The Truth About Soy Milk - Is it Good or Bad for You?

Many years ago I stopped consuming cow milk due to lactose intolerance. Because I still regularly enjoyed a bowl of cereal, I had to find an alternative. I began purchasing a lactose free milk product. At first I thought it was kind of watery and I just wasn’t pleased with the taste but I didn’t know what other options I had.

After watching a television show, I decided to give soy milk a try. According to the “health expert”, soy milk would be a great addition to my diet. Unlike cow milk, it came from a bean. I thought this in itself was a benefit. Being someone who hasn’t eaten red meat or pork since my sophomore year of college, I thought something from a vegetable should be good for you. Because it is from a bean, soy milk is said to be high in protein and fiber, but the biggest benefit is said to be the “isoflavones”. Simply put, isoflavones are similar to the hormone estrogen and are supposed to be beneficial in preventing some cancers and osteoporosis. If that doesn’t sound like enough, although soy milk is not a good source for calcium, it is high in vitamins B1, B2, B6 and E.

For many years I was convinced that I was doing a good thing for my body in drinking soy milk. That is until a couple of weeks ago when I was watching a health show which focused upon the dangers of soy. Dangers - I thought soy was supposed to be so good for my body!

Thus, the reason for this article. Is soy good for or dangerous to your body? What’s the real truth.

Again, advocates for soy milk are adamant that it is good for you. These supporters say that it has to be better than cow milk because first off cow milk is for calves, and secondly, cows are pumped with hormones which is believed of course to then be transferred into their milk. Lately the new things seems to be to make your own soy milk because it can be made fresh and contains no additives or preservatives. Thus the promoting of soy milk as a healthy alternative to cow milk continues.