Tuesday, August 10, 2010

A Dietary Setback

I'm having issues with soy, which is a huge problem now that we are vegetarian. Soy in all of its incarnations is a new culinary adventure for me but I was going at it full tilt. I tried tofu at various restaurants and from the prepared foods case at Whole Foods. We tried several of the soy "meat" products from the grocery store. I bought tempeh. We made stir fries and marinades with soy sauce. We even threw roasted edamame on salads.

Well.... turns out all that soy caused me to have some problems. Namely, it made my breasts feel like they did when I was lactating and it was past time for the baby to nurse. In other words, tingly and tender and sensitive to touch, but with no relief from actually nursing. Blech. I didn't realize it was the soy at first and went to the doctor about it but she couldn't find anything wrong. I finally had an epiphany one day- IT COULD BE THE SOY, and asked my acupuncturist (a long time vegan) if it was possible. She said go off soy to see what happens, duh. Well, I went off soy, and yep, that's the culprit. I even reacted to a tiny bit of soy sauce in a recipe. It's definitely the soy.

BUT IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!!!!! Why couldn't I have known this going in? I mean, it only cropped up after I really started to like soy and soy products. I'm bumming. There are so many things we discovered and really liked, and now we have to give them up. Well, I have to give them up. No more faux BLTs. No more "Joggin' John" with the soy sausage. No more soy marinated mushroom caps filled with guacamole. (From the raw foods class I took last year.) No more stir fry. WAHHHHH.

OK, OK, if that's the worst of my problems life is pretty good. But it's still aggravating!

PS: Does anyone know of any substitutes for soy sauce?

2 comments:

Vegan Aide said...

Ingredients
4 tablespoons no-beef bouillon (try marmite if you can't find soy free)
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dark molasses
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 pinch white pepper
1 pinch garlic powder
1 1/2 cups water

Directions
1.In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the beef bouillon, balsamic vinegar, molasses, ginger, white pepper, garlic powder and water. Boil gently until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup, about 15 minutes.

I just found this and haven't tried it, yet. I will keep looking and make it, too, to see if it is anywhere near.

Kim said...

Yeah! I will definitely try it. :) Thank you!!!