I have been completely shocked by what I have discovered. I'm sure I'm just now getting on board with something that each of you already knows, but I'd still like to share what I have learned.
I'll start with my biggest allergy: milk. Apparently my allergies are IgG allergies, which means I have built up some antibodies to each of the products I'm allergic to. But, it's different from an IgE allergy, which causes a person to go into anaphylactic shock in the end. This particular allergy, an IgG allergy, causes problems like, fatigue, dark circles, nausea or other similar problems.
When I began looking at milk substitutes, I learned that soy milk should not be an option for any of us. My neighbor was the first to tell me that unfermented soy milk has many side effects and issues related to it, and when I did some research, I learned she is exactly right.
We are constantly bombarded with marketing that boosts the healthiness of soy milk - it has extra protein, soy is supposed to be good for brain development, it is low fat and has tons more fiber than cow's milk. People also cite the fact that Asians have been using soy milk and soy products for many years and look how healthy they are!
Well, the truth of the matter is, in China they use FERMENTED soy products. Even soy milk, called dou jiang, is made from the juice of tofu. Tofu is already fermented and the liquid around it is packed full of protein and healthy goodness. In the US, when they make soy milk, it is made by crushing the beans and grinding them into a pulp.
"Beans are cleaned and soaked overnight, and then pureed. The solids (called okara) are strained out, and the resulting liquid is boiled for about 10 minutes. A little simplified, but that's the basic idea." [source]
There is no fermenting in this process. Why do we need soy products to be fermented? Check these sources to get more details, but essentially, there are enzyme inhibitors in unfermented soy products that prevent our bodies from breaking down food and nutrients properly.
Those are just a couple of sites I have found in my detailed research. The amount of marketing available for pro-soy products has amazed me, but as I have read, it is very intentional.
Going back to the aforementioned milk allergy, I am supposed to ingest small amounts of milk every day in order to build up my tolerance for it, but I am not supposed to ingest large amounts. I have noticed my nose runs more when I ingest lots of milk products and the (ever present) circles under my eyes DO get darker.
But, my alternative to milk will not be soy milk. It is almond milk, preferably homemade because manufactured almond milk has (less than 1%) soy lecithin in it (a product in almost every processed food in America). If you'd like to make your own homemade almond milk, check this link out that my brother sent me. It's delicious and you can make it for about $1/quart.
I think that about scratches the surface.
4 comments:
Yes, it's a shame that for a long time I thought I was actually FIGHTING disease by consuming soy. Thanks for posting this.
many folks can drink goats milk, have you researched it?
Interesting stuff! We did know that soy milk was iffy. Didn't realize the Chinese kind was fermented. Hope you get some things figured out for yourself!
Yes, Joanna, goat's milk is a fantastic alternative to dairy and soy for this particular allergy.
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