Comments | veganpeople: Soy and infertility

purple_ivy in veganpeople

Soy and infertility

Jan 02, 2007 16:06

Okay, so, as usual, I've gone through the tags and read all I can find about soy and whether or not it's as fabulous and some sources claim. I'm more reasured now than I was an hour ago, but I still feel like I need a little more. So, bare with me while I ramble on about what it is I'm wondering. I would have put this in my own journal, but almost ( Read more... )

food-soy/rice milks, opinion-is soy healthy?, food-soy

Comments 13

sotoalboroto January 2 2007, 04:08:51 UTC

eh, i only gave your post a quick eyeball because i'm moving, but i just want to throw out another anecdote.

my brother, now 27, was lactose intolerant as a kid, so my mom fed him soy formula. he is now the proud father of five kids under 5 years old. fertile enough, i reckon.

purple_ivy January 2 2007, 04:11:51 UTC

That's good to know :)

supercarrot January 3 2007, 03:33:00 UTC

yep. my brother was also sensitive to cowmilk, so he was also fed soy formula.

he's now in his mid 30's and has 2 young sons.

the_dilettante January 2 2007, 05:00:02 UTC

adults who'd been fed soy infant formulas and that these people ... were found to be infertile or have trouble concieving

it's always worth remembering that correlation does not equal causation.
even if "soy formula in infancy" does correlate with "adult fertility problems", this doesn't even begin to provide evidence of a causal relationship. it could be that, for example, an unknown &/or unmeasured third factor is present, and that it causes both the soy consumption and the infertility. or it could just be a coincidence. but until someone proposes a verifiable mechanism for the effect, you have no evidence of a causal relationship, just speculation based on coincidence ( ... )

purple_ivy January 2 2007, 10:08:19 UTC

Yeah, I came to the same conclusion after writing the post.
Thanks for your 2-cents, it's very much appreciated!

amazing_angela January 2 2007, 22:57:02 UTC

you probably don't want to go on a soy-only diet

...just as people shouldn't go on a meat-only or anything else-only diet!

it's probably safest to regard highly processed forms of soy with the same mistrust due to any equally refined foodstuff

I couldn't agree more.

tiredshaw January 2 2007, 16:03:12 UTC

when my wife and i started reproducing, i'd been vegan for about 5 years and she'd been for maybe 2. it took a couple weeks of trying for our first daughter and our second one was conceived on the first or second try.

phoenixliz January 2 2007, 16:58:17 UTC

Did the study say why they were given soy formula? They probably didn't pick out a group of infants to feed soy formula and then follow them for the rest of their lives. That's really times consuming and can be expensive. There's probably other common factors that could have an effect on fertility.

Not to mention that a study that hypothesizes that something may have a negative effect on people like that would have trouble getting clearance to do that. Ethically you're supposed to do no harm or inform the participants of the dangers. What parent would still say yes?

purple_ivy January 2 2007, 23:59:27 UTC

I'm not sure if the study stated why they were given soy.

luminousepinoia January 2 2007, 19:59:17 UTC

I've been feeling the same way lately. It's obviously triggered by the popular fear of soy, but as I'm a mother I don't want to jeopardize the health of my child and later have her say "Why didn't you listen to the warnings ( ... )

purple_ivy January 3 2007, 00:03:03 UTC

It's obviously triggered by the popular fear of soy, but as I'm a mother I don't want to jeopardize the health of my child and later have her say "Why didn't you listen to the warnings?"

Yeah, I'd be like that as well if I had kids.

I guess it's come back to moderation again.