What’s the deal with soy? We asked a nutritionist to give the good, the bad and the beneficial

We’ve based The Healthy Mummy Smoothie 45+ on soy because of the strong results specific to relieving the unwanted symptoms of menopause found in the scientific research. Please also note that we ONLY ever used non genetically modified soy in our smoothies.

We thought you might enjoy reading some of this research as well as deep diving into the facts and the fallacies surrounding this powerful bean!

Read on to find out more on this bean.

Why Soy?

Soybeans contain ‘phytoestrogens’. Phytoestrogens are found in plants that have a hormonal impact on oestrogen in the body. These plant-based oestrogens are found naturally in differing amounts in many other foods including flaxseeds and have long been part of our traditional diet.

The hormonal impact of soybean phytoestrogens has a powerful balancing effect on our body’s own oestrogen levels. In fact, soy has been found to have an anti-oestrogen effect when oestrogen is high, for example during peri-menopause, and a pro-oestrogen effect when oestrogen is low as during menopause and postmenopausal years.

Soy and Menopause

Many studies have been performed on the usefulness of soy for menopausal women and one high-quality review of these studies concluded soy helps to relieve menopausal symptoms. In fact, The North American Menopause Society recommends soy either alone or in combination with other lifestyle changes as the first step to combating hot flushes and the symptoms of the menopause.

Soy has specifically been studied and found helpful for:

• Reducing hot flushes
• Improving memory
• Relieving vaginal dryness and vaginal atrophy which cause itching, burning and painful intercourse
• Reducing bone loss alone and when taken with Vitamin D.

When soy was compared with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) soy was found to be a viable alternative to HRT providing relief from hot flushes, muscle aches and pains and vaginal dryness.

Read what foods and nutrients will support your health and hormones when going through menopause.

Soy and Cancer

A higher consumption of soy has been linked to lower risk of breast cancer. The Journal of Cancer, in their paper published in 2017 titled ‘Soy foods, isoflavones, and breast cancer’, concluded soy was not only beneficial in preventing breast cancer it could also be safely eaten once breast cancer was diagnosed.

The evidence from several recent large, high-quality reviews, called meta-analyses, on soy has suggested soy may have a protective effect against hormone-dependent cancers including lung cancer and ovarian cancer.

We believe in balanced reporting so it is important to share there are studies with vastly different results with soy. For example, the research on endometrial cancer has found soy to be linked to three different outcomes including:

1. Reduced risk
2. No association at all
3. Increased risk.

Despite the amount of research investigating soy, results do vary from study to study. Most likely the variation in results is because of the different dosages of soy used in the trials, types of soy tested, duration of the trials and genetic differences in populations compared.

Soy and Thyroid

In people without a thyroid problem soy has been studied and there is little evidence to support any change in thyroid function has been found.

In people with a thyroid problem, it is thought soy may theoretically interfere with the absorption of synthetic thyroid hormone, however, scientists have concluded after a review of all the studies “hypothyroid adults need not avoid soy foods.”

When iodine intake is low it is possible soy consumed by people with compromised thyroid function and/or whose iodine intake is low may have an increased risk of developing symptoms of hypothyroidism. As a consequence of this knowledge, it is important for soy food consumers to make sure their intake of iodine is adequate. The Healthy Mummy Shake +45 includes iodine.

Soy and Gut Health

Currently, research on soy tells us there may be a difference in how women respond to soy-based controllable factors of health such as their gut health.

Making your gut healthy means increasing fibre, supporting your body’s ability to break down foods, reducing the amount of simple sugars and processed foods and increasing the amount of healthy bugs.

The Healthy Mummy Smoothie 45+ is fibre rich, includes digestive enzymes to help breakdown nutrients, is low in simple sugars and contains probiotics to increase the amount of healthy bugs in the gut.

Read our nutrionists full review of the benefits of The Healthy Mummy Smoothie 45+.

Watch This Space: And the final word on soy is that research still continues! We’ll keep you updated on the emerging trends and research on this powerful bean for women 45+.

Get your hands on our Healthy Mummy Smoothie 45+ today!

Healthy Mummy Smoothie 45+ contains a unique combination of ingredients designed specifically to support the needs of women over 45 years old’

• Vitamin D with Calcium to enhance bone mineral density
• 50% of your Vit D RDI which is critical for bone health
• Good source of Protein for muscle mass maintenance
• Vitamin B6 for balanced hormonal activity support
• Zinc, Vitamin C + E to protect cells from free radical damage

Find out more and buy our Healthy Mummy Smoothie 45+ today!

Join our Healthy Mummy Over 45 Facebook support group to get advice and support from other mums who are over 45.