From the article: Soy and the Thyroid
Have you found that soy foods and/or supplements have a negative effect on your thyroid? Are you a thyroid patient who happily consumes soy regularly without any problem? The research is inconclusive either way, and experts disagree. Some believe soy is perfectly safe for thyroid patients, and others feel that it's a toxin that is dangerous to the thyroid. What is your experience? Share your own soy story -- pro and con -- and what you think of soy for thyroid patients. Share Your Soy Stories
Soy Is Giving Me a "Choking Sensation"
- I found this site by researching an odd symptom I am having as we speak. I just finished eating a little container of veggie dip made with soy products. I couldn't describe my symptom well until I read here someone said 'choking sensation.' It's EXACTLY how I am feeling now. I don't normally eat soy. I am also 4 months pregnant so it's not the nicest feeling at the moment. I'm back on the 'soy is bad' wagon. By the way, I originally stopped eating it because it mimics hormones and can cause and/or progress cancer(s). And as someone else said here, it's frightening because it's all about the stock market and the big companies. Same goes for genetically modified corn in the food. That's another whole can of worms. Sigh. With that said, I am in Europe (Austria) and think things are run differently here, but still, I ingested soy and look what happened? Yikes.
- —Guest Chris
Some Observations
- After reading some of the posts I realize that this is somewhat an individual issue. A lot of people can ingest soy products with no apparent problem. However, after 2 years of dietary experimentation I realized that I am not one of those people. While I would not say that I am allergic to soy I am definitely "highly sensitive". For awhile, I was taking a lot of oil based supplements and medicines and could not understand why I was gaining a lot of weight ( 14 lbs in about 2 weeks) despite a vigorous workout schedule. After deciding that soy based products might be the problem I got religion about avoiding soy and pretty much effortlessly lost weight. A lot of other peripheral problems also cleared up (e.g. skin rashes, pimples and constant itching). Avoiding soy protein is very difficult though. I am pretty much condemned to cooking at home which I hate.
- —fmulhare
Only in US?
- I am intrigued about animal feeds with soy. Everytime I travel/stay abroad I lose 10-15 pounds in spite of eating all the greasy foods there daily. I come back after a month to the US and I gain back all of it (back to being mildly obese) within a month or two, even with the healthy American foods. Wonder if soy fed animal meat is causing the country to become obese/hypothyroid?? I take soy which helps with hot flashes and was thinking the weight gain was from the surgical menopause. Have to wonder how Asian women are thin with all that soy in their diet?
- —Guest Soy
Wife
- My husband is a vegetarian, so we ate tofu maybe once a week. Then he had cancer of the thyroid and I developed hyperthyrodism. I even had a small lump in my neck before.
- —Guest loida bernard
Soy and Now Hashimoto's
- Through my 20's, I started eating a lot of tofu. Back then, it seemed that it was just tofu and some meat substitutes that were soy. Now soy is absolutely everywhere. I was at the same weight for 15 years. I worked at a job where I purchased items at cost. Needless to say, I continued to make my favorite soy choices (not the company's fault). At 35, I went back to college. Suddenly, I lost half of my hair, gained 40 lbs at 8lbs every 6 months. My peroxidase antibodies were high. My TSH went up. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's. I was told it's common. 13 years later (originally on Armour now Levoxyl), I'm still carrying the extra 40 lbs. My hair was better on Armour. No matter how much I work out I never lose weight or maintain any muscle. Plus now I have all the other symptoms of thyroid disease (allergies, skin problems, low sex drive, etc.) Shopping is a pain when soy is used everywhere as a cheap protein substitute. We need to take a stand. People matter more than money.
- —Guest Wanda
Soy? Ick!
- I, too, am allergic to milk, wheat, and many medications especially antibiotics and anesthetics. Soy was supposed to be the miracle food. I used soy milk for about six months, and then came back with a wonky pap smear. Although I didn't have cancer, I did have some sort of worrisome liquid residing in the cervix area, not to mention month-long periods, until almost two years after stopping soy. That was my only dietary change. Now I avoid all soy products, including soy sauce and fish sauce, both of which also contain wheat. If you do use soy, use it very sparingly. You might want to lose the tofu habit, and edamame is right out. By the way neither my endocrinologist nor my gynocologist have even heard about soy problems and thyroid. Go figure.
- —krizm
Males Should Avoid Refined Soy Products!
- I drank soy milk with cereal for 3 - 4 years. Results of blood tests revealed hypothyroidism and elevated cholesterol. I stopped all soy intake and these conditions all cleared up.
- —GoOrganic
soy did mess me up
- 6 years ago, we found out I was alergic to milk, so I switched to soy. I've always had weight problems, but I never got above 160 lbs before soy. Once I started the soy, I got to 180, lost 30 of it, gained 20 back. Then last year, when we were selling our house, I was gaining weight, my mom figured it was stress. So we went on some shake diets- which I had with soy. I continued to gain weight. I started putting soy protein into my soy milk, gained more weight- and my periods were a week longer. Exercise was extremely difficult for me when it was easier before. I finally figured it out on my own when I made the connections and did the research that solidified my theory. I'm going to see the doctor pretty soon to see if I can get some help. I'm also consuming antioxidants to help clean me out. But I really really do believe now that soy is not what it's cracked up to be.
- —Guest topaz
soy problems hard to avoid
- I have been battling a soy problem for 15 years. Soy oil makes me physically ill. Topical oil makes me break out with itchy bumps. Soy lecithin (now in nearly every prepackaged food and many times hidden as natural flavoring) gives me joint pain, a choking sensation and terrible fatigue. Doctors have dismissed the idea that soy could be the problem, but my brother, his wife and another sister were drinking soy protein drinks daily for over a year and now have Hashimoto's. I am stuck at home carefully cooking all of my meals from scratch and praying that something or someone will make the FDA wake up and take notice.
- —Guest wendysc
Soy and Cholestral
- One year ago I went to "war on soy." I stopped eating it and that was an impossible task after finding it in every product from my medicine cabinet, to vitamins, toiletries, creams, soaps, 90% of my groceries and even in my household cleansers. I have a very good handle on it these days and I have the proof that it was making me fat, depressed, hypothyroid and more. After a long hard road, I dropped 20 lbs without a diet, lowered my total cholesterol by 52 points and raised my HDL. My cardiologist was floored as she insisted that by that appointment I would be on statins. My HDL is almost 70. I am spreading the word by "SOY ALERT" and I fired my PCP and cardiologist!! Soy is the American farmers' biggest crop and it saturates the stock market in many forms. Research it for yourself and see.
- —Guest Loni
Soy Protein KILLS
- Ok, so I am reading all these horror stories about soy! I AGREE! I hate soy. I found out in 2001 after an allergy test for food allergies that I was allergic to soy. I went to my Dr thinking I had food poisioning. It turned out I was allergic to soy and raw fruits and veggies. I thought how awful. I loved everything I was allergic too. Okay so 8-9 years pass. I get pregnant with my daughter in 2007, I am diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum and hyperthyroidism. That was such an awful experience. So, yes I think soy plays a negative role if you have any kind of thyroid issue or disease. Yes,..it is in everything! WHY, and who decided it needs to be there? I have a heck of a time eating out. I usually don't, and I have learned to cook...and cook a lot! So now I have been on Tapazole for almost 16 months. I took myself off of Zoloft. Something is making me gain weight. I don't know what it is. I figure it has to be my thyroid medicine.
- —Candyce_no_soy
Avoid Soy
- I have been taking Armour thyroid for about 8 years. Two years ago I started on a diet regimen that involved soy protein shakes twice a day. I went in for a checkup and the blood work showed that my TSH levels were elevated to 20. My doctor increased my dosage of Armour and I stopped drinking the protein shakes. Then my medication levels were too high and I had to call the doctor and ask him to put them back to what they were. I believe the soy protein shakes were the cause for the TSH elevation.
- —Guest DStine
Soy and Thyroid
- I had an adverse reaction to heavy consumption of soy products a few years ago. I was trying to lower my cholesterol level, and I was on a low dosage thyroid medication for years. After several weeks, I began to have this horrible odor about my body, it was on my breath, skin, and bowel movements. My cholesterol tests showed a dramatic sudden drop, but also my thyroid test was way off, so that began to alert me to the connection. I quit eating any soy at all, was reading every label of foods that I purchased, and slowly the odor disappeared, then my thyroid stabilized, but the cholesterol has risen slightly. I am very careful with every bite to watch for any soy ingredients. It was a bizarre experience, and hope to never repeat it again.
- —watercolormiss
hypo onset
- In January 2005 I had my routine physical and all was well. I started my beginning of the year exercise/weight loss program. I worked out 5 days a week and started drinking fresh squeezed juice, by mid-March I had lost 20 plus pounds. I felt great. I decided to try soy so that I could eat cereal since I'm allergic to cow milk. By May, still eating well and still working out I started gaining the weight I lost back very very fast and then an additional 15 or so pounds. I felt like I was going to die I was so tired, emotional and scared of what could possibly be wrong with me. I also started spotting, which prompted me to visit the doctor who gave me a blood test that discovered my thyroid levels were in the 22 range. She consulted with my family doctor and retrieved the lab results from my physical which showed my TSH levels in the 3's. I also had mono which the doctor said was a direct result of the thyroid and autoimmune thing. I did get relief within a week of Synthroid.
- —Guest iluvsnapple
Soy
- When I used the South Beach Diet and substituted soy for many meat products I noticed that I had actually "lost" more weight with this. I had no sluggishness or anything.
- —Guest Rhona
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