What does a SF diet entail? Unfortunately, soy can be very difficult to fully avoid as it is widely used in many foods. Up to 60% of foods include soy as a texturizer, emulsifier or protein filler. Soy is often a hidden ingredient as well in baked goods, pizza bases and pastas. Even vegan products may contain soy.
Any foods which are heavily seasoned is also suspected to have soy in them such as chips, spice mixes, crackers, sauces, mayonnaise, salad dressings and more. Dairy substitutes like cheese also commonly contain soy. It is extremely important to read all ingredient labels carefully and to also know the hidden ingredients that don’t say ‘soy’, but are soy based if one is going on a strictly SF diet.
Ingredients with Soy
Unfortunately, there are many ingredients out there that don’t specifically say ‘soy’, but indeed contain soy. This makes it very hard when buying food, especially processed foods. Therefore, removing soy completely from a diet is challenging. A SF diet eliminates all foods and products containing soy. Soy comes from soybeans which are legumes and any of the following ingredients indicate there is a presence of soy in the product even so it may not clearly say so:
- Flavoring
- Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
- Hydrolyzed Plant Protein
- Natural Flavoring
- Textured Vegetable Protein
- Vegetable Broth
- Vegetable Gum
- Vegetable Starch
- Monosodium Glutamate
- Mono and Diglycerides
Even if one lives a vegetarian lifestyle, they could still be consuming large amounts of soy and not know it because of the above ingredients that do not contain the word ‘soy’ in them. Asian cuisines also include a lot of soy, but soy can actually be found in many, if not all restaurants one goes to. Soy can also be found in various cosmetics as well as medications. To eat a SF diet, one needs to be very diligent in reading all ingredients as well as knowing what to look for. Thankfully though, with new guidelines covered by the Food Allergen Labeling Consumer Protection Act, many products that do not include soy should have a label saying ‘soy free.’
Soy Free Substitutes
- Fruits and Vegetables
- Dairy Products
- Free Range Poultry
- Grass Fed Meats
- Wild-Caught Seafood
- Rice / Almond / Coconut alternatives to milk
- Soy Sauce – Use Olive brine, balsamic vinegar or soy-free miso sauce with some additional salt. There is also coconut aminos which is very similar to soy sauce.
- Soy Margarine’s – Best to opt for butter, but if there is a dairy allergy, there are soy-free margarine’s.
- Soy Oil – Use other oils like olive oil or grape seed oil.
- Teriyaki Sauce -Sweet and sour cause can be used instead, but always make sure even in this alternative there is no soy ingredient.
- Miso – There are non-soy versions of miso, look out for the label.
6 Negative Effects of Consuming Soy
1Exposure to Carcinogens
Soy is over produced as well as over processed which is why there is a concern. About 94% of soybeans are genetically grown as they are designed to be ’roundup ready.’ This means they can withstand heavy doses of herbicides. The FDA has classified the main ingredient in this ’round up’ to be glyphosate which is probably bad for ones health and carcinogenic.
2Chronic Inflammation
Adults nowadays are getting too much Omega-6 which is causing inflammation. This high amount of Omega-6 is due to high consumption’s of foods that are fried in soybean oil.
3Itchy Throat
The body mistakes protein in certain raw foods. This is the same as allergenic protein in pollen. Same goes with soy milk. Soy milk proteins are not broken down enough during processing which leaves an allergic inducing compound causing one to experience an itchy throat.
4Mineral Deficiencies
Soybeans have a higher phytate content than any other legume or grain. Phytate is anti-nutrients and binds itself to minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc. This limits their absorption causing one to be mineral deficient.
5Blocked Protein Digestion
Soybeans are high in protein, but also has trypsin which is an enzyme that makes it difficult to digest the protein. This tends to end up leaving one with gastric distress along with an amino acid deficiency if consumed in large amounts.
6Flatulence
Soy is loaded with fiber and oligosaccharides which are a pre-biotic compound that help feed our healthy gut bacteria. This in turn causes one to experience more flatulence.
Interview with an SF Diet Expert
Summertime simplicity doesn’t have to be complicated when you want to try sf diet! Just ask culinary celebrity chef, Amie Valpone, from Manhattan, NYC; serving not only herself but a clientele of celebrities and busy people on the go.
She’s the author of the book, Eating Clean and she’s the founder of The Healthy Apple. If you have a busy lifestyle or plan to be on the go this summer, be ready to enjoy healthy, organic whole foods quickly and simply.
With your background, have you always been a “clean eater”?
Amie: I was not always a clean eater, and when I was in my twenties I started to experience health issues. I went through 10 years of chronic illness so one of the first things I started to really look at was my food. Even though doctors weren’t sure food would help me, I really knew that it would. And so I started very slowly cutting out some inflammatory foods and adding in some really healthy foods.
Learning how to eat clean – meaning, looking for one ingredient whole foods. So what’s in an avocado? An avocado. What’s in an apple? An apple. You can base your entire day, all your meals, all your snacks and all your beverages around these 1 ingredient whole foods. You don’t need to look for the processed packaged foods with the ingredient list that is this long, which I’m sure you know you probably can’t pronounce half those ingredients, right? So clean eating is really about eating these foods in their whole form.
Where do you source your organic, whole foods?
Amie: I buy a lot of my organic foods at the farmer’s market and I also go to my local food store. A lot of local food stores now carry organic so you can look or you can ask the supermarket to carry some varieties of organic and they will.
When it comes to creativity, how do you come up with your signature recipes that make them so irresistible, especially for SF diets?
Amie: I love making creative recipes especially since I can’t do gluten, dairy or soy. So what I do is I get very creative with a few ingredients. For instance, I find something like a clean juice, such as the Art of RW Knudsen Just Juice line. The only ingredient in this is juice – just juice. That’s it! No added sugars, no artificial flavorings, no artificial colors; nothing like that, so it’s a whole food.
It’s clean eating. I’ll take something like that and use it in my baked muffin recipe. So instead of adding the water to the batter for my baked muffins, I’ll add a little bit of the Just Blueberry or Just Cranberry for a natural sweetness which has no refined sugars in it. So you’re getting that amazing natural flavor without all of that added sugar.
Would you share some of your simple recipe ideas for busy parents on the go, especially when it comes to picky eaters?
Amie: I have my favorite one here. It’s actually my Smoothie Bowl, which is super easy to make. You can make a smoothie in a blender on a Sunday night and Monday mornings are always crazy for moms; they’re trying to feed the kids, get everybody ready for school and get ready for work.
So, the best thing to do is take the smoothie out of the fridge, pour it into a few bowls and let the kids have fun. Put out a few different toppings: fresh fruits, nuts, seeds, and some unsweetened coconut flakes. Then the kids can go ahead and decorate it. But most people get tripped up on the actual recipe for the smoothie. You want to make sure you’re using whole ingredients when on a SF diet.
I use yogurt, bananas, and some Just Juice and that’s it. You don’t need to use processed products for something like this. They can be so basic. Then you can use any leftover smoothie mix that you still have in the blender and put it into popsicle molds, freeze it, and it’s a delicious clean dessert for yourself for the week.
What flavor enhancers are best when it comes to eating clean and healthy?
Amie: I love using sea salt and freshly ground pepper – they do wonders. So remove your refined table salt and your regular pepper – the amount of flavor that you will feel and taste is incredible. The same thing with fresh herbs. Basil and cilantro and parsley, you can use all of these fresh herbs to add flavor.
Same thing for freshly squeezed lemon juice and freshly squeezed orange juice; you can drizzle a little of them, use them like a marinade, or put them into a salad dressing and make it very simple with a little bit of olive oil or sea salt and pepper. Maybe try some fresh basil and a few tablespoons of Just Juice so it’s naturally sweet, there’s no added sugar – nothing fake about it.
Seasonal eating is great, but how do we really get creative during the winter and spring months when it seems like the “harvest” isn’t here yet?
Amie: I love frozen fruits and vegetables. All you have to do is go to the frozen food aisle, look on the back of the package and make sure it’s just the food. If you’re buying frozen broccoli make sure it just says broccoli, frozen pineapple make sure it just says frozen pineapple. Always look to make sure there’s no other ingredients hidden on the package.
What is your favorite “go to” recipe to get dinner on the table fast, easily and deliciously when on a sf diet?
Amie: A very quick marinade! Like I mentioned before, take a little bit of Just Juice, a little bit of almond oil or avocado oil or any kind of oil that you’d like – coconut oil, some sea salt and pepper, a little bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice and any herb of choice. Then put that over whatever you’d like, such as chicken. Grill it and an evening dinner is made in less than 5 minutes. It’s just something that is simple, is very easy and convenient anytime and can be made any time of the year.
Please share a little bit about your book, Eating Clean that goes over SF diet, and where it is available.
Amie: My new book, Eating Clean, is available in stores nationwide and also on amazon.com. It has over 200 recipes that are all free of gluten, dairy, soy and other inflammatory ingredients and it shows amazing ways to create flavor using whole 1 ingredient foods.
You can find more information as well as this amazing Smoothie Bowl recipe on the RW Knudsen family website.
WANT TO READ MORE?
For more clean eating tips, check out these 10 Easy Ways to Lower Blood Sugar Levels Naturally.
Sources: 14 Things That Happen to Your Body When You Eat Soy, Food Choices for a Soy-Free Diet, Soy Free Diet
Photo credits: Amie Valpone, RW Knudsen, Apium, Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash
