The Soy Free Life
Are you feeling lethargic and bloated all of the time lately? Yeah, I’ve been there. I was there for a long time before K. Sullivan told me about the effects of soy and what it really does to our body. She suggested I cut it out. Here’s what happened when I listened to her suggestion:
Now I had never read a food label, I’d not felt the need in my life. I was on the lookout for high fructose corn syrup in foods since I have been avoiding that for about 4 years at this point. I don’t have food allergies and reading labels felt like a waste of time. You can trust manufacturers to be feeding us real food right? Wrong.
K. Sullivan told me to start looking at what all contained soy and see if I’d been consuming a lot of of it. Well I was shocked to find that soy is in pretty much everything.
So I cut it out. I decided I would cut it out for a few weeks and see if I felt different.
Well my first trip to the grocery store after making this decision took forever! I made sure to check every label before adding it to my cart, and I have to scour the labels sometimes because soy is labeled a million different ways:
- ANYTHING with Soy, Soya, Soja, or Shoyo in the name
- ANYTHING with Lecithin (variations on spelling) in the name.
- ANYTHING with Vegetable, Plant, or Bean in the name*
- ANYTHING with Guar in the name*
- ANYTHING with Xanthan or Zanthan (variations on spellings) in the name*
- ANYTHING with Vitamin E or Toccopherol (variations on spelling) in the name*
- MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate)* (Please note that the terms "yeast extract/autolyzed yeast extract" refer to natural/hidden sources of MSG without having to be labeled as MSG. Though they are NOT soy, some people with MSG sensitivities also have trouble with these ingredients. For more information, see this website or Google "natural sources of MSG" or "hidden sources of MSG".)
- Natural and Artificial Flavor or Flavorings*
- Tofu
- Miso
- Tempeh
- Edamame
- Mono-diglyceride (variations on spelling)*
- Natto
- Okara or Akara
- Yuba
- Glycerin/glycerine/vegetable glycerin*
- Tamari
- Teriyaki*
- Isolates*
- Olean
- Gum Arabic
- Bulking Agent*
- Carob
- Emulsifier*
- Protein or Proteins*
- Protein Extender*
- 28. Stabilizer*
- Starch*
- Thickener*
- TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)*
- HVP (Hydrolized Vegetable Protein)*
- Alkyd Resin Solution
- Quaternary Ammonium Salts
- Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, Ethyldimethylsoya Alkyl, Et Soyethyldimonium Ethosulfate
- Dimethylsoya Ammonium Ethosulfate
- Alkyd Resin
- Linseed Oil, Polymer with Pentaerythritol, Phthalic Anhydride, Oil, Styrene and Vinyltoluene
- Soyaethyl Morpholinium Ethosulfate
- Morpholinium Compounds
- Ethyl Sulfates
- Soyatrimonium Chloride
- Quaternary Ammonium Compounds
- Trimethylsoya
- Alkyl Chlorides
And the list just goes on… See the link at the bottom of this post for the rest of this list and more resources.
I mean just look at that list! What?! I was overwhelmed looking at labels trying to figure out if I could put this food into my body or not. So I did my best. I got the food I felt safe enough to put in my body, and I went home.
The first few days, I felt like my body was going into a withdrawal. I got headaches and I wasn’t feeling great. My stomach seemed unsettled like I had food poisoning and I didn’t feel like I could put anything into it. These detox feelings lasted me probably four to five days. After the initial shock to my system I started to notice a change in the way my pants were fitting, and I wasn’t really exercising more than usual. I noticed my energy levels were higher than normal because I wasn’t coming home and falling asleep on the couch before getting dinner ready. I also noticed a change in my mental health too. I was starting to feel more positive about work and playing with my daughter.
As the weeks went on and turned into months, I have never felt better about cutting soy out of my diet! I have found the desire to exercise more and make sure I am eating right has increased. I have found rejuvenated love making my own meals. I know exactly what my family is putting into their bodies. I am recommending you to give it a try, and if you can make it the first few weeks of reading labels and having your body detox the soy out of it. You will feel like a completely different person.
Later apples,
L. Bohlinger
*List of soy labels: http://naturalandfree.blogspot.com/p/alternative-names-for-soy-and-soy-free.html
For more information on why soy is bad check out these readings:
https://paleoleap.com/dangers-soy/
http://www.foodrenegade.com/dangers-of-soy/
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/170-scientific-reasons-to-lose-the-soy-in-your-diet/
https://www.self.com/story/blake-lively-gave-up-soy-and-gluten-to-get-in-shape-for-the-shallows
https://draxe.com/is-soy-bad-for-you/
https://www.wellandgood.com/good-food/blake-lively-no-soy-diet/