Hypertension linked to tofu and soy

Hi All,

I have benefitted greatly from the advice given on this forum. I am writing this in case I can be of help to others.

I am a 57 year old female with a history of extremely low blood pressure and low thyroid. I have about 35 pounds of stubborn weight. As part of a new weight loss plan, I decided to eat lots of tofu and soy nuts because these products are high in protein and low in calories.

In the beginning, it worked great! For about 2 months, I was eating 400-600g of tofu a day plus about 1/2 cup soy nuts every other day. In the 9th week, I started getting headaches and incredibly, my blood pressure was in Stage I and Stage II hypertension. My blood pressure was higher in the mornings but still high later in the day.

I promptly went to the doctor when I noticed the high blood pressure. The doctor told me to lose my extra weight and stop eating salt. I stopped the salt, but kept the tofu and soy. The headaches became worse. Blood pressure still in Hypertension range.

After searching the internet, I found this article

Hypertensive crisis associated with high dose soy isoflavone supplementation in a post-menopausal woman: a case report

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

It was posted by the US National Center for Biotechnology information. I am glad they wrote this case up because, as they say, many of us are looking to soy products as a healthy alternative to meat. And, fast onset hypertension would not normally be linked to the consumption of soy.

Having read this, I stopped my soy consumption immediately and my headaches were gone in 2 days. My blood pressure returned to my low normal range yesterday.. about 5 days after stopping the soy and other tyramine foods.

I do plan to integrate soy in my diet in the future because for the first time, I did not feel hungry all the time when including tofu in my diet. However, I will be very careful to not over-consume soy products and I will monitor my blood pressure carefully when I start eating soy again.

Best,

MaryJo in the US

[radd]

Happy4you,

Welcome to our forum,

You don't state if you are medicating thyroid hormone replacement meds but soy & thyroid issues are bad news. The isoflavones can inhibit the action of an enzyme called thyroid peroxidase necessary for good thyroid function. Some people with elevated thyroid antibodies have found eating high amounts of soy can cause a Hashi attack. The thought behind being the change in activity soy promotes in the thyroid gland.

The BTF states “Soya interferes with thyroxine absorption, therefore if you are taking thyroxine you should try to avoid soya. If you wish to take soya, there should be as long a time interval as possible between eating the soya and taking the thyroxine.”

Sorry to hear about your high BP & glad you have you sorted.

[Hidden in reply to radd]

Hi Radd, Thank you for this insight. I had stopped my thyroid meds, which I had been taking for 2 years, I was on 30mg a day of NatureThryroid..about a month before starting my tofu craze. However, many of my symptoms look like a Hashi attack. Great call!Thank you for your insight. I apologize for my late reply.

[JAmanda]

If you have a thyroid problem you shouldn't eat soy at all unless it's fermented eg miso snd soy sauce I hear.

[fiftyone in reply to JAmanda]

I'm hypo on levothyroxine and I've started eating soy yogurt and using some soy milk.The reason: I'm diabetic and these products have no carbs. I am always trying to reduce carbs. If anyone can suggest another yogurt and milk which contains no carbs, I would be pleased to hear. Dairy has much higher carbs and so do some of these other new similar products. Soy was the only one I noticed with no carbs. Must say i feel okay at the moment. Not sure how long the 'lethal' affects of soy will take effect.

[JAmanda in reply to fiftyone]

I’ve read good evidence that it affects absorption of thyroid meds but perhaps you’re taking plenty enough to ensure you’re ok. But I wondered if your hypertension was from being under medicated. What are your thyroid levels (and ranges)?

[Hidden in reply to JAmanda]

Thank you... I am glad for this information. My son has Hashimotos and he loves miso. After my experience, I told him that the miso probably was not a good choice. He refused to give up the soy sauce but seems not affected by this.

[JAmanda in reply to Hidden]

I said that miso and soy is ok as it's fermented.

[greygoose]

Soy also impedes the uptake of thyroid hormone by the cells. So, you can have good levels in the blood but still be hypo because it isn't getting into the cells. Soy is not food. You can't even absorb the nutrients due to substances in the soy blocking the absorption. It's also a goitrogen, impeding the uptake of iodine by the thyroid.

[Hidden in reply to greygoose]

Yes, thanks to your comment, I was able to find this information in this article.biomedres.us/fulltexts/BJST....

[greygoose in reply to Hidden]

All I can say about that article is 'hmpf'. For a start the grammar was so dire I found it very difficult to read. Secondly, all that about lowering cholesterol... Talk about a red herring! Lowering cholesterol is not a good reason to consume soy, because cholesterol is not a problem. It doesn't cause strokes or heart attacks, and is usually high because T3 levels are low. Consuming something that can cause hypothyroidism in order to lower cholesterol which is caused by hypothyroidism seems rather surreal to me. But, at least it did admit that soy had a downside.

Just a pity that it didn't explain how soy affects the thyroid.

Thank you for the link.

[Bellazzurra]

This is very insightful and I wasn’t aware of Tyramine before now - thanks for sharing. Soy seems to be a controversial food on several fronts if you have hypothyroidism so I’d be very cautious about reincorporating it. However, sometimes, the best way to learn is by experimenting with yourself (a little at a time) and monitoring closely to make sure you’re not having adverse reactions - which seems to be what you intend to do anyway ! All the best, keep us posted on how things go.

[Hidden in reply to Bellazzurra]

Hello Bellazzurra, thank you kindly for your note. I has been a few more weeks and I use tofu and soy nuts sparingly as a condiment. My bp is once again, very low, and slow, steady weight loss continues as I have starting grinding up chicken breasts and to help me make up the protein I thought I was getting from the soy. Although I think I nearly died... the lesson I learned here was that my body seriously needs protein to feel "full".. I was one of those people who did not lose weight even as a vegan. Thank you so very much for your concern and kind note.

[Lovecake]

I’m slightly dairy intolerant and soy gives me migraines within minutes. I understand the issue with carbs for you.I have Koko original coconut milk. It has less carbs and sugar than dairy milk (I’ve just looked at the carton).

You can also get coconut milk yogurt from Koko and they are yummy.

[saritadelmar in reply to Lovecake]

Oat milk you can make yourself is the healthiest. Blend rolled oats in water and strain with cheese cloth.

[Lovecake in reply to saritadelmar]

Am sure it is, but I don’t have very much of it (oat milk on rice cereal 3 x per week and the occasional pot of custard) so I will stick to buying.But maybe someone else will try it and love it ☺️

[Charlie-Farley]

Thank you for the info 😊👍