Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome back to today’s episode of The Hormone Hub. Now, today I am gonna answer a really common [00:01:00] question that I get asked all the time. Should I eat soy? Now, in a word, yes, but also in a word, there’s always a but when it comes to nutrition is it comes down to the quality of the soy that we’re eating.

So just to sort of like have a look at why we would eat soy. So soy contains phytoestrogens. Now these phytoestrogens get their name because they exert sort of a relatively weak estrogen-like effect. But it’s important to know that it’s not actual estrogen. So phytoestrogens bind, you know, quite weakly to our estrogen receptors.

And because of that, they can have this balancing effect. So they, they’ve got the, the beautiful property of increasing the effect when our estrogen is low. So really beneficial, you know, during and after menopause and they have a lowering effect if estrogen is too high. So, you know, which is really beneficial for [00:02:00] the symptoms of, you know, excess estrogen, which we tend to get during perimenopause.

So, yeah, so now that’s sort of how, how it works in our body. So they come in and they attach to those estrogen receptors just to balance things out, when it’s either too low or too high. Now we find phytoestrogens in plant foods essentially. So things like nuts, seeds, whole grains, legumes, and you know, in moderate amounts, they’re healthy, they’re really good for us and in large amounts, you know, they can sort of start to affect our menstrual cycle.

They can even suppress ovulation as well. So again, with everything moderation, right? So some of the best known phytoestrogens and the most available to us are lignans from flax seeds and linseeds and what we call isoflavones, which come from soy. So they’re the, they’re the two sort of sources of [00:03:00] phytoestrogens that we wanna include on in our diet on a daily basis if we can.

So, how it sort of works is during perimenopause, phytoestrogens have an anti-estrogen effect. So they’re blocking estrodiol, which is a potentially harmful form of estrogen, which is, and this is the, the form of estrogen that’s linked to different hormonal cancers. So breast cancer, uterine cancer, you know, cervical cancer, things like that.

So phyto estrogens can also help prevent PMS. They can lighten our periods, you know, if you’ve got really heavy periods, adenomyosis, things like that. And it has been also associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. So then if we look at, you know, post-menopause, our estrogen levels are naturally decreased.

So this is where phytoestrogens can be, you know, slightly pro-estrogenic because there’s less estrodiol there to block. You know, our body’s [00:04:00] naturally producing less estrogen. So what this does, you know, there, they’re supplementing if you like, you know, our natural production of estrogen. So this can help, you know, improve the occurrence of hot flushes.

It can help decrease our body fat and increase lean muscle tissue, because, you know, excess estrogen or that estrogen sitting in our fat stores, you know, can cause us to store body fat. It can help decrease that risk of breast and endometrial cancer. And it can also help improve our insulin sensitivity, which again is linked to the way our body stores fat.

So, yeah, so you can see the benefits there of including phytoestrogens, you know, before menopause, so during perimenopause and also postmenopause as well. So when we’re looking at Phytoestrogenic foods, we’re looking at, you know, if we’re looking at soy, and again, you know, soy is one of those things. It’s quite controversial.

Do we soy or do we not soy? Now, as always, it comes down to the quality. So what we wanna do is look [00:06:00] at, you know, non-modified, non-genetically modified soy. We want to go organic if we can. So we are looking at, you know, soy milks, tofu, tempe, edamame, green soya beans, roasted soy nuts. So they’re the, that’s the type of soy we want to include in our diet.

What we want to avoid is processed soy. So this is where we, you know, that that dangerous sort of path is because soy is often used as a filler in a lot of packaged and processed foods. And this is where I am about to slam all of the vegan meats and stuff like that. And this is where, you know, you’ve gotta get really savvy at reading the ingredients on any kind of packet that you pick up.

If it’s got soy in there and the soy is a filler, then it’s a no. So, you know, and this is what makes me really cross about a lot of these, you know, vegan meats that are coming out is, it’s just crap. Like, it’s [00:07:00] just, you know, any self-respecting vegan is actually gonna be eating plant-based food. And if that’s what you’re eating, that’s great, but to eat a processed soy, flavored, you know, hamburger, you know you’re not doing yourself any favors.

So, you know, always get a bit savvy about reading the ingredients. So if it’s a filler and it sounds like a science experiment, walk away. It is a science experiment. Okay, so we want that, that beautiful organic, non genetically modified soy in the form of tofu, Tempe edamame, you know, that, that sort of, you know, those sort of ingredients.

Then our other beautiful source of phytoestrogenic foods is in flax seeds, or you know, and also knows as linseeds. So what we wanna do is, you know, incorporate, you know, as much as we can. If we can get a quarter of a cup of these beautiful freshly ground flax or linseeds a day, they’re, yeah, phytoestrogens, [00:08:00] so they’re gonna be helping out with that, that hormone support, they naturally contain fiber and omega three s, lots of beautiful antioxidants.

They’re full of lignans, which are, you know, anti, they have anti-cancer properties. So, you know, we all could do with more of that in our diet. And they’re also heart protective as well. So we want to, you know, freshly grind them and just before we use them and that’s gonna help maximize those good fats as well.

So, yeah, so you can sort of see, you know, the benefits there of including, you know, these foods in our diet. Soy phytoestrogens are found in plant foods, you know, similar sort of chemical structure to estrogen and some of the, the benefits there reduced hot flushes and night sweats, improved mood, reduced risk of osteoporosis.

They can help reduce that risk of cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer, including breast, uterine, and [00:09:00] endometrial cancers. Now, some potential risks because you know, it’s not gonna be for everyone. So some soy and phytoestrogens, particularly in, in higher amounts, can interact with certain medications like blood thinning medications.

And also, you know, it’s not for everyone. So for some people it’s gonna cause, you know, tummy upsets like bloating gas as well. So you know, you’ve really gotta sort of, Is it for you? What form works for your body and you know, how can we incorporate more of those beautiful phytoestrogens into your diet?

Alright, well I hope you have found that helpful and I hope that answered the great soy debate. Should we be including in our diet? Yes, we should. And as always, it’s the quality that we’re looking for, not the quantity. Okay, thanks everyone, and I will see you in the next episode.