With the industrialization of the food industry over the past 100 years, our bodies have had to deal with a lot of changes. Potential stressors, such as processed foods, confusing dietary recommendations, and drastic changes in food production methods has resulted in the human body’s inability to keep up! This manifests physically as leaky gut which can lead to allergies, food sensitivities and intolerances. Digestive disturbances can lead issues with proper nutrient absorption needed for optimal health and may even effect your sleep, your mood, or your joints.
The most common food allergies and sensitivities include:
Gluten
Dairy
Eggs
Nuts
Soy
Fish
My opinion is that SOY is the most hidden and potentially most severe gut disturbing food item on this list. Soy is one crop that is heavily sprayed with pesticides and often genetically modified.
Soy has a huge number of derivatives that you might find in the ingredients list on your food label. In addition to those that have soy in their name, you should also keep an eye out for:
Bean curd Edamame (soybeans in pods)
Hydrolyzed soy protein
Kinnoko flour
Kyodofu (freeze dried tofu)
Miso
Natto
Okara (soy pulp)
Shoyu sauce
Supro
Tamari
Tempeh
Teriyaki sauce
Textured vegetable protein (TVP)
Tofu
Yakidofu
Yuba (bean curd)
The following may or may not contain soy, and would require research on the product’s origin to find out:
Artificial flavoring
Asian foods (e.g. Japanese, Chinese, Thai, etc.)
Hydrolyzed plant protein
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
Natural flavoring
Vegetable broth
Vegetable gum
Vegetable starch
It always pays to read your food label if you are trying to investigate digestive issues. Or better yet, eat whole foods that don’t have labels!
Come check again next Tuesday to find out more about soy!