According to the Weston Price Foundation, “Eating as little as 30 grams (about 4 tablespoons) of soy per day can result in hypothyroidism with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain, and fatigue.” Not only is soy added to a lot of food products, it’s also fed to most animals. For a few years I was crazy about soy. I didn’t do much research on it; I simply believed the little bit I heard about it. I believed that it was good for preventing heart disease and breast cancer and that soy milk was a great replacement for dairy. My eyes were opened when someone very close to me was diagnosed with breast cancer and she had the type that is believed to be caused or accelerated by soy consumption. We were both taking a supplement that was very high in soy, and I have to wonder if that wasn’t part of the reason for her cancer. There were other risk factors as well, so it’s hard to know for sure. That was a very humbling time in my life, and part of the reason that I started questioning the status quo, and doing my own research.

If you do a quick search about soy, you will hear that animal studies reveal that isoflavones in soy can act like estrogen in the body, and that increased estrogen has been linked to certain types of breast cancer. The main stream media will say that there’s no need to worry about these studies, because animals digest things different than humans. There are many scientists, doctors, consumers, and nutritionists that strongly disagree with that statement. You will also hear that Asians consume a high amount of soy, and they have a low risk of breast cancer. This is a lie.  Asians only consume about two teaspoons per day and these are in condiments (often fermented), and not as a replacement for meat or milk.

Shortly after that cancer diagnosis, I attended my first Nourishing Traditions class, and I learned the real dangers of soy. I learned that high levels of phytic acid that are in soy reduce the body’s ability to break down magnesium, calcium, copper, iron, and zinc. I also learned that high phytates have caused growth problems in children. Numerous studies show that soy foods also cause infertility. I could keep going, but I don’t want to lose you.

After that class I went home and threw out the soy milk in my refrigerator and the supplements containing soy. I also contacted everyone that I was selling those supplements to and told them I would no longer be selling them. That was hard, because it was extra income that was easy, and I knew that they were going to buy them from someone else anyways. If you haven’t noticed, I have very strong convictions, and if I don’t believe in something, I won’t profit from it!

Animals that eat soy (which is most of them today), will have phytoestrogens in their egg yolks, organs, and muscle meats that we eat. It’s also added to many processed foods. That means we are getting the phytoestrogens in a lot of food products! Once rare, soy allergies are becoming very common. If you want to avoid soy, it’s going to take some work. You are probably going to need find a farmer to buy from, because it’s very rare to find animals that haven’t been given soy.

We could feed conventional feed, reduce our price, and sell a lot more birds, making just as much money per bird, but there is no temptation for us. We have our values, and care so much about people’s health that we won’t sell something that we believe will cause damage to someone.

After we ditched the soy milk and soy supplements, we replaced that soy milk with raw milk, and started focusing on eating real food that is highly digestible and nutrient dense so it contains the vitamins and minerals we need. We also use herbs for added vitamins and minerals. I’m so thankful for this radical change in our thinking, lifestyle, and foods that we eat. I’m not the perfect researcher, and I’m doing the best I can with the small amount of time I have, so I always encourage everyone to do their own research, and make their own observations in their health, because what works well for one person doesn’t always work for others. All of the animals that we raise for ourselves and others never receive soy in any form. That does make our feed costs more, but it’s totally worth it! If you would like to get on our 2022 list for corn/soy free, or soy free chicken raised on pasture with beyond organic feed you can check out the details here.

I hear, “I HATE soy!” from a lot of our customers. Have you ditched soy??? We LOVE to hear from you!