Soy and Hormones

[mburns224]

So I know we're all a little biased here, but I'm wondering if you guys can help me out: are soy additives in food really enough to impact hormones? Could anyone point me to some research on this? Did anyone find that eliminating soy really helped their symptoms?

Just curious because I have lots of hormonal problems that so far doctors haven't been able to figure out. I don't eat a lot of soy products but I know it's an additive in tons of things, and soybean oil is a common ingredient too. 

[kirkor]

Research is inconclusive but there's enough potential funky stuff which is why the program nixes it: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/phytochemicals/soy-isoflavones

[Dreamlet]

I can only speak from personal experience, but when I was eating a lot of soy I had a huge increase in PMS symptoms, even when I was on hormonal birth control.  Before the whole30 I had eliminated most soy from my diet and had virtually no symptoms.  

[mburns224]

Cool, thanks guys! 

[MelindaDee]

The timing on this is amazing for me. I just came here to find out the same thing. I have a medical issue that is related to my hormones and I've been on birth control to try to help. The pain was unbearable and landed me in the E.R.. After that, I started the Whole30. After just a few days the pain went away. Just yesterday I reintroduced soy and the pain is back, not as intense, thank heavens but I can feel it. I know that soy is in a lot of things but I'm going to do my best to eliminate it going forward. It's not worth it. In addition to that, I found that my bosom was really tender, like it would be during PMS and like I said, I'm on the pill and taking it continuously so that I only have 4 cycles a year. Study or no study, I'm convinced. 

[catherineayla]

I am on day 30 and will be reintroducing soy later in the reintroduction process because I think it does have a major affect on my hormones.

I did notice that on Whole30 I had way less PMS and cramps than usual. I wonder if that is due to soy!

Also, I have been battling back acne for awhile now (the main reason I did Whole30). I am pretty sure it is hormonal since I am a 30 year old woman and rarely had issues as a teen.