Swearing Off Soy?

[Kristine]

Has anyone done this?

I happen to be an omnivore, but I cook for a vegetarian boyfriend. I'm seriously suspicious of soy. I'm going to start limiting myself (and DB, by default) to some occasional tofu. No more processed substitutes. They're too expensive, anyway.

It'll take a bit more creativity, but I think it's do-able.

[Elsah]

If you are swearing off soy, I am curious what you will use to replace that spot on your plate. Do you eat beans or legumes at all or will you add them back to your diet at all to make up for the lack of soy? Just curious cause I love soy but at the same time. I think I am eating a little too much of it myself.

[Kristine]

Actually, it's pretty easy, so far. I do eat meat, and DB is ovo-lacto. The bare spot is being filled with cheese, eggs, yogurt, nuts, whey protein, various gluten flour creations, and legumes. :yum:

[Elsah]

That makes it easier then that he eats the eggs and cheese. :) We also have the mixed household too when it comes to veggie/non-veggies. 2 vegetarians, 1 vegan (due to dairy allergy) and 2 meat heads. Sure makes cooking the perfect family meal an adventure! Just out of curiosity what is your boyfriends fitday stuff look like on an average day? Does his being a vegetarian make the stats come out a lot different from yours when it comes to the calories/fat/carb/protein? I am still predominately veggie but I am finding the pregnancy requirements listed on the atkins site a challenge to reach.

It was hard doing atkins... people tend to think you are crazy and going to drop dead of a heart attack. It was harder being a vegetarian doing atkins cause most the people doing atkins think you are crazy. And well, now doing atkins, as a veggie (cept the doctor ordered seafood) and pregnant I feel like I have hit pretty much uncharted territory. It's a bit scary. Then again, I never was one of those that was accused of following the crowd. :)

Jenn

[Kristine]

Hi Jenn. :wave:

>>"Sure makes cooking the perfect family meal an adventure!"

Oh boy, I don't envy you! :daze:

>>"Just out of curiosity what is your boyfriends fitday stuff look like on an average day?"

I'm not sure; I've never plugged it in. :) A guess would probably be inaccurate. I can sum it up as this: he doesn't eat *low* carb, but he rarely eats any processed flour or sugar. :thup:

[Elsah]

Hmm, Any veggies out there than can give me an average fitday for yourself? (don't go picking the best one you have either!! hehe) I want a realistic count of a day in the life of a veggie-atkins follower. I am just curious as to how our daily stats add up when compaired to our non-veggie counterparts.


Thanks,
jenn

[RoseTattoo]

Kristine, I'm with you about the soy. But with one exception--apparently tempeh and miso are ok, because they're fermented, and for some reason that makes them safer than the non-fermented soy products. I got this info from a pretty well informed person at Whole Foods, BTW, who said that the absolutely worst kind of soy is the soy protein isolate that's in the processed foods. And if you're staying off soy because you're being cautious about the estrogen (that's why I'm trying to avoid it), unless you're at very high risk of breast cancer, it's ok to have one serving of the fermented stuff a day.

As for cooking for a vegetarian, I guess you could rely mainly on peanuts and nuts for protein (and also seeds). There are lots of terrific African recipes using peanuts. :)

[Kristine]

Kristine, I'm with you about the soy. But with one exception--apparently tempeh and miso are ok, because they're fermented, and for some reason that makes them safer than the non-fermented soy products.

I think the fermentation reduces the phytate content. :thup: Phytates cause poor absorption of many nutrients, thus its label as an "anti-nutrient".

I can't find tempeh or miso. Maybe I'll ask next time I'm at the Asian foods store. It's probably there and just not labelled in English.

[kcsorensen]

www.mercola.com has several articles about using unfermented soy products, especially tvp..........i have have some health issues since i began using soy heavily 2 years ago.......i stopped using unfermented soy 3 weeks ago with good results; then i ate soy 'bacon' and have experienced a return of the same symptoms within hours[major hormonal upsets]...........any offerings on this soy issue???????i wrote the veg-immune website and their reply was 'anti-vegtetarianism", and granted dr. mercola is not a fan of vegetarianism, but he seems to be making some valid points about avoiding soy......i found his book 'the no-grain diet' helpful also, but very limiting , however using the diet has normalized my blood-sugar readings [type 2 diabetes]....this is my first post.......thankyou for being here.......

[Kristine]

Is it the immuneweb site you're referring to? Shame on them for dismissing it as anti-vegetarianism. :thdown: It's not just vegetarians who consume soy: it's in baby formula, it's a common filler to "stretch" meat, soy lecithin is used in all kinds of products, it's used as a hormonal supplement... it's an independant issue from meat eating. The concerns about soy are valid, and the power of the soy companies can't be dismissed.

[kcsorensen]

.......yes, it was the immune website...i have deleted the reply and can't remember the respondent's name.......thankyou for the validation.........i am just beginning to study this soy issue....yes, the power of the soy producers is great..archer midlands daniel[or is it a.d.m.???]............i spoke to some hindi friends about this and they were disbelieving..they said tvp is a big seller and dietary product in india........they thought i was nuts[as do many i speak of this to; how can soy be bad for you?????the government recommends it!!!RIGHT!!!!!}............i went to a new naturapathic doctor today and she verified my misgivings about soy and hormonal imbalancing.......developing.........thanks again

[Elsah]

Geeze what a depressing site after reading all the articles I read... Good god, what can a person eat LOL I mean between the mad cows, the new chicken funk stuff that has recently shown up, mecury in all the ocean fish, the evil grain, tofu that kills braincells and screws up your baby... gave me one heck of a headache. Anyways, seeing how my diet is almost completely structured around tofu and soy products I guess I'm gonna have to do some thinking about this one. Whats the alternative? Beans or will that make the low carbing impossible?

Jenn

[Kristine]

>>Whats the alternative?

Ha! I hear you. :( With the exception of soy, since I really don't need it, I'm basically hedging my bets.

[Elsah]

Well my husband just sat and laughed at me today as I grumbled wandering through the store snatching up 5 different types of tempeh to ease my mind. hehe. My favorite restraunt in town makes these amazing tempeh rubin sandwiches. I think I'm gonna try and figure out how to make it myself at home since it did say that fermented soy was okay.

I talked to my nurse midwife and she said to just eat soy in moderation. She said having my soy shake a few times a week wasn't going to cause serious problems most likely. As for all the tvp burgers, and other products I eat... after I am done with my full freezer full of wanna be meat products I am going to definately think twice before grabbing a box and putting it into my cart.

Luckily I was told that my protein was actually too high for what I needed which was why I was using all those products to begin with. I went to fitday today and found that it's actually quite easy to reach an acceptable amount of protein without soy products at all. Using pinto or other type beans, nuts and dairy it was still easy to reach the amount I need. It didn't even have any effect on my carbs when I went to total out the daily percentages.

Thanks so much for starting this thread Kristine. I tend to like to keep my eyes closed at times just so I don't have to deal with reality. I wish I had really checked into it earlier because it really wasn't as much hastle as I thought it would be to fix the problem.

jenn

[buggblue]

Ok, so probably eat 2 to 4 servings of soy everyday! Yikes! I love the morning star veggie dogs and the new tomato basil veggie burgers. Those are pretty much the only soy products I eat, but I eat alot of them. I'm starting to get a bit worried about this. Can someone tell me what health issues occurred with these and can you direct me to some studies that have linked this stuff to breast cancer or other illnesses? I would really appreciate any information. Aahhhhh! I don't know what I'm gunna do with out my soy!

[Elsah]

http://www.mercola.com/ was the link someone else had put up. I just typed in soy and it popped up a page of articles.

Jenn

[junebug61]

What do you think about drinking soy milk?

I have two servings daily. I am not familar with this topic. :(

[Elsah]

I am going to keep my one soymilk smoothie a day that I make with 1 cup of enriched soymilk, at least for now. I think it's the same with all things. Moderation! ;) You know almond milk is WONDERFUL I haven't bought any in forever. I can't remember what the carbs are like on it. I have recipes to make it from scratch though if it came down to it and I had to make it myself just to avoid sugars.

Jenn

[Kristine]

Generally, I'd agree with the moderation idea, but I was "moderating" my soy intake before. After all, I'm a carnivore, so I was only eating it maybe three to five times a week. But already, I'm noticing hormonal changes. It could be a coincidence, so I'll stay soy free for another few months to see what happens.

[Elsah]

Well I haven't been able to cut it out yet. I had a freezer packed full of nothing but soy meat subs. I'm eating through what I have just to rid myself of it and I'll slowly up the amount of beans I am eating. I mean I have to eat something for protein. Should be interesting to see how it goes. I made tempeh the other day which is supposed to be okay since it's a fermented form of soy. It was delicious and better than tofu. I was glad I gave it another chance. I tried it years ago and hated it but it must have just been the way it was fixed.

Jenn

[batgirl]

Hey Everyone,
I have a little advice for you. If you are going to eat soy, make sure you take a really good mineral supplement, and don't take it with your soy meal!

Soy is full of phytic acid (my hubby is involved in research at the University about this stuff). Plants use it for phosphorus storage, hence it is really good at picking up (and holding onto) di- and tri- valent ions (metals) The phytic acid grabs up minerals and takes them out of your body. The big ones are mangenese, copper, zinc.

Of course, mineral supplements won't help with hormone issues. :rolleyes:

The protein in soy is hard to digest, so when it is fermented (as soy sauce, tempeh, and miso) the proteins are broken down into more easily digested forms.
(Fermenting is, after all, just 'pre-digesting' your food using bacteria.)
That's one of the reasons fermented soy is better for you. I don't know what fermentation does to the phytic acid, I'll ask my hubby.

Hope this helps.
Well, good luck. :roll:

[Elsah]

Generally, I'd agree with the moderation idea, but I was "moderating" my soy intake before. After all, I'm a carnivore, so I was only eating it maybe three to five times a week. But already, I'm noticing hormonal changes. It could be a coincidence, so I'll stay soy free for another few months to see what happens.

What kind of changes do you mean Kristine? (just curious)

Thanks for the great info batgirl, I hadn't really thought of it that way. At any rate I am trying to switch over to eating only fermented soy. I just had so much in my freezer of the processed soy stuff it was unbelievable. I think I still have enough to take me through this month and half of next. YIKES!

Jenn

[batgirl]

OK, I asked my hubby. The phytic acid in soy gets broken down during fermentation. So, it doesn't strip the minerals out of your body. Evidently, fermentation solves at least two of the problems with soy.

I have no idea if it helps with the hormonal problems, though.

[Elsah]

I am pregnant which is why I am trying to ditch the processed soy products. My nurse midwife said that women that had tried to stay on the bars and shakes during pregnancy had HUGE (we are talking 12 lb + babies) When I looked on the packages and noticed that all my fake meat products shared the same exact main ingredient (soy protein isolate) I decided to give it up. I have had 3 kids. I wasn't vegetarian with the first, she weighed 7.5oz. My second was 9.11 1/2 oz. My third was almost 9 lbs as well. Maybe it's coincedence but I only ate soy with the latter two and they were huge when compaired to my non-veggie baby. So now I am scared of the soy. By next month I plan on being soy free unless it's fermented.

Jenn