From: "Dr. D. Kossove" <doctordee@telkomsa.net>
To: "Candace Sue" <Hoffmer@AOL.COM>
Subject: soy and estrogen
Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 10:20 AM

Date:    Mon, 8 Dec 2003 21:46:48 -0500
From:    Robert Hoffmeister <Hoffmer@AOL.COM>
Subject: A few perspectives on soy and estrogen

A few perspectives on soy and estrogen:

BREAST CANCER AND SOY REVIEW (Revised August 2001)
Abridged see full article with references at,
http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/faq/faq.pdl?project_id=5&faq_id=896

"...There has been a lot of controversy on the topic of whether women with estrogen receptor positive tumors should avoid consuming soy products, particularly in relation to breast cancer, because of the ability of the phytoestrogens to have both estrogenic and anti-estrogenic effects. Pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women have vastly different levels of circulating estrogen. It is possible that women with very low circulating levels of estrogen (as would be the case in post-menopausal women) who have an estrogen responsive tumor would respond adversely to very high levels of phytoestrogens by having the estrogen-responsive cancer be further stimulated to grow. However, the answer to that question is still not known. "


Soy and Estrogen
2nd Article can be viewed at,
http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/faq/faq.pdl?project_id=5&faq_id=969

Soy contains estrogen-like compounds, not estradiol. The plant sources of estrogen in soy are weak estrogens, approximately 1/1000th the activity of synthetic estrogens. A moderate amount of soy containing foods should not be a problem. Soy products, such as tofu, contain compounds which are very similar in structure and function to estrogen, therefore they have both anti-estrogenic and estrogenic effects. These compounds are called
isoflavones.

It is noted in the consensus statement that the safety of isoflavones at specific amounts has not been established and to receive potential health
benefits, it is preferable to obtain isoflavones from whole foods. Approximately 25 grams a day of soy protein in soy foods provides approximately 50 mg/day of isoflavones
(mg isoflavones=approximately 2X soy protein amount). Average soy protein intake / amount of isoflavones is listed below for the following foods (Soy Protein Partners):

1 cup fortified soy milk: 7 grams of soy protein / 43 mg isoflavones
1/2 cup tofu: 10 grams soy protein / 25 mg isoflavones
1/2 cup cooked soy beans: 14 grams soy protein / 50 mg isoflavones
1/4 cup soy nuts: 15 g protein / 78 mg isoflavones

This information is provided by: Clare M. Hasler, Ph. D. at the Univ of Illinois (agric division- meaning they prefer to promote use of soybeans)

Other articles:
Does Soy Protein Provide the Same Benefits as Estrogen?
American Family Physician, Oct 1, 1999, by Barbara Apgar
See article at, http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m3225/5_60/57436991/p1/article.jhtml

There are quite a few articles on the web, but none show any proof of the relationship between soy and estrogen on pre or post menopausal women.
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