Is soy bad?

[LindenGarcia18]

Recently I've been eating soy as a quick protein source.,

There's these tins of beans and soy sausages that you can get at the moment, and they have 37 grams of protein per tin, which is pretty high.
They're only £1 per tin too!
They do pork ones too, but they're 3 times the price.


I did a bit of research, and apparently soy contains allot of estrogen and isn't very good for you.

Was wondering if you'd ever had any experience of it and could offer me some opinions.

My goal certainly isn't to achieve man boobs

[Dray]

Phytoestrogens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


edit: And if you want some more food for thought, there's this too - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoestrogen

[LindenGarcia18]

Originally Posted by Dray

Phytoestrogens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks Dray.


Says studies have shown it can lower testosterone in rats, so maybe it has a similar effect on male humans.


EDIT: Says it doesn't effect humans testosterone.

[Dray]

I would hazard a guess that its effect on human hormones is probably extremely minor, if any at all. Way overblown, the soy "issue". And look at the rest of that list!

But for me, it comes down to just not liking soy much, lol. Keeps it simple.

[LindenGarcia18]

Yeah, there doesn't seem to be enough substantial evidence to show it has any major side effects.

I actually don't mind the taste, and more importantly £1 for 37 grams of protein is damn good what ever way you cut it

[Dray]

Taste would be what's added, and that would be fine. Just not a very tasty thing on its own. Like soy sauce (not the sweetened crap though) - that's probably my only exception. Not bad, if a bit like "liquid salt" and not all that much else...

Just checked some beef snags we have sitting in the fridge for barbequeing - close to 20g of protein* per 100g, and they're about $5 a kilo (not the cheapest out there, but they do taste good), so I guess that's $1 for 40g. Not bad, considering our dollar is still crap compared to the pound, heh.

So it might pay to look at some more butcher's offerings, especially if there's a macros breakdown, and even better an ingredient list. Dunno. Depends on the cost of meat and meaty stuffs around there, of course...

* Er, well not quite. So more like 36g for a dollar, -ish.


Another thing to consider (other than iron and b12, which might not be too much of a concern) is getting enough of all the essential amino acids. I don't recall what soy does or doesn't have, but I do seem to remember being told you had to combine various vegetarian things in order to get "a complete protein". Sounds like a lot of hassle if you ask me, and could be something to keep an eye on.

[LindenGarcia18]

Originally Posted by Dray

Taste would be what's added, and that would be fine. Just not a very tasty thing on its own. Like soy sauce (not the sweetened crap though) - that's probably my only exception. Not bad, if a bit like "liquid salt" and not all that much else...

Just checked some beef snags we have sitting in the fridge for barbequeing - close to 20g of protein* per 100g, and they're about $5 a kilo (not the cheapest out there, but they do taste good), so I guess that's $1 for 40g. Not bad, considering our dollar is still crap compared to the pound, heh.

So it might pay to look at some more butcher's offerings, especially if there's a macros breakdown, and even better an ingredient list. Dunno. Depends on the cost of meat and meaty stuffs around there, of course...


* Er, well not quite. So more like 36g for a dollar, -ish.

Yeah you won't find prices like that here, every things so damn expensive in europe.

Like you said though, I'll shop around, see if there.s anything I haven't seen before.

[SecondsOut]

soy protein is found in soy beans, though, not all beans. not all proteins absorb at the same rate:

Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

for example, that chart shows that we absorb 100% of soy protein but only 75% of the protein in black beans and 52% of the protein in peanuts. changes the way you read food labels.
that's just the chart on Wikipedia. you can find many other similar charts with different percentages, but the absorption rate from highest to lowest seems to be roughly constant.

[Kleurplaay]

Originally Posted by LindenGarcia18

Recently I've been eating soy as a quick protein source.,

There's these tins of beans and soy sausages that you can get at the moment, and they have 37 grams of protein per tin, which is pretty high.
They're only £1 per tin too!
They do pork ones too, but they're 3 times the price.


I did a bit of research, and apparently soy contains allot of estrogen and isn't very good for you.

Was wondering if you'd ever had any experience of it and could offer me some opinions.

My goal certainly isn't to achieve man boobs

Considering that some males (not even all males) get estrogen related side effects when they are on quite high dosages of testosterone (which converts into estrogen to a certain extent). I wouldn't expect the trivial amount of estrogen in foods to have any real effects on a healthy male.

I also can't imagine anyone enjoying soy but that's more personal preference. :P

Originally Posted by SecondsOut

soy protein is found in soy beans, though, not all beans. not all proteins absorb at the same rate:

Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

for example, that chart shows that we absorb 100% of soy protein but only 75% of the protein in black beans and 52% of the protein in peanuts. changes the way you read food labels.

I would like to add to this though that recommended protein intake is almost exclusively based on studies where protein intake is measured as amount of protein in food eaten. There is no need to consider the digestability of your food as long as your sensible about your diet and eat somewhat varied. KISS, keep it short & simple.

[Dray]

Originally Posted by SecondsOut

soy protein is found in soy beans, though, not all beans. not all proteins absorb at the same rate:

Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

for example, that chart shows that we absorb 100% of soy protein but only 75% of the protein in black beans and 52% of the protein in peanuts. changes the way you read food labels.

Huh. Damn, you really can learn something new every day. Thanks for posting that.