
Are We Experimenting on Our Children with Soy Formula? - okket
https://undark.org/article/soy-formula-babies-endocrine-disruptor/
======
jobu
That whole article is written like irresponsible click-bait journalism. After
raising four kids I can take shit like this with a grain of salt, but as a new
parent I would've freaked out and overreacted.

When two of my kids were babies they had bad reactions to normal formula, and
weren't gaining enough weight with breastmilk. Soy formula was the only other
option and not giving it to them likely would've been worse than any hormone
issues.

~~~
gautamdivgi
One of my kids was allergic to soy and caesin (not lactose). So, we had to go
on a hunt for low caesin/caesin free formulas, which aren't available readily
in the US. We found this one called HiP organic which satisfied our need -
it's a German brand.

~~~
nikolay
It's "casein", not "caesin".

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warrenm
Yes.

The question is not _are we experimenting_ \- the question is _what experiment
are we running_

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blacksmith_tb
Clearly worth investigation, but when I hear arguments about soy being a
serious endocrine disruptor, I can't help but wonder about the hundreds of
millions of people throughout Asia eating it daily...

~~~
mcone
Something to note is that 93 percent of soy grown in the United States is
genetically modified [0].

[0]: [https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/adoption-of-
genetical...](https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/adoption-of-genetically-
engineered-crops-in-the-us/recent-trends-in-ge-adoption.aspx)

~~~
losteric
Also worth noting what kind of GE we're talking about:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_soybean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_soybean)

tl;dr: mostly pesticide resistance.

That has significant environmental/economic consequences, but those edits
(probably) don't change how soy interacts with endocrine receptors.

~~~
Danihan
>That has significant environmental/economic consequences, but those edits
(probably) don't change how soy interacts with endocrine receptors.

Pesticide resistant crops being completely doused in glyphosate right before
harvest probably does have an impact on health though.

[http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/ITX_2013_06_04_Seneff.pdf](http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/ITX_2013_06_04_Seneff.pdf)

~~~
losteric
Absolutely, but that's not isolated to soybeans. Plus we've been abusing toxic
pesticides for decades - that's just greedy human shortsightedness.

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deft
Most animal feed is soy-based. What effect does that have? Also, why would a
vegan/vegetarian be against breast milk exactly?

And finally: does anyone have any info on the effect of large soy consumption
on males? I've been vegetarian for 6 months and trying to go vegan (mostly for
past 1.5 months) so my soy consumption is at an all time high.

Thanks!

~~~
overcast
It's pretty common knowledge that soy contains phytoestrogens, which behave
similar to estrogen.

~~~
deusum
It's less common knowledge that this is a myth.

~~~
undersuit
Soybeans contain phytoestrogens. The myths, truths, and unknowns revolve
around how phytoestrogens affect humans.

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fgandiya
A tangent from the article itself, but isn't the parenting itself an
experiment?

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r2d2klapa
So, is there another alternative besides soy and cow milk for feeding babies?

~~~
angersock
Human breast milk?

You know, as nature intended?

~~~
r2d2klapa
Of course. My daughter is 18 months old and fed exclusively with breast milk.
We want to wean her soon, so we are looking for alternatives.

~~~
bitJericho
at 18 months she should be ready to switch over entirely. Soy would not be
appropriate for a child unless she has milk allergies. Feed her whole milk,
it's incredibly important for her brain development.

~~~
throwaway413
> Feed her whole milk, it's incredibly important for her brain development.

No, no it's not.

~~~
bitJericho
It absolutely is. We have evolved to eat cooked food and drink milk.

[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_evolu...](http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_evolution/2012/10/evolution_of_lactose_tolerance_why_do_humans_keep_drinking_milk.html)

[https://www.choosemyplate.gov/dairy-nutrients-
health](https://www.choosemyplate.gov/dairy-nutrients-health)

[http://www.idfa.org/news-views/media-kits/milk/importance-
of...](http://www.idfa.org/news-views/media-kits/milk/importance-of-milk-in-
diet)

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2039733/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2039733/)

~~~
mustacheemperor
That NIH publication is interesting. Other than that these sources seem
sketchy. Not to put a horse in the race, but if you're trying to argue that
the milk lobby isn't responsible for the idea that milk is necessary for
development, the people behind the food pyramid and the literal milk lobby are
not the best sources to cite.

~~~
bitJericho
I don't know anything about the "milk lobby". What I do know is that Milk
consumption started 5000 years ago, at the dawn of civilization. That is no
coincidence.

~~~
logfromblammo
Goat milk plus folic acid would be better for an infant 12 months or older
than bovine milk.

Bovine and goat milks are unsuitable for infants under 12 months, because they
contain too much protein in undiluted form, and not enough nutrition content
when diluted to safe protein levels.

The dawn of civilization up until the industrial age fed human babies
exclusively on their mothers' milk, or upon the milk of a human wet nurse.
Those that could not feed in this manner died. It was very tragic, and it made
a lot of people very sad.

Consuming bovine milk is not a critical step in human evolution. It's just a
culinary choice. People also ate locusts back then. It didn't catch on as
well, because cheese tastes better, and doesn't have raspy, sticklike hindlegs
that get stuck in your teeth if you don't snip them off with kitchen scissors.
You can certainly feed your baby pureed grasshoppers, but most people don't,
because they are squeamish about insectophagy themselves.

~~~
bitJericho
Woah I never said anything about feeding a baby cow milk! We're talking about
an 18 month old here.

~~~
logfromblammo
It's obligatory to mention it whenever talking about giving milk to infants.
Besides that, if veteran parents don't make green parents neurotic about
screwing their kids up for the rest of their lives, the industry that sells
them books and useless crap might collapse.

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fiatjaf
By "formula" you mean fake milk?

~~~
PerfectElement
No, formula is what we give babies that for one reason or another cannot be
breastfed.

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wnevets
If soy wasn't being subsidized by the american tax payers would it be in so
many products?

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sebbean
yep

