I’m going to start a series of posts on the questions I get asked the most frequently.
Feel free to send me questions and if it is a common one I’ll make sure to get a post on the topic.

Let’s start with Soy.
Is soy something I should be eating or avoiding?

First off let me point you to a great resource/ book on the topic
http://www.wholesoystory.com/

Did you know that up until only two decades ago soy was considered unfit to eat? And this was by Asians! It was used as a fertilizer on their crops and women snuck it into their husbands food if they wanted to reduce their fertility. Asian cultures have known for decades that soy needed to be fermented if they were to consume it as to remove the toxins and unwanted side effects.
Also because Soy is in everything these days as a filler it has become one of the most allergic foods we eat.

Over the years I’ve noticed an increase in research against soy. Most of the leading holistic health and nutrition experts in the world are all saying limit your intake of this so called health product. When people like Paul Chek, Dr. Mercola, Sally Fallon, The Westin Price Foundation, Sean Croxton, Mark Sisson, Brendan Brazier and on and on all say you should really limit your soy intake then I think it’s wise to listen up!

None of the above health professionals are saying never touch soy. They all seem to agree that small amounts of organic whole soy can be a part of your diet. If you are consuming it every day there could be issues. They also all agree that fermented types of soy (miso, tempeh) do not have the estrogen mimicking effect and that if you are to have soy this is your best option.
If you are someone who consumes soy milk every day plus all kinds of tofu meat substitutes in order to help get protein into your diet you might want to start finding alternatives if your health and your weight is important to you.

I have many clients (mostly women) who are turning vegetarian or vegan these days as more and more people are having moral dilemmas eating meat. Movies like Food Inc. (great movie!) are really showing people how conventional animals are raised giving them awareness and concern.

If you are going to make the switch to a vegetarian or vegan you have to do it wisely though. Vegetarian clients are the hardest clients for me to help lose weight as they usually don’t consume enough protein to keep their blood sugar levels balanced.
Remember it doesn’t matter if you eat the healthiest carbs on the planet, if all you eat is a diet of carbs you will have issues staying lean and healthy. Almost every vegetarian and vegan I know is totally addicted to sugar due to lack of protein in their diet.

If you are thinking about going vegan or even quasi vegetarian I highly recommend you read Brendan Brazier’s book the Thrive Diet. The natural plant based protein (hemp) products he has helped formulate (VEGA) are amazing at helping vegetarians get a high grade protein into their diet.

If I wasn’t going to eat meat and I wanted to avoid Soy I would use Almond milk instead of Soy milk, I would eat lots of nuts and nut butters, hemp protein (vega), free range eggs, seafood, a high quality whey protein and possibly beans although they don’t digest well for me.

Here’s an interesting video about soy products.
Soy from Underground Wellness

And here’s another good write up on soy
foodrenegade.com/dangers-of-soy

I hope this helps.

J