Soy, How I Loathe Thee...Let Me Count the Ways.

I really do loathe soy. We started off on a bad foot from the beginning. I started working at a healthfood store close to 11 years ago. I started buying up all the "healthfoods"... Soy protein powders, soy protein bars, tofu, etc. I thought "wow, I'm eating so healthy. I'm going to really start feeling great!" Not so much! I began blowing up like I was 6 months pregnant and was embarrassingly gassy.

 I didn't put two and two together for a while. I really believed soy was good for me...so why would it make me feel so gross? Once I finally realized that it was soy that was the gassy, bloating culprit..I cut it out of my diet. It wasn't until several years later that I learned that soy was much more than just a food intolerance for many people. It is unfortunately much more.

 My dad is a farmer. He actually grows soybeans and I remember when the industry started to shift and they started pushing soybeans as "healthy human food". Until then it was used mostly for animal feed. The feed company...probably Monsanto, gave us chocolate covered soybeans as a Christmas gift. This is when soy started getting huge as a healthfood. And it wasn’t by accident. These “Big Bean” Corporations planned out the whole marketing push. Soymilk started becoming more popular as did the many fake meats that use soy as an alternative protein.

 Let me just get to the point and stand up on my soapbox here for a minute. Why is soy so bad? I mean, it's just a bean, right? Here are the main reasons soy should be avoided.

 1. Unless it specifies Non-GMO on the label, it is genetically modified. And even if it's non GMO, unless it says organic, chances are it's been sprayed heavily with pesticides.

2. Soy interferes with your thyroid function. If you have any thyroid issues, avoid soy like the plague!!

3. Soy contains phytoestrogens, which act like estrogen in the body. This is a HUGE reason not to give your baby soy formula. Just 2 cups of soymilk a day has shown to alter menstrual cycles. Just think what several bottles a day could do to a tiny baby!

4. Soy products contain aluminum because they are acid washed in aluminum tanks

5. Soy contains phytic acid or phytates, that actually block important minerals from being absorbed in the body.

6.Soy is not a complete protein, it lacks the amino acids cysteine and methionine.

7.Soy is a high allergen food and ranks up there with peanuts, milk, and eggs.

 The issue I push the hardest is baby formula. Regular dairy baby formula is bad enough. Now they’re using SOY of all things to feed these tiny little babies. If a baby is soy fed, it’s like the baby is getting the equivalent of 5 birth control pills worth of estrogen a day! This is crazy!!

 If your baby is dairy intolerant or even if they’re not and you formula feed, please check out this link! Your baby is worth it!!
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2010/09/video-hypoallergenic-baby-formula/

 And lastly, not all soy is bad for you. Fermented soy like miso and tempeh are fine. They have been cultured so the phytic acid has been greatly reduced and they become much more digestible as well. I could continue to write, but I want to keep my posts short. You can find a lot more info just by doing your own internet searches on “dangers of soy”.