Soy Flour And Menses

[plantime]

I have been using soy flour as part of my flour blend, and have noticed that my periods are going back to being heavy and painful. Could the phyto-estrogens in the soy flour be causing it? I was getting close to menopause, and looking forward to not having a cycle every month! I am going to stop using the soy flour for a month, and see how my body reacts. Any advice or comments are welcome.

I'm not sure where this belongs, so I won't pin it, I'll let someone else (who hopefully is more sane right now than I am!) decide where it belongs.

[gf4life]

I'm not sure where this belongs, so I won't pin it, I'll let someone else (who hopefully is more sane right now than I am!) decide where it belongs.

Dessa, this is so funny! I was just thinking the same thing when I was reading the top of your post. I'm not sane right now either, and was having trouble deciding if it should stay here or get moved somewhere else. We'll both just have to wait for someone else to come along who is sane! My problem today is I have a skin infection on my forehead that is making my eye swell shut! It is not fun and my brain hurts. Oh well.

The soy could be effecting your hormones. I would stop using it for a while and see if it makes a difference. I don't have any personal experiences cooking with soy flour. I only knoww that it triggers my soy allergy if I accidently eat a gluten-free food that contains soy flour, soy protein, etc...And that my husband has to limit his soy intake as it negatively effects his hormone levels. It is supposed to be good for women who are in menopause or nearing it though, so it's weird that you would have this reaction. Could your heavy periods be related to your already fluctuating hormones? I guess you would have to see when you stop the soy flour. If there is no change, then you would probably have to assume it wasn't the soy.

Sorry I can't be more help. Like I said I'm not exactly sane right now either.

God bless,

Mariann

[skbird]

Oh... I wouldn't be too surprised. Especially if you've increased it recently or at some point. I am terribly sensitive to phytoestrogens and if you read up on it (but not now when you're not sane!!! ) you'll see that we all get a barrage of estrogens all the time from plastics, chemicals, etc. For a while there I took a progesterone cream to help balance against my imbalance but have been trying other things recently.

My periods keep getting heavier and more painful. I am currently trying out taking a sublingual vitamin B6 supplement to see if that will help - I have taken B vitamins forever but it seems from lab values I am deficient. B6 is supposed to help you wash excess estrogen out of your body. I'll report later if it seems to be helping me this next month.

Also I have been taking a supplement called Vitex Agnes which helps your body regulate hormones. It is not a phytoestrogen. If I take any supplement with estrogenic qualities I start having troubles with tender breasts, irritability, and blood sugar crashes (I'm hypoglycemic). I try to use as little soy as possible - generally just have some tofu here and there, some Braggs for my sushi, and that's about it. I used to use a lot of soy protein powder but that seemed to be adding to my problem and plus, it just doesn't taste that good to me.

Anyway, best of luck and I hope it gets better. Believe me, every month I think "now, *how many more years* until menopause???" Sigh...

Stephanie

[junevarn]

Hi Dessa,

I am going to a nutritionist who knows alot about gluten. He gave me foods to avoid and tofu and tempeh are on the list.He said that there is something called molecular mimicry where the body cant tell the difference between concentrated soy protein and gluten, it reacts the same way. Soy milk apparently doesn't have enough concentrated protein to be a problem. I'm not too sure about soy flour though. I'll have to ask him.

June