There are so many people in my life that when I tell them I'm vegan they freak out and ask if I'm eating soy. "Oh, that shit will give you cancer." "Don't eat too much soy it will mess with your estrogen and give you ovary cancer" and so on.
I always thought that soy had been proven safe? Like it's plant estrogen, our bodies don't absorb it, right?
What do I say to these kinds of people? I like tofu :vegan-tofu:
Edit: Thanks for the info folks, you rule. :bean:
just tell them that meat also causes cancer
pretty much any food you can find a reason not to eat. beans? they contain antinutrients. spinach? you don't want too much oxalic acid. there's not really any perfect food - this is why a varied diet is important. Soy has been a staple food for many cultures for stretching back millennia. If it caused cancer at an rate higher than, say, meat, I think someone would've noticed by now. And I assure you, compared to the typical western diet, soy isn't terribly unhealthy - its even often used in the production of many junk foods common in the west. Unless those people you talk to are health nuts, they're probably also consuming soy.
If soy makes you uncomfortable though, feel rest assured that fermented soy products were considered "okay" by the people who first popularized the soy estrogen theory. I don't know what the alt-right all-meat diet types believe, but Sally Fallon (who I believe sort of started the whole soy theory) said the fermentation process is supposed to break down the toxins in soy. And miso is a great addition to any diet anyway.