My Thoughts on Soy

Last night I had a conversation with a friend about soy, and it really got me thinking. And I’ve been asked by many of my readers recently what my thoughts are on it. So I thought I’d try and get something written out and hopefully I don’t just talk (type?) in circles.

For years now soy (edamame, soy milk, tofu, textured vegetable protein) has really been touted as a health food. It’s been recommended as a milk and meat substitute, menopausal and infertile women have been told to drink it to help with hormones, and it’s even in baby formula. It’s cheap to grow and readily available so it’s also in a large majority of processed foods (soy lecithin) and its oil is one of the most used ‘cheap’ oils as well. It’s found in about 60% of the products you see in the supermarket! And I think if we all took a hard look at what we eat each day, we’d realize we eat quite a bit of soy. But should we be?

Three Strikes and You’re Out?

Strike one – Phytoestrogens

Phytoestrogen literally means “plant derived estrogen”. And these estrogens have been shown to reduce the activity of the natural estrogen in your body. Something you really don’t want to happen, and especially if you are dealing with a hormone imbalance already. It’s also been shown to cause the feminization of males as baby boys whose mothers ate a lot of soy products were found to have both smaller penis’s and/or problems with the development of them. So obviously it has some estrogenic effect, and estrogen dominance has also been linked to infertility in both males and females. In women it can inhibit conception by causing endometriosis and PCOS (poly cystic ovary syndrome) as well as decreasing libido. In men it has been linked to lowered sperm counts. Up to a 50% reduction in some cases.

I was able to find a couple studies done on the effects of soy and fertility and neither had great outcomes.

A report in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition a few studies have actually shown that high levels of soy can increase menstrual cycle length, decrease the follicle-stimulating hormone and also decrease the leutinizing hormone. These studies were done with a 60mg of soy per day, the equivalent to three 12 oz glasses of soy milk.

Another study printed in The American Family Physician magazine (June 1996) states that, since the phytoestrogens in soy products increase the length of the follicular phase and lead to fewer menstrual cycles over a woman’s lifetime, it is possible that soy may decrease fertility in some women. They also added that women with multiple risk factors for infertility may be more sensitive to soy than others.

A study, by Jorge Chavarro at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, on the effects of a man’s fertility has also been done and men who ate more than two portions of soy based food per week had a lower sperm count. On average they had about 41 million fewer sperm per 1 ml of semen than men who did not eat any soy based products. While this may not have an infertile impact on most men, men that already suffer from a low sperm count would be advised to stay away from it.

And from the Weston Price site;

• High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. (and zinc directly effects fertility in men)
• Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility.
• Vitamin B₁₂ analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body’s requirement for B₁₂.

Which leads us to….

Strike Two: Phytic Acid

The Weston A Price Foundation alleges that soy is not only high in phytic acid, but that the even when soaked (as other legumes are), that the phytic acid does not break down. This assumption would lead us to believe that consuming soy would then cause some nutrient loss within our bodies as the phytic acid binds to certain nutrients during digestion.

Strike Three: Genetically Modified

Since the introduction of genetically modified soybeans to the U.S. in 1992, up to 90% of the soy grown here, is actually genetically modified. If you don’t know what a genetically modified  organism is yet, here’s the gist: Basically scientists take DNA from different sources and combine them with the DNA of something like soy. (or corn, canola, cotton, etc.) This happens in part because a large seed corporation, Monsanto (who used to solely be a chemical corporation), would like to sell seeds that are “round up” ready. Meaning they inject certain DNA from organisms that will keep the plant alive even when sprayed with herbicides and pesticides.  I believe they have also found a way to combine the DNA from certain bugs (?) that allow the plant to contain pesticides itself. (I believe I watched that piece of info in the movie “The Botany of Desire” where they were talking about GMO potatoes at McDonalds – to which consumers had an issue with and farmers are no longer growing)

The problem with GMOs is that they have been placed in the market without thorough testing. And a lot of the studies that are coming out are not very pretty.

• Ladybugs that ate aphids that consumed GMO potatoes had on average only half the lifspan as normal and laid fewer eggs.
• Causes more allergies and may cause more problems to people who already have allergies. Especially since DNA from an outside source can be combined with what you’re eating. Theoretically, what would happen if DNA from a peanut was used in combination with DNA from soy? What would happen if a person who is deathly allergic to peanuts consumed it? To me, it’s a bit sketchy combining all this DNA. I mean, if God wanted DNA from bugs in the corn/soy/cotton, don’t you think he would have done it Himself?

I also found an Australian study that came to the conclusion that GMO products may contribute to lowered fertility:

The Austrian scientists performed several long-term feeding trials with laboratory mice over a course of 20 weeks.

One of the studies was a so-called reproductive assessment by continuous breeding (RACB) trial, in which the same parent generation gave birth to several litters of baby mice.

The parents were fed either with a diet containing 33per cent of GM maize, a hybrid of Monsanto’s MON 810 and another variety, and a normal feed mix..

The team found changes that were ’statistically significant’ in the third and fourth litters produced by the mice given a GM diet. There were fewer offspring, while the young mice were smaller.

Prof Zentek said there was a direct link between the changes seen and the GM diet.

A press release from the  Austrian Agency for Health and Nutrition, said the group of mice given a diet of genetically engineered corn saw a significant change in fertility.

It said: ‘The number of litters and offspring decreased in the GE-fed group faster than in the control. In the GE-fed group more females remained without litters than in the control group.’ Read more

Also, a quote from the WAP site

“The only human feeding study on GMOs ever conducted showed that genes “jumped” from GM soy into the DNA of human intestinal bacteria and continued to function. That means that long after you stop eating GM soy, you may still have GM proteins produced continuously inside of you. (What if the pesticide-producing “Bt” gene found in GM corn chips were also to jump? It might transform our intestinal flora into living pesticide factories—possibly for the long term.)”

The Verdict
Honestly, the verdict from ‘the man’ is still out on this one (I think mostly because a lot of people would lose a lot of money if it ever came about that soy was bad for you). The safety of soy and soy products has yet to be proven and I have a feeling it’s probably going to be one of those products, that 20 years from now, our kids are going to be wondering why in the world we consumed it.

Which is why I don’t eat it when possible.

Traditionally, soy has been consumed only in fermented forms (like miso and tempeh). Very, very different than how we eat it today. Soy in it’s natural form may be fine for your health (especially when fermented like traditional cultures did) but unfortunately we here in the west have started to put in into many, many, of our foods.  The processing the soy bean undergo is in no way healthy or natural, turning a once healthy food into, basically, junk food.

Where it Gets Sketchy….and Where I Begin To Talk in Circles

I hate to be one of those people that is so anti soy that I say it can never, ever be consumed. Some organizations are so anti soy (*ahem* Weston A Price People, among others) that sometimes it can look like a crazy conspiracy theory. But the “unfortunate for soy lovers aspect” is that there is scientific evidence to support the theory.

But will you die if you ingest a bit of soy?

No.

The problem I see is that we regularly consume it in a very highly processed form in many processed foods. And any diet where we eat a lot of one type of food, isn’t good for us.

But I also tend to look at soy the same way I’d look at say, unsoaked wheat or unsoaked oats. Both contain levels of phytic acid. Both can be hard to digest. And both are regularly consumed.

So what would my recommendations be? Well….

• I’d stay far, far away from soy if you have medical problems because of the nutrient losses that can occur. When your body is fighting a disease or disorder you need all the nutrients you can get!
• I wouldn’t consume soy while preparing for pregnancy or while pregnant and nursing, just as I would not feed soy to developing children because of the hormonal aspect. The last thing we want to do is disrupt or endocrine system.
• With the same idea, I would not consume soy when suffering from things like PCOS or endometriosis or infertility. The hormonal upset just isn’t worth it.
• I would not consume highly processed forms of soy like things that are found in boxed and canned foods or things like textured vegetable protien.
• I would not eat conventional soy since such a large portion of soy is genetically modified.
• But if a healthy adult wanted to partake in some boiled edamame every once in awhile? Or soy nuts in a trail mix once a month? My thinking is….it’s got to be better than a milkyway. Right?

And that all being said, I’m pretty anti-soy myself. {see – in circles folks. in circles}

So, what do you think about soy? Inform me.

For more in depth information on soy you can check out these resources:

• The Hidden Dangers of Soy
• The Whole Soy Story
• Soy Alert! from the Weston A. Price Foundation

This post is linked to: Real Food Wednesday

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No Sugar Challenge Update: week 2

Posted by donielle on January 29, 2010 · 24 Comments 

I’ve been putting off writing this post all day.

Because I don’t wanna tell you what happened this week!

First off, I’ve been dealing with a few different stresses this week as well as having a baby that’s cutting her top two teeth and wants to be held 24/7. And because of this my toddler now wants to act out. Over the weekend I got a total of 11 hours of sleep, with one night ringing in with a whopping 2 1/2! Talk about exhaustion.

But that shouldn’t be my excuse! And I’m not making excuses, really. No matter the circumstances or trials we go through each day, we choose how we act.

So here goes: I ate a handfull (or two) of Mike and Ikes.

I told my husband not to leave them home. For 3 days I told him to get them out of here! I finally hit a wall after no sleep and no lunch and I grabbed that box and ate them before I could tell myself any better. And I ate them fast because I knew if I didn’t I’d come to my senses!

It was in that moment, I realized my biggest enemy was not in any actual sugar craving, it was my own self. You see, I eat sugar when I’m stressed, and let me tell you – this has been a stressful year! So no matter what I do to keep cravings at bay, it’s never going to be enough until I figure out how to better deal with stress in my life.

While my food prep for this weekend should help out a bit, as I’ll have food in the fridge to grab when I don’t have time for anything else, I;ve decided I need to make time for myself. Time for devotions, time for prayer and reflection, time with God. Because without Him, our earthly cravings gain a foothold and we become powerless. With Him we have the power to overcome.

Now tell me how you’ve been doing. Hopefully you had a better week than I did!!

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

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The One Week Check-in

Posted by donielle on January 22, 2010 · 18 Comments 

This day last week I gave up all sugar except for small amounts of raw honey and maple syrup. I’ve struggled with cravings, had my eczema flare up, felt hungry, dealt with a baby who also had her eczema flare up and also must have been feeling some detox/craving stuff going on as well. (she was super fussy for about 4 days, had horrible diapers, and wanted to nurse like crazy, and not take her naps)

But you know what?

I feel good! My physical cravings have diminished and aren’t an issue unless I let myself get to hungry. After the last two days, I’ve even noticed a marked improvement in my eczema. Best of all, I stepped on the scale this morning and I’m down two whole pounds!!

Now for confession time.

I seriously did very well this last week. I’ve tried to limit myself to only one honey/syrup sweetened food per day as well as limiting my grain intake. So, say if I had oatmeal sweetened with syrup in the morning, I’d try and go without sweets and grains for the rest of the day. I’ve also made sure that each time I do have a grain, a piece of fruit, or honey/syrup, I also make sure I include a bit of fat and protein in that same meal to help balance my blood sugar, and to keep it from spiking so rapidly. I’ve also been measuring the honey/syrup I’ve been using and have been amazed at how much I had been letting myself pour on!

I even stayed away from the sweets that were brought to our local Weston A Price chapter meeting this past Tuesday. Even though I knew what was in them (recipes were provided) and most were sweetened with a honey/rapadura mixture. They even had these little gluten free chocolate muffins. And I stayed away!

But…..last night I stopped at the library on my way home from Katie’s (Kitchen Stewardship) house.

*as a side note, I was picking up a few books on sourdough baking as well as Native Foods of the Americas*

So as I’m waiting for the librarian to go in the back and get the books I’d requested, I just stood there looking around.

And like I always do, I reached over into their candy bowl and grabbed a now and later.

Chewy candies are my hugest downfall.

As I walked out, I popped it right into my mouth without thinking. Hopped in the van and though to myself, “Mmmm, these watermelons ones are the best! Haven’t had these in years. Wait….haven’t had these in…Oh….Oh, no…..I’m not supposed to be eating candy!!!! Argh!”

And I spit it out.

Oh, yes I did.

So while I now have the willpower to stay away from sweets, I now have to retrain myself and make these automatic actions something I think about before I do them!

And I now want to know, how are you doing? What’s been the hardest thing to change?

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

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Sugar Cravings

Posted by donielle on January 18, 2010 · 29 Comments 

Here I am, starting day four of my “No Sugar for 30 days Challenge”. And so far I’ve done really, really well.

But the cravings?

Yea, those are tough.

So let’s talk about them shall we?

Why We Have Cravings

Our bodies can crave sugar for a many reasons. One reason being a sign of hormonal imbalance caused by our diet. You see, when we don’t eat the right nourishing foods for our bodies, it causes nutritional deficiencies and bad digestion. When that happens, our hormones are out of whack. Both of these things (nutritional deficiencies and imbalanced hormones) lead to low serotonin.

And wouldn’t you know, sugars and simple carbs give us a short boost of serotonin. A quick mood booster if you will.

Another reason for cravings is adrenal fatigue, or lowered function of our adrenals. Again, this one is tied to our bodies trying to elevate our mood. When we are stressed for periods of time our adrenals have a very hard time regulating hormones and mood, which of course make us crave the things that can elevate it, even for a short amount of time. Unfortunately, these short little pick-me-ups, do more harm than good.

Reason number three for sugar cravings: Candida yeast overgrowth. What you need to know is all of us have bacteria and yeast in our digestive system. The problem comes in when the candida yeast grows to big for it’s britches! The overgrowth can easily start by a round of antibiotics, since the rest of the good bacteria in your system is killed off along with the bad. After antibiotics you may be sick over and over again, unable to fight off future infections after taking them, as well as have symptoms of yeast overgrowth. (eczema, fatigue, cravings, unstable mood) This yeast actually feeds on sugar! So when you begin to cut sugar out of your diet, it begins to die off, which is a very good thing. Problem is, the yeast doesn’t want to die off, so your body then gets signaled to eat more sugar.

So how do we overcome them?

Dealing With Cravings

I’m no expert, but I’ll share with you the few ways I’ve always dealt with them.

• Removing all sweets from the home. Since I rarely buy sweets for home or bake sweets at home, this was quite easy for me.
• Have fresh veggies cut up and ready to snack on in the fridge. This helps me out immensely when I just want something right now!
• Have a glass of water. Sometimes when I think I’m hungry, I really just need to hydrate myself.
• Drink a hot beverage. I’ve been sipping on cups of tea sweetened with honey as well as Teechino sweetened with maple syrup. And the fact that it takes so long to sip, seems to melt them away.
• I’m making sure I eat some homemade sauerkraut each day as well as yogurt and/or kefir smoothies. These fermented and cultured products are a wonderful source of good bacteria to help me balance my gut flora.
• Take probiotics for the same reason as above.
• Consume more coconut oil! One of my favorite oils is also an anti fungal which helps get rid of the yeast. I’ve also heard that coconut oil can help because the medium chain fatty acid breaks down and is rapidly metabolized to glucose thus providing a source of the energy your sugar craving is telling you that you need.
• On the same note, garlic does the same thing, so I think I’ll have to whip up some more garlic herb butter.
• Drink a mix of honey and apple cider vinegar. For some reason this helps take away my “want” for sweets.
• I also made up some healthy, grain free, made with sugar brownies that were pretty good. (I’ll be posting the recipe tomorrow!)

So tell me, how are you doing going without sugar? I’m excited that there are so many of you trying your best to give up sugar with me! Have you been dealing with cravings? Or what about ‘detox’ type symptoms (headache, fatigue, etc.)?

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

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Sugar is the New “S” Word

Posted by donielle on January 14, 2010 · 43 Comments 

Just chatting a bit about the effects of sugar.

Read more

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The Secret is Out

Posted by donielle on January 12, 2010 · 14 Comments 

I’m not always the “chef” I’d like to be! Sometimes I can’t even boil eggs!

This post is linked to : Wordless Wednesday

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

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A Hypocrite Amoung Us

Posted by donielle on May 12, 2009 · 3 Comments 

And it appears to be me.

I know what I should be doing. I tell others to do it. But I haven;t been following my own advice. Which is why it’s been hard to post new subjects over here.

Ever totally fall off the bandwagon? I’ve been there, done that many times over. And since the birth of my little girl a few weeks ago I’ve fallen off again. Not completely since I do have so many whole foods stocked up in the house right now, but we’ve been eating out more than I’d like to confess. And the sugar consumption has been out of control. Seriously. I made some whole wheat chocolate chip cookies and ate them all. In one weekend. And no one helped me. Sad, sad day when I was left staring at the bottom of the cookie jar.

The problem is, I know how bad it is for me! Last week mastitis hit. I had body aches and a fever for 3 days and am now on my second round of antibiotics in 5 weeks. I definitely have a tons more energy than I did when I was pregnant, but I know it could be better. And I think I’m starting to have yeast issues from the first round of antibiotics since my eczema seems to be popping up again. (yup, yeast causes more than just yeast infections!)My diet has done nothing for my immune system except to kill it.

So, it’s time to hop back on! To stay healthy I have to! So far I’ve gone 2 days with no sugar and I’m making sure I get in extra veggies every day. (I had been getting only a serving or two each day – sad, I know!) My new plan includes:

• Trying out at least one new recipe each week
• Stocking up on lots of veggies to cut and snack on
• I think I’ll also be buying some good probiotics and fish oil as well to help with my immune system.
• Continuing to take a B-Complex I already take on a daily basis.
• Consuming a kefir or yogurt smoothie at least 5 days a week for the beneficial bacteria
• No refined sugars
• Consuming “healthy” sugars only a couple/few days a week (in muffins, etc.)
• No chocolate!
• Try a new soaked bread recipe with alternative flours

So there’s my plan. I really have to stick to it too since I don’t want to suffer the same yeast problems I had when my son was little. (I also had 2 rounds of antibiotics within a couple months because of group B strep and mastitis – so this is all dejavue for me) And hopefully some of these new recipes turn out well so I can share them with you all!!

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