The Dirty Secret Of Soy
This is not a reader question this week, but something I feel is too important to not share.
Being an herbivore for longer than I haven’t been one, I was horrified and saddened by learning that some of the easiest to come by and not to mention delicious veggie burgers contain a neuro-toxin from a gasoline byproduct called Hexane. I found this out; I kid you not just after going to the supermarket and buying some Original Vegan Boca Burgers. Boca Burgers I discovered unless they are organic, and they don’t have the organic ones in my supermarket are riddled with Hexane.
Hexane is a by product of gasoline refining and is toxic to humans ingesting it and also those who work in the manufacturing plants (can you say skin and nervous system disorders and even death)
Hexane is used to lower the fat in soybeans by literally soaking the beans in it to separate the oil from the protein. They do this with textured vegetable protein (TVP) as well, which many of us non- meat eating folks also enjoy. And on top of it the lovely FDA does NOTHING to regulate or monitor or regulate hexane residue in the stuff we eat. (It’s also in infant formulas, soy lecithin and soy protein isolates)
I was hipped to this a week ago by my vegetarian uncle who sent me this article on Mother Jones and I looked further to find the full report Behind The Bean by the Cornucopia Institute as well as this very helpful soy bean Score Card. The gist is, to buy Organic only, but even things like ‘mostly organic’ Cliff Bars have soy products in them that contain hexane. ‘Natural’ Silk soymilk is also particularly bad as is Trader Joes private label and Whole Foods own brand. Thanks, thanks a lot.
I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer, and there ain’t no way I will be eating meat in case anyone is wondering, but I feel this is extremely important to know, vegetarian or otherwise. The conclusion is to go organic or go home when it comes to any soy products whatsoever. And don’t let me start on pesticides on non-organic fruits and veggies… Ok I won’t.
Till next time.
Xo,
Theo
We’ll be back to your regularly scheduled questions next week.
If you want my sometimes tough – love advice about life, love, beauty and nose hairs; email me at asktheo@gmail.com
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