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Soy milk and soy protein products are very popular. There are some people who regard all dairy products as dangerous to man and birds. (Of course milk is used to provide a full nourishment to young mammals.) There IS a problem with some dairy products that causes problems for birds and many humans: lactose. Lactose is hardly a cyanide for birds, however, extensive studies have been made of just how much they can tolerate. The quantity required to cause problems seems to vary, in some species problems begin, if I recall correctly at about 10% of the total diet, in others not until over 50%. i.e. birds are certainly no more affected by this than lactose intolerant humans. Note that cheese contains virtually no lactose, but that some varieties are very hard to digest.

Soy bean products are CERTAINLY more dangerous both to birds and to humans when taken in large amounts. First of all it is laced with natural plant estogens. It is an EXTREMELY bad thing to feed to young children and birds for this reason. It is also a bad thing for adult humans to eat as a major dietary item.

Many are concerned about eating genetically modified soy beans. They should be more concerned about the nasty components already present. There not only are several toxic compounds, there are also toxic proteins.

Soy milk is NOT the healthful alternative to dairy products. That goes both for birds and for people. To much of either seems to be a bad thing!

I work with someone that drinks only soy milk. She says that it is supposed to bring her cholesterol down. I can never find any data to support that. Anyone have anything...pros or con.

There are soybeans, and there are more soybeans. And then there are differences about individual consumers.
Many original legume varieties are full of toxins that some people can tolerate and other folks have fatal reactions: Soybeans, fava, lima, peanuts. Some of the originals needed to be cooked and even rinsed and recooked for human consumption. Things have changed a bit. The issue about plant estrogens in soybeans for children (and men?) is still not definitive, even though we are now into 3 generations of Americans who have been able to accomodate a diet of soy products, and tofu has been an importnt Asian staple for...(how long?) Some of us remember when soymilk formulas for babies were barely digestible.

It is odd that there are some chemical environmental contaminants that are ignored, and others that get publicity. (in the later case, lead, mercury, asbestos.)

Estrogens in the environment seem to be becoming a serious threat for all species, including humans. There are lots of indications that ignoring these threats is having serious threats to many mammals, birds and fish. The ones we keep as pets can have special problems.

There probably are four particularly well known threats:

Bisphenol-A Polycarbonate polymers, many epoxyresins, the lining of metal tins. Very powerful estrogen. Studies indicate government studies are flawed and it is MUCH worse.

Phthalate esters. These things are everywhere. Clear flexible polyvinyl chloride is laced with it. It is somewhat volatile, and we are forced to breathe the stuff a lot.

p-alkoxylphenol reacted with ethylene oxide to form a non-ionic surfactant. This stuff is dumped into rivers all over the place.

Estrogens in food, particularly the two found in soy beans.

The question really is which of these contributes most heavily to the problem.

Breeders with parrot pairs seem to have many problems when they feed too many soy bean based foods. Eating soy bean products in moderation is very different than making them one's primary diet. The same goes for feeding them to birds.

rpavlis wrote:... Estrogens in the environment seem to be becoming a serious threat for all species, including humans. There are lots of indications that ignoring these threats is having serious threats to many mammals, birds and fish. ...

I fear we've created very serious problems for ourselves: http://www.livescience.com/animals/0609 ... _fish.html