New Study Finds Benefits of Soy For Certain Female Lung Cancer Patients - 1255158

I've recently changed to a vegetarian diet and had my tofu today (along with drinking kale in my juice...), but I understand that the evidence on soy is still mixed, depending on what study you read. I'm trying to learn more, as there are some nutrition experts who vilify it, others who advocate for it, and others who feel that the truth lies somewhat in the middle. It's an interesting result, and I'll definitely chase down the original paper to learn more.

-Dr. West

I just read a short report posted by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine referring to a new study out of China (as reported in ASCO's Journal of Clinical Oncology) that eating soy products reduces lung cancer mortality in women. Doctors, any thoughts on this before I start eating tofu for every meal? Thanks.
Stacy

Hi Stacy, I hope you like tofu. :)
Laya posted about it here, http://cancergrace.org/topic/new-study-finds-benefits-of-soy-for-certai… and Dr. West, a new vegetarian said he'd would read and hopefully he'll let us know his thoughts.

I'm not a vegetarian but I do love me some tofu.
Janine

Just to keep from having 2 threads going on the same subject I'll merge the 2 threads later tonight after I'm sure you've read this. Also you should be able to access it the same as it were still on it's on.

Laya, not realizing you had posted this earlier today, I also posted about the report of this study. I have not been on for a while and was so devastated to read about your mom. I am so sorry. So heartbroken for you. And so grateful to see that you are still here and staying involved. You are so exceptionally special.
Warmest regards
Stacy

I don't know. Quality of life matters at least as much as duration of life. For me, quality of life would be lower without steak.

I'm with you Dr. Weiss. I'm one of those people that doesn't like soy in any form. I can taste it no matter how you try to hide it. YUK! Take care, Judy

The day you say that about fatback, Dr. Weiss, I'll be worried...

-Dr. West

:) hehe. I too love a good steak. When my husband and I spent out first summer together I stopped preparing meat in leu of vegetarian meals in the hot southern summer nights. It wasn't until I started noticing mcdonalds bags around that I realized my skinny cabinet maker had to have meat/fish everyday. I figured it was better to prepare it myself than to let mcdonald have the upper hand. About the only time I get tofu now a days is when we eat chinese or tai out or take out.

Not sure how anyone enjoys tofu... It's tasteless to me! :lol:

I have had my mind changed about Tofu! I went to a Organic Wine Taste and they had a Chef fix us a Vegan Meal and it was awesome! I love Suschi mixing wasabi in the Soy is yummy too! Wasabi is good on a yummy Streak too! Just saying! Judy when you get a chance checkout some recipes online! Lorrie.

Went shopping earlier today. Got organic bean curd - and a porterhouse (thank u Dr Weiss ;-)!) I haven't really had a steak in a while but when u mentioned it.... So steak with broccoli/tofu stir fry tonite! Covering all the bases. Yum.

Mmmmmmmmmmm. Steak! Especially good when your protein is low! With grilled asparagus and lemon! Wow! Tofu? Not so much.

Debra

Nice to have a topic of rather light hearted.
Luke, to enjoy tofu, suggest to start with deep fried tofu (used the harder type). You may find it to be a healthier and tastier version of French fries.
NJ

Dr. West,

I switched from a decade-long low carb diet to vegetarian and gained twenty pounds in six months, plus my cholesterol went nuts! May you have better success! (I'm back to being a carnivore.)

Holly

I have found that even with regular daily exercise and a vegetarian diet, my weight loss has tapered off and even drifted into the wrong direction again, so the jury's still out for me. At the very least, I know that vegetarian isn't always completely healthy (the "Veggie Grill" restaurants in Seattle and California seem to fry every vegetable to within an inch of its life and makes you feel after eating there like you just ate at McDonald's, except that it costs 5 times more), so the jury's still out for me. But overall I'm far healthier than I was a year ago.

-Dr. West

This conversation on diet to me is very interesting. If I were forced to be a vegetarian, I would likely starve to death. I am an extremely picky eater and I eat very few vegetables. I will eat steak and other red meats, but I do so very rarely. I could live on pasta, bread and sugar. Is it true that those types of food actually contribute to cancer? I've been thinking about that a lot and am considering attempting to change my diet.

Sherry, there's the idea that since cancer grows using sugar/energy to live that we shouldn't feed it. On the other hand our body needs sugar/energy to live too. I don't believe those tests panned out; they were done in England I believe around the time my husband was diagnosed, 2009.

Obviously a healthy diet is a good thing short and long term. I believe though that anyone with stage IV nsclc should indulge, it that means meat or ice cream so be it. That goes for the spouses as well. If you're lucky and your cancer is indolent or especially responsive to treatment you'll need to tone down that at will eating and slothenly lifestyle as my overweight slipped disc will a test.

I used for years a Romanian forum about nutrition and sport (the clean, non-steroid choice). Some people there, with experience in vegan diets, say that the traditional way of preparing the soy took a very long time (months), and this time might be necessary to neutralize the various toxins. Of course that, when we speak about commercially available soy, nobody wastes so much time.

Rather than asking about fruits, vegetables or red meat, I am personally far more concerned about the methods of cultivation, or if artificial growth hormones were used.

I would say that much remains to be learned about the association of diet and cancer risk, but a "Western" diet that is very heavy in animal fat and, today, processed and refined foods, is associated with a considerably higher risk of developing many cancers than plant-based diets that also include fewer processed foods. I don't have an expertise in this, but I don't think there's enough knowledge to pinpoint a culprit food or class; rather, the overall pattern of the modern American diet, unfortunately imitated/exported through fast food chains and cultural transmission with travel and mass media around the world, has tended to lead to higher risks of cancer and heart disease globally, with the patterns of these disease following the dietary patterns of other places as they shift from their original diets to a Western or American diet.

-Dr. West