Aunty Lactivist is all of us, so whether you are a medical professional or have personal experience or opinions about this question please share them here.
Dear Aunty LactivistI want to drink soya milk but have been told conflicting arguments for and against.
I have rice milk already to drink.
Some advice has been to stear clear as it can affect my baby son (7 months) with the female hormone replicating or something to this effect- this I am worried about. Also someone said it is linked to breast cancer.
I plan to continue breastfeeding until he self weans and don’t want to risk his health or well being.
Can someone give me advice which is more factual than opinion please?
T
see this recent article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2004/nov/07/foodanddrink.features7)
i also (with what i thought was right at the time) gave my cows milk intolerent son soya formula/milk until he was 11, and used to drink it myself and have soya products daily. then my periods started going mad…really heavy, endometrosis signs etc and also got chronic fatigue. eventually i stopped it and started to get better… when i stopped my then 11 yr old son he -almost immediately- started puberty… yes it may just have been a coincidence, but it was very noticable!
he also has very poor teeth development which i feel is not just due to the lack of dairy…but infact the soya leeching his nutrients.
i was told soya was 100% ok (by the health visitor and drs) but they now seem to say it is the same as having 5 birth control pills a day in oestrogen… and as i would never take any of those, i am never going to risk my health again with soya.
i now drink RAW cows milk (i am lactose intolerent to ‘normal’ cows milk, but can drink raw fine, my son mainly drinks goats milk (as he prefers it) although also has some raw.
yes humans have eaten fermented soya for years, but not in this horrid chemically produced state that we can soya milk/yoghurt/cheese etc.
get back to ‘whole and natural products’ if you can x
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hi
I used (and still use) soya milk on my milk intolerant son after the end of our breastfeeding journey, I asked the dietician about the risks of using soya milk with young children (he was about 18 months at the time) and she told me that the amounts he was drinking were fine (he has probably 2 sippy cups a day) and as long as he has an otherwise balanced diet then it isn’t a problem.
Conversley, while he was intolerant to Soya also, he was drinking rice milk which is now frowned upon as when consumed in large amounts it contains a high level of arsenic (too high for babies and infants).
The amount of soya reaching your baby through your milk would, I’m sure be minimal. The studies and research I have seen all inddicates babies being fed exclusively with soya formula, not breastfeeding from a soya consuming mother.
May I ask why soya? There are other milk products out there that are just as good, have you tried oat milk, or cashew nut or almond milk? All are a pretty decent substitute and readily available these days, the only thing you wouldn’t get would be the supporting products (soya cheese & yoghurts).
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
i completely agree with jo, rice milk is “bad” because of the high levels of inorganic arsenic in it. oat milk is great. you can get chocolate oat milk as well if you want some chocolate and they even sell oat cream for baking in small cartons
dietry needs direct sell dairy and soya free choc etc.
all i would warn of is that in children that are lactoze/ cows milk protein intollerant when they are bombarded with soya at an early age they tend to develop an allergy to soy as well. unfortunately that is what happened with my daughter and only now at age 3 can she tolelrate small amounts.
oat milk is what she survived on pretty much as it has added calcium etc for her. luckily shes grown out of them so is now ok with lacto free milk.
hope this helps
sam
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I have just read this article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/jul/25/food.foodanddrink
Which says, as mentioned above, that the problems recognised thru research seem to be for infants fed on soya formula and also for older people eating large amounts of processed, but not fermented, soya. The older people affected included women who already had oestrogen-dependent breast cancer & those with thyroid problems. The soya may be a problem for those women who already have that cancer, but has never been shown to cause it.
We use soya milk (daily) & soya products (not daily), but have never used soya formula. I have four boys & my eldest seems to be going thru puberty normally. My husband’s fertility doesn’t seem to have been affected (we have 6 kids!) and I haven’t noticed any effect on my periods or my milk supply (oestrogen can diminish breast milk supply).
I would ask myself ‘what effects have I noticed on my body?’ If you have had soya milk before and have not noticed any problems for you, then you might feel that there shouldn’t be any problems for your breastfeeding son and you can monitor things as you go along.
Hth, Juno.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Thank you ladies.
I never knew that about rice milk and will make the swap to oat milk (I have tried and liked that before).
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
This was emailed to me so I have cut and pasted it. Lisa
Dear T
You are right to be a little concerned about possible problems with soya/soy milk – many of us are. If you take a look at the soy article on http://www.thevelvetmind.com this gives you plenty of info to make up your own mind about soya and you might also like to do a google search for Kaayla Daniel PhD who has recently written a book on the potential dangers of the overconsumption of soya products.
However, if you really feel you do need to include some soya in your diet, try to buy organic in order to avoid genetically modified soya. Yes, despite what you may have heard we do have GM in our processed foods in the UK. Always check your labels !
Some of the best ways to produce the healthiest breast milk are to eat organic food – thereby avoiding food sprayed with pesticides and increasing your foods nutrient content. Also try to avoid chemicals in household products and personal products.
See http://www.thevelvetmind.com/know-skin.htm for more info.
With regard to rice milk – this is a great alternative, but be careful not to drink too much as it contains quite a bit of sugar – something we all need to drastically reduce.
Hope this helps,
All the best,
Sal Peacock BSc (The Velvet Mind)
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
loads more info here. http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/index.htm
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Thank you for the links.
I have had a good look at the Velvet mind page and love it all, not just the soya page. Have added them to my favourites!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I am vegan and have soya everyday, my daughter doesn’t seem to have any problems. She is 100% bf and I tend to drink Rice or Oat milk in a glass but cook with and have soy in my tea.
Bubs will have oat milk when she moves onto other fluids as it is gentle on the tummy. I had Polycystic ovaries and a higher than normal level of testosternoe, despite being vegan and consuming more soy than most people! I found that including more soya helped sort that out so am sure that there is a fair bit of oestrogen in it. I doubt that drinking it will affect a breastfed baby unless you are drinking litres of it though.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0