Soy is not the health food that you might think it is.
Many who have liver cysts have noticed that soy causes liver cysts to grow. Phytoestrogens are present in some foods like soy and flaxseed. Soy is generally thought to be a good substitute when used to replace red meat in the diet; however it does increase liver cyst growth. This could be in part from the genetic manipulation started by Monsanto so young soy plants can withstand a bombardment of Monsanto weed killer known as roundup. The genetically modified soy has a way of creeping into the food chain with this attached weed killer (a known xenoestrogen). The European Union asked the United States to at least separate the two soy plants, but the USA refused. In New Zealand soy is banned from all baby foods, this includes lecithin contained in many baked goods, crackers, and cookies. Young infants were becoming sterile and little girl babies were getting breasts and menses. Male babies were experiencing an increase in sterility. The doctors attributed this to soy milk and soy base products in baby foods. New Zealanders have banned it from infant food sources.

From tofu and tacos to baby formula and burgers, soy products have swept the nation as a healthy source of protein, with a reputation for being all natural and good for you. New studies have however raised questions over whether the ingredients in soy might increase the risk of breast cancer in some women, affect brain function in men and lead to hidden developmental abnormalities in infants.

The core of their concerns rests with the chemical makeup of soy: in addition to all the nutrients and protein, soy contains a natural chemical that mimics estrogen, the female hormone. Some studies in animals show that this chemical can alter sexual development. And in fact, 2 glasses of soy milk/day, over the course of one month, contain enough of the chemical to change the timing of a woman’s menstrual cycle. A very large percentage of soy - over 90% - is genetically modified and it also has one of the highest percentages contamination by pesticides of any of the foods we eat. Soy is also among the ten most allergic foods.

Soy processors have worked hard to get these anti-nutrients out of the finished product, particularly soy protein isolate (SPI) which is the key ingredient in most soy foods which imitate meat and dairy products, including baby formulas and some brands of soy milk.

SPI is not something you can make in your own kitchen. Production takes place in industrial factories where soybeans are first mixed with an alkaline solution to remove fiber, then precipitated and separated using an acid wash and, finally, neutralized in an alkaline solution.

Acid washing in aluminum tanks leaches high levels of aluminum into the final product. As a result, soy-based formula also has over 1000% more aluminum than conventional milk based formulas. Breast milk is best, but if one, for whatever reason, cannot breast feed, then Carnation Good Start until six months and Carnation FollowUp after that seem to be the best commercial formula currently available. The milk protein is hydrolyzed 80% which tends to significantly decrease its allergenicity.

For alternative milks try almond milk and other cereal   milks