[Isabelle]

Hi sfita,

The conclusion I wrote in my previous post about soy was too general. It's OK to use soy and other isoflavones together.

In the article I linked in that post, the conlusion is stated as:
"Moreover, the exposure to E2β after intake of food supplements containing only isoflavones exceeded (Δ = 57.1%, P = 0.002) the superimposed activities of isoflavones, prenylflavonoids, and lignans in the mixture." So 57 % more β estrogen receptors are activated by estradiol (E2) if isoflavones are used by themselves. However, the article is only about soy isoflavones, and this conclusion is only about β estrogen receptors (no α) and estradiol (no estriol or estrone).

Susan and I have been working on a longer list of phyto-estrogens. This is how far we got:
http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=10543&pid=40101#pid40101

I copied the list below, and added dandelion:
- PM (messes up cycles)
- soy (slows the thyroid)
- flax
- panax ginseng (estriol only: use every 1-4 hours, as tea or cream)
- yellow dock
- sheep sorrel
- milk thistle (liver cleanser too)
- red clover (phyto-progestin too)
- licorice (phyto-progestin, anti-androgen, and inceases prolactin too)
- turmeric (strong phyto-progestin too)
- thyme (strong phyto-progestin too)
- vervain (verbena officinalis, strong phyto-progestin too)
- yucca (strong phyto-progestin too)
- shatavari tea
- dandelion
- wild yam (not a phyto-estrogen, but contains diosgenin, and a 16α-hydroxyestrone blocker)

Now the next question is which ones contain isoflavones. The isoflavones can be used together with soy.
- PM: miroestrol is a chromene, not an isoflavonoid: http://www.actahort.org/books/680/680_12.htm, but PM does contain isoflavonoids
- panax ginseng: saponins, no isoflavones
- yellow dock: no isoflavones
- sheep sorrel: no isoflavones
- milk thistle: flavonolignans, no isoflavones
- red clover: isoflavones http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...2202000804
- licorice: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...2200970420
- turmeric: curcumin, no isoflavones http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.10...7/abstract
- thyme: luteolin, no isoflavones http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf00050a029
- vervain (verbena officinalis): flavonoids http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...4100002956
- yucca: saponins, no isoflavones http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf970389i
- shatavari: no isoflavones
- dandelion: no isoflavones http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...2295008659

Soy contains lignans too: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...2397007657

Alfalfa contains isoflavones too. " Isoflavones are produced almost exclusively by the members of the Fabaceae (i.e., Leguminosae, or bean) family:"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoflavones
These contain isoflavones: psoralea, soybean, green bean, alfalfa sprout, mung bean sprout, cowpea, kudzu root, red clover blossom and red clover sprout, chick pea and peanuts.

So from our common NBE herbs, red clover, licorice, and alfalfa are the best to use together with soy.