Soy destroys your thyroid

[Meat Eater]

I was drinking soy milk daily for over a year before I got a very bad case of hyperthyroidism that nearly killed me.

Has anybody else had thyroid troubles after eating a lot of soy based products?(Soy milk, tofu, miso, sauces, etc.)

http://www.vegetariansareevil.com/soy.html

[Alex]

You are correct. I was drinking soy milk for over 6 months and started to suffer from horrible thyroids problems. I just stopped soy milk 1 month ago, and still feel the terrible effects. For what I have read, it can take up to 3 months to recover from poisoning with soy.

[e-mail]

Meat Eater wrote:

I was drinking soy milk daily for over a year before I got a very bad case of hyperthyroidism that nearly killed me.
Has anybody else had thyroid troubles after eating a lot of soy based products?(Soy milk, tofu, miso, sauces, etc.)
http://www.vegetariansareevil.com/soy.html

[Sean]

I seem to be having issues with my thyroid and just before all my issues started back in 2006(hair falling out, sweating issues, heart palpitations, fatigue, among a couple others)is when I began drinking soy milk and soy products.

I thought the hair loss was due to not eating enough protein (I went vegetarian) but since then I am back on meat. But now I'm thinking it's the soy. I've read some positive stuff on soy and not so positive. I'm definitely going to take a chance and stop taking it for a while. I'm going to be getting my blood screened soon to see if I have hypo or hyperthyroidism and for the fact that my hair (even thought it's stopped falling out) hasn't grown back to normal. It's definitely frustrating.

[Sean]

Well I went to the doctors October 2nd, and guess what!? I was diagnosed with "subclinal Hypothyroidism". Yay me... My t3 and t4 are normal but my TSH level is high. It's a 7.02. I stopped drinking the soy milk in early September and the sweating issue is nearly non existant, unless of course I consume something with soy in it. Which is hard to do these days given that soy is in almost anything. So the sweating comes and goes but it's not nearly as bad as it use to be.

The doctor told me that since high testosterone is related to hair loss, mine was normal so it must be the thyroid affecting my hair but the strict diet I put myself on three years ago probably led to the hair loss and now the thyroid was just keeping it from going back to normal. They want to put me on some synthetic crap that I absolutely do not want to take. I told them I would like to go the natural route and try Armor Thyroid.

I'm going in for another test to see if my thyroid has gotten any better, worse, or stayed the same. It's such a shame because I have a feeling the sweating is related to the thyroid and if thats not completely gone than it probably hasn't gotten any better. I'm hoping since "subclinical hypothyroidism" has a chance of going away, I'm hoping that when I go completely organic and avoid foods with soy as much as possible and take vitamins that it will eventually clear up. I hope! I'm going to go on this armor stuff for a year or so and then take myself off of it to see if anything changes.

After the next test, there going to start treatment but I absolutely do not want to take the synthetic stuff. I'm glad I stopped the soy milk when I did, although, it may be too late. I sure hope not though. No chocolate or cookies for me this Christmas!

[Katy]

I too was a victim of soy. I moved to soy for many food products thinking I was going to improve my health.
The soy industry has a huge lobby in the US and they are doing everything they can to convince Americans we need this in our diet. It's working because if you start to read labels you realize it's everywhere and in things you would never even think of.
I was recently diagnosed hypothyroid. I am certain the soy at least played a role in that. Also I believe (as does my doctor) due to the soy, I developed uterine polyps and had to have surgery to remove them. As a result of the polyps, I had severe bleeding which resulted in anemia, extreme cramping, and severe forms of PMS symptoms. It was like dominoes, problem after problem. It took me 3 1/2 years to recover from all of this and start to feel better! I wouldn't touch soy again with a 10 foot pole!
Soy is a phytoestrogen. A phytoestrogen means it's a plant version of estrogen. It is a bioidentical estrogen which our bodies recognize it as it does our own estrogen. What that means is that when you eat soy you are eating and adding estrogen to your body. Estrogen is a HORMONE. Hormones are very potent even in the smallest amounts. Hormones control functions in your body. Hormones must function in balance with one another (such as progesterone, testosterone, thyroid, etc...) or serious problems may develop.
This is bad for premenipausal women, horrible for men. It can cause women to have problems related to too much estrogen in the body, such as polyps, fibroids, suspected to cause certain cancers, etc... while the men can get problems related to too much estrogen (throws other hormones off balance) such as breast development, weight gain, and it's now suspected to be at least partially responsible in prostate cancer, etc...
My doctor told me the ONLY people who may benefit are post menapausal women - maybe, it depends.
While the industry tells us that soy is good for us, and to look at people in asia as an example of health, they DON'T tell us that in asia they mostly consume FERMENTED soy which tends to remove most of the phytoestrenogenic qualities of soy.
Probably the worst offender is baby soy formula. Studies have been done and found that the amount of phytoestrogens consumed by infants in one day of soy formula is equivalent to the estrogen in 28 birth control pills!!!!!!!!!! Would you give your baby girl or boy 28 birth control pills? NO! What is this doing to our children, well nobody really knows but if you understand the implications of adding such extreme amounts of hormones to a little body, you can get an idea.
It's found in places you may never even think to look, face cream, hand lotion, soap, spices, drinks, vitamins, medicines, etc... please do your own research and read all labels so you know what is going into your body and your the bodies of your family members. Also, know that soy or processed soy (still phytoestrogens) goes by different names.
Last thing to keep in mind. We already get lots of excess estrogen in our bodies from unexpected sources such as plastics, food in plastics, drinks in plastics, think of anything in plastic. Generally speaking, the softer the plastic the more estrogen it transferrs to the contents. Also we get estrogen from pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides. These are environmental estrogens. Anyone concerned about the environment should be concerned about this topic.
Please, do your own research on the web and see for yourself.

[Ivy]

Just surfing and ran across the soy topic. What sort of things have soy that one might not expect?

[priscilla Chilcote]

My tsh level in april 29.42. Yikes! Diet very high in soy used in stir fry and
also the use of brassica vegetables. I went from tsh level of .02 in July 08
to this high level tsh of 29.42. Hope now that I realize that I have been doing so many things wrong that my levels will go down.

[priscilla Chilcote]

I also have been to 3 doctors and my diet doesn't seem to be a concern to
any of them. This is June 11th and I am still going a little nuts trying to get
some answers.
Thanks for any comments that might help.

[James]

Yes, I'm in the same boat right now.

Over the last few years I have developed a very serious case of hyperthyroidism, which has caused a number of problems for me, including hair loss, severe insomnia, and unusual weight gain, especially in my torso/midsection and on my face (specifically, my face has gotten very puffy).

For the past three or four years, I've also been consuming soy products regularly. Especially over the last three years, I've been consuming at least one cup of soy milk a day (usually with cereal or oatmeal), and I've been using a soy-based mayonnaise, among many other soy products. I've been eating so much soy because I had read so much about its health benefits. Of course I wouldn't have ever touched it had I known what I know now about its connection with thyroid function.(Admittedly, I didn't even know what the thyroid *was* at that time, so I may not have been receptive to this information anyway.)

Now, to be fair, I don't know for certain if my soy consumption caused this problem, nor am I going to go out of my way to try to discourage anyone from eating soy if they insist on doing so.
What I do know, however, is that I can get all the nutrients I was getting from soy elsewhere. In other words, I don't necessarily *need* to eat soy, so there's no reason for me to continue doing so and risk damaging my thyroid further. I now play it safe by only using non-soy products, such as almond milk.

I otherwise eat very healthy. I hope my avoidance of soy proves successful and helps me get my overall health back on track. I hope the same for any of you who are dealing with similar problems. Trust me; I know it's not easy.

[eSYAH]

Hight TSH level means that your thyroid is underactive.

[priscilla Chilcote]

Thank you for your comments. My tsh level went from 29.42 in April to
11.47 in June. Now in July my tsh level back up to 17. What gives? Weight is still my biggest issue. I have cut out all soy, and it is really hard to do as
everything has soy including See's candy. Just about anything prepared has
soy in it. Eating Celiac is a healthy choice but I try not to eat prepared gluten free foods because they don't agree with me.

[jen]

....toxins....While soy is beneficial...like everything else in our lives.... too much of a good thing is always bad. Some soy every now and again can be good for you.... but daily soy milk and other daily soy intakes can take a toll on your body....

[Nora]

I too developed uterine polyps at 30. I had been a vegetarian for 18 years, regularly have soy as the base in my chinese and thai dishes. Also consuming soy cappuccinos. I had surgery to remove the polyps. I will never touch soy again. I can't believe how duped I was.