Natural Mental Health Care

Therapist, Naturopath and Nutritionist

  • Natural Remedies for Mental Health
  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Natural Remedies
  • Recipes

How Often Should You Eat Soy?

January 22, 2022 by Dr. Randi Fredricks, Ph.D.

Between tofu and tempeh, miso and soy milk, and the ever-popular edamame, there’s certainly no shortage of soy on the shelves of your local food store. Long touted by health-minded folks as a better-for-you, eco-friendly alternative to meat, soy is a favorite among followers of increasingly mainstream plant-based diets. Yet, do a quick Google search for “soy” and some of the first results include headlines like “The Dangers of Soy.”

So what’s the deal? Here’s what you should know about the pros and cons of eating soy. One of the biggest benefits of eating soy is that it can replace foods that may compromise your health. If we are talking about soy in its whole form such as edamame, tofu and whole soy milk, then it is healthier than meat in the sense that soy provides an excellent source of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals — without the cholesterol and saturated fat found in meat.

Aside from the idea that eating more soy might lead you to eat less meat, there’s not much evidence that soy itself produces health benefits. Claims that it lowers cholesterol, calms hot flashes, prevents breast and prostate cancer, aids weight loss and wards off osteoporosis are all based on preliminary research.

While the American Heart Association used to advocate eating soy as part of a “heart healthy diet,” they have since backed off that recommendation because the data did not support such a claim. For most people the benefits of soy on heart health are very small: a few cholesterol points but not much else.

In fact, an American Heart Association review of 22 randomized trials found that eating 50 grams of soy a day only lowers LDL (aka: bad) cholesterol by three percent. To put that in perspective, you’d have to eat one-and-a-half pounds of tofu or drink eight, eight-ounce glasses of soy milk a day in order to consume 50 grams of soy. And that’s a lot of tofu, even for the most dedicated of soy fanatics.

Soy has a shadier side, too — most notably regarding the effect it may have on your hormones. That’s because soy contains isoflavones — a type of phytoestrogren that mimics the effect of estrogen on the body. When you eat lots of soy, it has the potential to disrupt estrogen-sensitive systems in your body, including the reproductive system (which includes the brain, the pituitary gland and the reproductive organs). There have even been cases where women have eaten so much soy (think: 60 grams a day for a month) that they’ve temporarily shut down their menstrual cycle.

It’s the same argument you’ve likely heard against using plastic water bottles containing bisphenol A (BPA), except that soy is even more estrogenic than BPA, according to a review of research on the pros and cons of phytoestrogens. Beyond that, the NIH states that soy’s possible role in breast cancer is “uncertain” and advises that, “women who have or who are at increased risk of developing breast cancer or other hormone-sensitive conditions (such as ovarian or uterine cancer) should be particularly careful about using soy and should discuss it with their health care providers.”

Because everybody is different, it is impossible to know what the ‘right’ amount of soy is, but people can certainly go overboard. For people wanting to achieve a reasonably healthy protein intake without experiencing possibly negative effects of soy, there is no need to have soy at every meal or to replace all foods [like milk and cheese] with soy-based ones.

So should you give up soy for good? Not necessarily. Eating some soy can be a healthy way to cut back on meat while still making sure you’re eating enough protein. But too much of a good thing has the potential to take its toll on your hormones and your health. For healthy adults, moderation is key.

I recommend consuming one to two serves of soy product (e.g. 120g tofu and one cup soy milk) every other day at most. Soy provides a complete source of dietary protein. This means that, unlike most plant proteins, it contains all the essential amino acids which are crucial to a healthy, balanced diets.

Filed Under: Nutrition

Recent Posts

  • Roasted Cauliflower and Garbanzo Beans
  • Mango and Edamame Salad
  • How Often Should You Eat Soy?
  • Vegan Tofu Kabobs
  • Inspiralize Everything
  • Wellbeing and Nutrition
  • SOS Roasted Vegetable Medly

Categories

  • 0 Points
  • Acupuncture
  • Addiction
  • ADHD
  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Anxiety
  • Attention Deficit Disorder
  • Autism
  • Ayurvedic Medicine
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Books
  • Calorie Restriction
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Cognitive Health
  • Color Therapy
  • Cooking
  • Counseling
  • Dance Therapy
  • Dementia
  • Depression
  • Detoxification
  • DVDs
  • Eating Disorders
  • Exercise
  • Fasting
  • Fatigue
  • Grief
  • Guided Imagery
  • Healing
  • Herbal Medicine
  • Homeopathy
  • Hyperthermia Therapy
  • Hypnotherapy
  • Juice Fasting
  • Kitchen Tools
  • Light Therapy
  • Martial Arts
  • Massage Therapy
  • Medication
  • Meditation
  • Mindfulness
  • Music Therapy
  • News
  • Nutrition
  • Nutritional Supplements
  • OCD
  • Panic attacks
  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Pet Therapy
  • Postpartum Depression
  • Psychotherapy
  • PTSD
  • Raw Food Diet
  • Recipes
  • Schizophrenia
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder
  • Sleep Problems
  • SOS – Salt Oil Sugar Free
  • Spirituality
  • Stress
  • Traditional Chinese Medicine
  • Traditional Tibetan Medicine
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
  • Weight Loss
  • Yoga

Archives

  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005

© Copyright 2025 All rights reserved. Home · Contact · Privacy · Disclaimer · Resources Randi Fredricks, Marriage and Family Therapist, Inc. Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, MFC47803
All material is provided for informational or educational purposes only. Consult a mental health professional or
physician regarding the applicability of any opinions or recommendations with respect to your symptoms or condition.