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Quitting Soy!


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I know that soy has been controversial lately, this post is about quitting soy.

 

I am a huge Jillian Michaels fan, if you know about her then you know she is strictly against soy. I have read a lot about soy and studied both sides of the argument. I know there are some studies that show increased estrogen production and reduction of thyroid function. I have been vegan for eight years now and soy has been a big part of my diet. After reading and listening to a lot of Jillian's podcasts and nutritional info, I decided to trade out all of my soy for different vegan alternatives (soy milk - almond milk, soy protein- Vega protein, tofu-beans, etc.)

 

I have been trying to lose weight for a while now (I'm 5'8 and 146lbs) and I joined VBB with the "new year, new you" challenge. For the past year or so I have been having a really hard time losing weight (I'm a triathlete and gym rat so I know how to workout). Then all of a sudden since I stopped the soy, I have been losing weight. I have not really changed any other part of my diet or workout schedule.

 

Has anyone else stopped soy and seen a difference? Is this all in my head or is the "anti-soy) diet really helping me drop the weight?

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I'm not sure if its the reason you are losing weight. I am not knowledgeable enough to post about that, but I just wanted to chime in that I try to avoid soy as much as I can too. It is really really hard. If you look on the back of almost everything " Contains soy" Soy lecithin, soy oil, soy protein etc etc. Its insane how much soy is in almost everything. I just wanted to let you know this, since when I first started trying to cut it out, I wasn't aware exactly how much darn soy products is in almost everything!! Good luck, and if you ever want to talk soy free recipes, let me know lol!

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Sorry I can't help with soylessness, I've eaten the stuff since I was about 5, and since then I've been skinny, obese, flabby, skinny, ripped, flabby, muscular, flabby, and then whatever you want to call me now. I don't hold soy responsible along the way, it's been a constant

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I've been eating soy a few times a week for over 30 years since I became a veg. I never had any problems with it. One time, I did believe the hysteria and gave it up for about 6 months. I didn't notice any difference.

 

 

Jillian Michaels is a ripped, muscular physical trainer celebrity. That doesn't mean she knows as much as professional researchers who study soy. I collect articles in a special section on my blog that offer an alternative view to the anti-soy hysteria. The content of the articles point to authors with recognisable credentials, education, etc...

 

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/category/soy

 

Good Luck

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I guess I should have prefaced my post by saying I like Jillian as a motivational person and I think she is a great trainer as has great advice but I don't live by everything she says.

 

Thanks for the feedback so far, I am curious if anyone has experienced anything similar to what I have.

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I still drink soy and eat soybeans and just started using soy protein powder but i rarely eat anything else made from soy. I think it is all things in moderation. Most of the studies are for someone who is eating soy as a big part of every meal. There are so many vegan soy substitutes for meat and cheese and stuff that it makes up too much of a diet and can mess things up. Most of the stories of people who got bad results "from soy" have no proof except they consumed soy at the time so that must be it. Also most of the studies try to say the reason Asians have not had any soy related problems is that they only eat fermented soy. This is one of the biggest reasons i do not believe most studies because i have lived in China almost my whole life and soymilk is a regular breakfast food and soybeans are a popular dish so a LOT of the soy they eat is unfermented. They just eat it in moderation and not as 70% of their diet so they are fine. Try eating anything as 70% of your diet and there will be problems.

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I don't think I could ever give up on the soy, it's too yum I used to eat a lot of deli slices, but have been eating them less often now, mostly sticking to tofu now. I even got the soy free Earth Balance, for even a little less soy. I still drink soy milk, mostly in shakes and coffee. Edamame I should buy again, haven't had them in awhile

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I would like to see some studies showing that unprocessed or lightly processed soy has a negative effect, but I haven't seen one. The only anti-soy studies I have seen are ones that focus heavily on highly processed soy products, not foods like edamame, tempeh, or tofu....

+1

 

This, totally. Eating a bunch of faux meats and processed crap is totally different from eating tofu and even soymilk.

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Here in the UK its easy to buy 100% GMO free soy and THAT is the important thing in my opinion.

 

+1

 

The reason you may be losing weight after switching is your body is adapting to a dietary change, not necessarily just because its soy. Notice I said "may", not a definite. I'm not an expert on it but I know soy milk was what I drank as a baby as it was the only thing I could tolerate and after recently going back to soy milk after switching to vegan it has helped nourish me as I've dropped 21 lbs (191 to 170).

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