FYI Throw out the Blue Bell!

Just in case anyone has ANY blue bell products in their freezer, I wanted to get the word out that the company has now recalled ALL products due to the risk of more Listeria contamination. Here's the link to Blue Bell's press release about it.

Soy Lecithin.. to eat or not to eat

I've been doing some reading on soy lecithin. It seems to be the one soy product that really keeps popping up.  The evidence so far I'm reading hasn't helped me decided for or against.  It is a small derivative, and it basically makes it sound like unless you are taking in huge amounts as a supplement, it's probably not going to hurt you too much.  But, it's in almost everything, so it seems to me that unless you put forth some effort to avoid it, you would be taking it a large amount.  AND, it is from soy and the process it goes through can't be good.... so, I think it's just something I'll avoid when I can, but sometimes, let it slide... for now anyway...

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Another ingredient I'm trying to avoid is High Fructose Corn Syrup. This is so hard to do. It's in so many things!  I know I will not be able to completely avoid it, but the more I cut out the better.  There is a belief that a major reason for the obesity epidemic is largely to do with the introduction of HFCS into our food supply.  From what I understand, basically our bodies don't metabolize it completely and it just turns to fat that is really hard to get rid of.  ( that is a really REALLY summarized version ) It also has been found that it is very hard on the liver. I've made a tab at the top of the blog to collect articles I find that explain why this 'food' is good to avoid.  Grocery shopping has become like a hunting expedition. Finding something that has no soy OR HFCS is quite the task. It can be done.....

Quest for Bread

Ok, so apparently you can't buy bread without some kind of soy product in it!  I spent probably 10- 15 minutes on the bread lane in Wal-Mart.  I'm fairly sure I read every package.  I ended up going with a bread with a simple and easy to pronounce ingredients list with the soy at the very end of the list. ( The ingredients are listed in order from most prominent to least prominent )  I may try a health food store and also look at Kroger for soy free bread.  The best way to get bread with what you want in it is to make your own, which I tried last night. I do think with a little practice I could make a pretty tasty loaf!

Helpful hint to avoid soy

Here is a list of words you may see on ingredients lists that indicate soy products are included.:

Coumestrol, daidzein, diet, edamame, frijol de soya, genistein, greater bean, haba soya, hydrolyzed soy protein, isoflavone, isoflavonoid, legume, natto, phytoestrogen, plant estrogen, shoyu, soja, sojabohne, soybean, soy fiber, soy food, soy product, soy protein soya, soya protein, Ta-tou(Chinese), texturized vegetable protein, tofu.

doenjang, douche, edamame, G. max, ganjang, glycine max, miso, natto, shoyu (Japanese), soy sauce, soya (British English), soya bean (British English), tamari, tempeh, tofu. tofu, Worcestershire sauce.

Discovery #1 - SOY is terrible for you.

I've learned that we can't rely on the FDA to protect us from eating ourselves right into the hospital. No wonder people are getting sicker and sicker and obesity is becoming the norm.  Just judging from what I've learned about soy makes me think a great majority of people will suffer and have problems just because of soy. And that will be added to problems caused by other unhealthy ' foods ' we are being sold.  Of course it boils down to money.  'Hey, let's figure out how to sell soybeans! We'll market it as ' good for you '.  And that's how pretty much any fake food gets to our plate....
  Here is an interesting article that gives a nice overview of the dangers of eating so much soy :
http://www.foodrenegade.com/dangers-of-soy/
 That will at least get you started. If you're like me, you'll want to find out more.
Now that I'm trying to avoid it, I'm really seeing how it's being shoved down our ignorant little throats!  Try to go buy groceries without buying something with soy products in it. Soy bean oil is in almost everything it seems!  I looked for 5-10 minutes at crackers.... all I wanted were some crackers.  Well, good luck.  I finally settled on some kashi crackers that I THOUGHT were free of soy, but after I got home I found they did indeed sneak some in there.  So now I have to search again.  I'm sure other shoppers wondered why I had to read virtually EVERY box of crackers on the shelf.  Shopping is going to be even more time consuming.....