Considering a soy isolate..

[st5p8]

Hi,

 

I am considering a soy isolate protein powder to supplement my food sources of protein and was thinking of soy protein isolate because it is fairly cheap and I don't have any food tolerances/allergies to it. However, I have heard some negative things about soy and was wondering; is soy protein isolate not good/bad choice and for what reasons?

[duriandork]

I personally don't have much of a problem with it either. A lot of new vegetarians/vegans are lead to believe that it is one of the only protein sources out there though when reading through nutritional advice columns about animal-free diets. I'd say go for it but make sure that you try getting protein from other sources too like lentils, peas, nuts, seeds, whole greens, etc.. as well. I do experience some stomach discomfort if I have too much soy though. A lot of people experience this as well and some have soy allergies. I hope this helps!

[vegimator]

Given the fact that are other cheap and equally nutritious powder options (like rice/pea from trueprotein.com), I wouldn't do a soy powder. Most of the hysteria around soy is unfounded but it does have a large amount of lectins in unsprouted or unfermented forms which I worry (but can't really prove) could lead to digestion/nutrient absorption problems in the long term (via damage to epithelial walls of the intestines) if eaten in great quantity.

 

It makes more sense to get your soy in moderation via the whole food sources (preferably sprouted like wildwood sproutofu or fermented like tempeh or miso) which are already playing a big role in a lot of our diets.

[chrisjs]

There's a lot of BS out there about the dangers of soy. There are no human studies that support any of these fears. Most confirm soy's protective effects against cancer (though that is regarding whole soy).

 

I use a blend of rice and pea protein because I think I eat enough soy through other means, but that's only for variety's sake. Don't be afraid of it.

[Marcina]

The only thing I would worry about soy is if you have iron deficiency anemia. Soy can inhibit the absorption of iron.

So, around the time when I'm menstruating, I switch to hemp.

If your iron levels are fine, I wouldn't worry about it. Soy protein is actually quite tasty and I've gotten good results from it

[st5p8]

Hi again, thanks for all the great replies. I eat a lot of tofu and drink soy milk so I ordered some 50/50 blend of pea and rice protein from True protein today after reading posts saying good things about the company/product. I live outside the US so with shipping it wasnt as cheap as it would have been for someone living in the US [shipping was the same price as the 6 lbs of protien i ordered] I picked premium peanut butter and jam flavour...hopefully it is tasty, I had a hard time deciding on what flavour. I may buy a small one pound tub of soy protein isolate to switch things up. I currenly have some hemp protein that I mix in with my oatmeal breakfast. I eat beans and lentils of all sorts and eat peanut butter and walnuts/cashews/almonds daily. I eat very healthy but and now looking to gain some muscle and started lifting weights and wanted to up my protein intake to 1:1 or more with my body weight without increasing carbs further as I eat a lot of rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes and fruits so I wanted to have some powder to up the protein without upping the carbohydrates.

[chrisjs]

TrueProtein's shipping costs to the east coast of the US aren't that great either...