merryk
07-25-2003, 12:08 AM
I am trying to change my diet to include more calcium rich foods that aren't dairy.
Tofu is one I am experimenting with. When I was making breakfast this morning, I diced up some tofu and added it to already cooked oatmeal with raisins. The tofu picked up the sweetness of the raisins and made the oatmeal creamier. I will be adding tofu to my oatmeal in the future.
It was not a "planned menu", I was trying to use up the tofu before it went bad.
I know there is controversy about soy and its benefits, but I think a varied diet and moderation is the way for me.
Tofu is one I am experimenting with. When I was making breakfast this morning, I diced up some tofu and added it to already cooked oatmeal with raisins. The tofu picked up the sweetness of the raisins and made the oatmeal creamier. I will be adding tofu to my oatmeal in the future.
It was not a "planned menu", I was trying to use up the tofu before it went bad.
I know there is controversy about soy and its benefits, but I think a varied diet and moderation is the way for me.
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marciakeeney
07-25-2003, 05:30 PM
Hey, I am glad you brought up the soy/tofu. I have been having at least one calcium fortified soy serving a day since I started menopause, mainly as a way to keep the hot flashes at bay (along with 3 T. per day of ground flax seed, also very good for this purpose). And that's been working great. But just recently I read at Susun Weed's website (she is a natural/herbal healer type, so granted this may be questionable) that soy products were not good for osteoporosis because of the phyto something or other!! Hope that's not true! Has anyone else heard anything negative about tofu/soy products for osteoporosis??
merryk
07-26-2003, 09:54 AM
Thank you for the Susun Weed information. She has some very practical advice and I like her section on flexibility of bones and viewing ourselves as healthy whole individuals, not just a disease. It becomes easy to simply become a worry-wart and not pro-active.
One word of caution. She mentions comfrey and using it in a tea like drink. Most, even fairly recent herb books, that I have read caution against internal use of this herb because of liver damage.
One word of caution. She mentions comfrey and using it in a tea like drink. Most, even fairly recent herb books, that I have read caution against internal use of this herb because of liver damage.
marciakeeney
07-26-2003, 12:51 PM
I just went back to susun weed's website and she says unfermented soy products like tofu and soy milk "leach calcium" from the bones. I am pretty sure I haven't heard that anywhere else and question its validity. Good tip on the comfrey, merryk, I have read that too. Makes me a little leary to use the other herbs she recommends too if she is so way of base on this one. She recommends stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover dandelion, and horesetail as well. I found a good place, mountainrose, to purchase fresh organic herbs but am hesitating. Probably need to do some more research before embarking on this path. Any ideas or resources, anyone?
merryk
07-28-2003, 11:38 PM
I like Rodale's Encyclopedia of Herbs. I check it out of the library. It's pretty complete and has warnings with all herbs that have side effects. I have yet to find a website that I consider the be all and end all of herbal information.
Horsetail is used, I think for the silica in it. My multi-vitamin which is Centrum Silver has silica in it in the form of silicon dioxide. Many of the good unprocessed foods have silica in them--wheat bran, soybeans, leafy veggies and brown rice.
Would love to hear from others who are using herbs for their bones.
Horsetail is used, I think for the silica in it. My multi-vitamin which is Centrum Silver has silica in it in the form of silicon dioxide. Many of the good unprocessed foods have silica in them--wheat bran, soybeans, leafy veggies and brown rice.
Would love to hear from others who are using herbs for their bones.
SFOSteve
08-19-2003, 12:43 AM
Originally posted by marciakeeney:
I just went back to susun weed's website and she says unfermented soy products like tofu and soy milk "leach calcium" from the bones. I am pretty sure I haven't heard that anywhere else and question its validity. Good tip on the comfrey, merryk, I have read that too. Makes me a little leary to use the other herbs she recommends too if she is so way of base on this one. She recommends stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover dandelion, and horesetail as well. I found a good place, mountainrose, to purchase fresh organic herbs but am hesitating. Probably need to do some more research before embarking on this path. Any ideas or resources, anyone?
Dr. Mary Dan Eades says in her book "The Doctor's Complete Guide to Vitamins and Minerals" that cocoa, soybeans, and foods with high phosphate content interfere with the absorbtion of calcium.
I just went back to susun weed's website and she says unfermented soy products like tofu and soy milk "leach calcium" from the bones. I am pretty sure I haven't heard that anywhere else and question its validity. Good tip on the comfrey, merryk, I have read that too. Makes me a little leary to use the other herbs she recommends too if she is so way of base on this one. She recommends stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover dandelion, and horesetail as well. I found a good place, mountainrose, to purchase fresh organic herbs but am hesitating. Probably need to do some more research before embarking on this path. Any ideas or resources, anyone?
Dr. Mary Dan Eades says in her book "The Doctor's Complete Guide to Vitamins and Minerals" that cocoa, soybeans, and foods with high phosphate content interfere with the absorbtion of calcium.
merryk
08-19-2003, 11:12 AM
I am glad to hear all sides of the issues and that is a major reason why I frequent this board. In this case I am going to stick with tofu added to my diet, but do so in moderation.
There are so many different ways soybeans are utilized and tofu is the one that I am using and always look for the ones processed with calcium and organic. I have read that the absorption of calcium from soy is about the same rate as from milk (on an earlier post from an article in Veg. Times, it is said that the pasteurization of milk destroys enzymes that help in calcium absorption.)
Spinach inhibits the absorption of calcium due to its oxalic acid content, but is so healthy to the body in many other ways.
To think of ourselves as a body suffering from one condition and avoiding all foods that may slightly lower the calcium absorption, but will help stave off heart disease, cancer, etc., is not for me.
There are so many different ways soybeans are utilized and tofu is the one that I am using and always look for the ones processed with calcium and organic. I have read that the absorption of calcium from soy is about the same rate as from milk (on an earlier post from an article in Veg. Times, it is said that the pasteurization of milk destroys enzymes that help in calcium absorption.)
Spinach inhibits the absorption of calcium due to its oxalic acid content, but is so healthy to the body in many other ways.
To think of ourselves as a body suffering from one condition and avoiding all foods that may slightly lower the calcium absorption, but will help stave off heart disease, cancer, etc., is not for me.
USAFMOM
08-19-2003, 11:33 AM
I agree, Merryk. Moderation is indeed the key. Soy generally is very good for the body, but in moderation. And I'm not giving up my diet sodas because of the reported negative effects for healthy bones and calcium absorption either. I read a report that it would take an enormous amount of soda to have any real negative effect. We could drive ourselves crazy analyzing our foods and what works well with what and what interferes with what. Most of what is bad people don't realize that it would take a great imbalance of the bad to do real damage, and that is true with anything in life, good and bad, too much, or not enough is not good.
Jayashri Fairclough
09-23-2003, 12:24 AM
Hi there...I am a new member and glad to see so much response to the Tofu controversy. I just found out about the news that it is not good for Osteoporosis and flipped when I heard it. I have been eating tofu at least 5 times a week for years because of all the phyto-estrogens, protein and apparent good calcium. I recently had a bone scan and am way off the Bell Curve in the bad zone. Is this because of all the tofu I've eaten? I've always excercised, taken calcium supplements and eaten well. My mother and her mother also have had it but I've luckily escaped their dowager's hump although I have already lost some height at 57. Help! Any good advice? I do NOT want to use Fossimax or HRT. My husband warns me that we should be checking on just who is funding this so called research. The dairy industry could be bad-rapping soy and the soy bean growers could be bad rapping the dairy industry all in the the name of their own interests. I like Susan Weed but this recent info is just too much.
marciakeeney
09-24-2003, 08:32 PM
Susun Weed is the only one I have read who thinks tofu is a bad thing for bones. I really don't believe it, and don't know what research she has that backs up her claim. Tofu processed with calcium is a pretty good calcium source and is healthy for so many other reasons, that I really doubt it's caused your situation. Just my opinion, but I have done a lot of reading from lots of different points of view on this subject, and I don't see tofu being bashed in any but Susun's literature.
NancyH
09-26-2003, 12:37 AM
I haven't read any of that about soy either and until I do read more reports on it I'll stick to the moderation of soy products as well. We eat tofu here at least once a week, I drink a soy drink everyday, be it soy chocolate milk or vanilla. but I have to think that we would have to consume a whole lot more to have any bad effects on our bones, at least I'd hope so. I still have soda once in awhile to.
Kaitrin
10-26-2003, 04:34 PM
One of the things I've read about soy is that the high rate of soy consumption in some Asian countries is believed to contribute to their low rate of osteoporosis...
~Kait
~Kait