Soy milk estrogen

Cause for concern

The discovery of thepresence of estrogen in soy milk has raised many concerns among its most dedicatedconsumers. And the presence of this hormone in the food containing soy is atthe root of many arguments and disputes still in progress until this very day. On one hand, we have a number of research studies that emphasize that the factsoybeans abound in isoflavones (estrogens originating from plants), which makes thesoy based food extremely healthy. On the other, various opposing researchstudies point out that the isoflavones can be potentially dangerous, and arethe ones that have the potential to affect the person’s body in a negative anddangerous manner. Both the soybeans and isoflavones dispute are centered on their potential to induce breast cancer in female population. Due to allof the above mentioned, it is quite understandable that people who are in favorof soy milk keep asking whether the estrogen contained in it is safe or canbring them a lot of harm.

Estrogens in detail

One of the most criticizedestrogens found in soy milk is most certainly genistein. Certain researchstudies have discovered a possible relation of genistein and the increased riskfor the occurrence of breast cancer, and not only occurrence, but alsorecurrence of this extremely unpleasant illness. The underlying concept isbased on the assumption that the plant hormone in question has the potential toactivate the estrogen receptor cells located in the human tissue, together withthe breast cancer cells.

One study investigating the influence of isoflavones on female rats has revealed that,despite the fact that genistein provided positive results when it comes todecreasing the risk of mammary cancer development prior to puberty, once thisphase over, there occurs a significant risk for development ofestrogen-responsive tumors if the consumption of genistein is continued. But giventhe fact that the results presented only related to the separated chemicalcomponents of that which we take in on a regular basis as a whole food, thequestion of genistein’s either positive or negative effects still remainsunanswered. Consequently, this makes the entire soy isoflavones-breast cancerdispute still unclear.

Accounted forbenefits

Soy milk is regardedas a basis for almost every vegetarian diet and is said to have the ability todecrease the levels of cholesterol in the blood, endow a person with omega-3and omega-6 fatty acids, as well as with beneficial proteins that contain almostinsignificant amounts of saturated fats, which is significant for the reductionof risk of developing coronary heart disease. But what has recently arisen is whether the effect of the soy isoflavones function on the process ofweight loss. With the lack of more concrete evidence, vegetarians have investeda lot of hope in the ongoing research studies and we can all hope these willshed some more light on the entire matter.