...eliminating soy.
Total change of topic from anything that I've written about before, but it's become a fairly central part to my existance as of late.
Eleven years ago when I was pregnant with my son I stopped drinking milk and switched to soy milk exclusively. Struggling to lose the weight I'd gained with kid #2, I began trying to focus on "healthy" protiens like soy smoothies after a workout; soy meal replacement bars; edamame as a snack. I ate canned tuna frequently, soups for lunch and generally focused on a low calorie, high protien world. I ate salads with low fat vinagerette. And, I gained weight. I exercised like mad and still nothing.
And so, last November, I visited an endocrinologist because I felt like something was off. I hoped upon hope it was something as simple as hypothyroidism and it could be turned around. But, I didn't have a lot of the symptoms, except the stubborn weight.
Much blood was removed from my arm (which is a joy) and when the results came back it was discovered that I have very low vitamin D and incredibly low calcium, but my thyroid was right on the border of normal.
The doctor and I discussed my diet and any dietary changes that I'd made that might correspond with my weight gain. Enter the discussion of soy.
Her response was that I needed to eliminate all soy from my diet. The estrogen in the soy was wreaking havoc on my body. And maybe, if I just cut it out completely and continued with my exercise regimin I'd start to see more positive results.
I figured it would be easy. No more smoothies, bars or soy lattes. Easy! But, who knew that soy was in everything? Every loaf of bread that's at the regular super market has soy flour or soybean oil as a primary ingredient; most cans of tuna contain soy; most salad dressings are made from a soybean oil base; every tortilla is made with soy; most brands of chicken broth have soy in the form of vegetable broth and many brands of chicken and turkey have been supplemented with "broth"; most ice cream has soy. This list just begins to touch on all the food I've thrown out from my house in the last few weeks. My kids were distraught. Chocolate chips have soy? Gone. Their favorite cerals have soy? Gone. Tortillas? Gone.
Shopping now takes longer. Every single lable is read. Thank God for Sunflower Market. I've found bread that's soy free (and tastes good, which is key for the kids), one 'safe' brand of tortillas, tuna, and chicken broth, chocolate chips, etc. I don't eat at fast food places, which is good anyway, because most of the grilled chicken that I would normally get has been supplemented with a 'broth' to maintain juciness and that broth, most likely, contains soy.
What's funny is that I feel better. I'm no longer foggy and craving caffeine all the time. I can memorize again. (Some of the articles I've read indicate a connection between soy and memory loss.) My fingernails are growing and less brittle. (Though that may be more attributable to the giant calcium pills I'm on to combat the calcium leeching that soy can cause.)
And, surprise, surprise. I'm losing weight. Eleven pounds now. I'm interested to see how this plays out. I'm not a doctor and thus, this isn't any sort of advice to counteract a doctors. It's just my own experience.
Total change of topic from anything that I've written about before, but it's become a fairly central part to my existance as of late.
Eleven years ago when I was pregnant with my son I stopped drinking milk and switched to soy milk exclusively. Struggling to lose the weight I'd gained with kid #2, I began trying to focus on "healthy" protiens like soy smoothies after a workout; soy meal replacement bars; edamame as a snack. I ate canned tuna frequently, soups for lunch and generally focused on a low calorie, high protien world. I ate salads with low fat vinagerette. And, I gained weight. I exercised like mad and still nothing.
And so, last November, I visited an endocrinologist because I felt like something was off. I hoped upon hope it was something as simple as hypothyroidism and it could be turned around. But, I didn't have a lot of the symptoms, except the stubborn weight.
Much blood was removed from my arm (which is a joy) and when the results came back it was discovered that I have very low vitamin D and incredibly low calcium, but my thyroid was right on the border of normal.
The doctor and I discussed my diet and any dietary changes that I'd made that might correspond with my weight gain. Enter the discussion of soy.
Her response was that I needed to eliminate all soy from my diet. The estrogen in the soy was wreaking havoc on my body. And maybe, if I just cut it out completely and continued with my exercise regimin I'd start to see more positive results.
I figured it would be easy. No more smoothies, bars or soy lattes. Easy! But, who knew that soy was in everything? Every loaf of bread that's at the regular super market has soy flour or soybean oil as a primary ingredient; most cans of tuna contain soy; most salad dressings are made from a soybean oil base; every tortilla is made with soy; most brands of chicken broth have soy in the form of vegetable broth and many brands of chicken and turkey have been supplemented with "broth"; most ice cream has soy. This list just begins to touch on all the food I've thrown out from my house in the last few weeks. My kids were distraught. Chocolate chips have soy? Gone. Their favorite cerals have soy? Gone. Tortillas? Gone.
Shopping now takes longer. Every single lable is read. Thank God for Sunflower Market. I've found bread that's soy free (and tastes good, which is key for the kids), one 'safe' brand of tortillas, tuna, and chicken broth, chocolate chips, etc. I don't eat at fast food places, which is good anyway, because most of the grilled chicken that I would normally get has been supplemented with a 'broth' to maintain juciness and that broth, most likely, contains soy.
What's funny is that I feel better. I'm no longer foggy and craving caffeine all the time. I can memorize again. (Some of the articles I've read indicate a connection between soy and memory loss.) My fingernails are growing and less brittle. (Though that may be more attributable to the giant calcium pills I'm on to combat the calcium leeching that soy can cause.)
And, surprise, surprise. I'm losing weight. Eleven pounds now. I'm interested to see how this plays out. I'm not a doctor and thus, this isn't any sort of advice to counteract a doctors. It's just my own experience.
Comments
Jenn
I think it's interesting that you're finding that everything has soy in it. I wonder what would happen if you tried to avoid both corn and soy. I wonder if there's anything out there that doesn't have those two products in it.
Anyhow, I'm glad you're feeling better! Sorry I'm so long winded!