remember any of the details from the research, but she didn't know anything either, so it was enough to shut her up :)

I am a dude. I eat loads of soy. I still leave the house; thus, not enough estrogen to make guys grow awesome racks. You'll probably be okay.

More like, she tolerated my telling her I'm really glad she's out there doing what she does.

This is pretty much always my approach. If you just sound like you really know what you're talking about people will realize they don't actually know shiitake.

Unless it's some person who is into paleo stuff or whatever and actually wants to argue with you. In which case I'm like, cool, yeah I feel good about eating soy, how about this weather?

good thread. I get this from my SIL all the time, I never know what to say. She is concerned that my 2 year old daughter is going to get breast cancer from all the soymilk she drinks. I didn't think you could get breast cancer without breasts, but what do I know?
I'll check out all these links for future ammo :)