What Are the Dangers of Isoflavones in Soy Milk?

While soy has often been praised as an extremely healthy protein, there are growing concerns about the possible negative health effects that come from isoflavones in soy. While a small amount of soy can be good for you, even in Asia soy is a very minor part of the diet and there are good reasons not to eat too much.

Are Isoflavones Mildly Toxic?

• This argument has received a lot of controversy, but modern soy produces far more isoflavones than the original plants. These often act as a natural insect repellent, and there have been some concerns that the isoflavones passed on to people could build to toxic levels. Studies are limited on this, so no solid conclusion has been made yet.

Thyroid Disease

• Many people with large amounts of isoflavones in their system from soy milk have had reports of thyroid suppression. There's little doubt at this point that having too much isoflavones from a diet heavy in soy milk can very negatively affect the thyroid in some people.

Cancers

• Another danger of isoflavones from soy milk comes in the form of breast cancer. Studies have shown conclusively that diets high in soy can increase the risk for breast cancer. Some early laboratory results show that the physiological changes that can occur in the immune system also increase the chances of prostate cancer, colon cancer, and maybe even leukemia.

Brain Damage

• Eating too much soy can have a profound effect on the brain. This goes from actual damage to the neural pathways to actual shrinkage. Isoflavones effect many areas of the brain, none of it good.

Immune System Damage

• Immune system damage is yet another danger of isoflavone in soy milk. In many subjects it took as little as three weeks before a noticeable drop in immune system efficiency was observed.

Reproductive & Development

• A growing concern with scientists is the effect that high soy diets have in reproduction and fetal development. There is mounting evidence that high soy diets can make some females infertile, and damage developing fetuses in the womb.