6 Simple and Quick Tips for Substituting Soy

In today’s market 60% of the food commericaily available contains some form of soy. Consumers need to know where the soy is hidden in such common items as prepared frozen foods, sauces, seasoning mixes and salad dressings.

Here are six quick and simple substitutes for products containing soy.

1. Instead of using vegetable oil – which often contains soy oil as part of the mix – use olive, safflower, or coconut oil.

2. Use real butter instead of margarine, butter substitutes or shortening, all of which contain soybean oil.

3. Many microwave meals – including seasoned frozen vegetables – particularly those in a sauce, contain soybean oil. Instead buy fresh/or unprocessed frozen vegetables.

4. Instead of canned soups try using Kitchen Basics brand broth, which contains no soy.

5. If you buy jarred tomato sauce. Buy organic brands – most do not contain soybean oil – but always read the label to be sure.

6. Instead of purchasing pre-packaged seasoning mixes, which can contain soy, get creative and blend your own spices. For example, to prepare steamed or grilled vegetables, use olive oil, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram. Add a little salt and pepper – voila!

Get Shareaholic

Subscribe to the Hidden Dangers of Soy and always get notified of the latest soy health information, food alerts, and recipes. Just for signing up, you will receive a chapter from my book on where you can find soy hidden in common foods and some delicious soy free recipes.

Sarah, If you don't suffer from a soy allergy, using feremnted soy sauce (made in Asia)in moderation is okay.

If I want to marinate meat the only steak sauce I can use without having a reaction is HP Sauce. When I make roasted or stir fried vegetables I use extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and a combination of herbs.

It's delicious!

Comment by Dianne on May 27, 2010 at 4:04 pm

In a nutshell – eat REAL food and stay away from Frankenfoods. If you don't know how to cook from scratch, take the trouble to learn it. Use your money wisely, buy things that feed YOU instead of feeding the food industry.

Comment by mezzo on May 30, 2010 at 11:50 pm

I have a 16 year old daughter who is Gluten and soy intolerant. (She went about a year with misdiagnosis)… It is so hard for us to even eat GF meals at restaurants because of the soy content…I am finding that soy is in everything! She is too afraid to eat out due to cross contamination or hidden soy or gluten…very hard to travel or go on vacation…do you have any tips or helps when eating out? traveling? vacations?

I have also heard that soy lecithin is not as severe for people with intolerances due to the fact that it is from the husk of the soy bean? What are your thoughts about that?

thank you for your information

Comment by Terri on June 22, 2010 at 7:16 pm

Terri, I share your daughter's fear and frustrations.

She is correct in being aware of cross contamination.

I call restaurants ahead of time to find out what is on the menu and how it is cooked. Usually, I don't order any meat or chicken because they use cooking spray on the grills. When I'm still not sure, I just order a big salad and bring my own salad dressing. I am not gluten intolerant, but I can't eat the bread in restaurants, or on grocery stores shelves because they contain soybean oil. Maybe that is also why she is gluten intolerant. I make my own bread, or when I get lazy, I buy Organic Bread from Trader Joes, and I also get Eskiel Sprouted Grains bread from Whole Foods. Be sure to read the label because there is one that contains soy.

Traveling is definitely a challenge. I bring yogurt on the plane and keep Boomi Bars with me that can be purchased online or in health stores. I found that I'm more confident when I stay at a place that has a small kitchen and I'm near a grocery store. Otherwise, I bring my own prepared food.

What people need to realize is that this allergy is due to the body not able to break down the protein.

Soy lecithin has the same protein, therefore I never buy anything that contains it. It's used as an emulsifier in chocolates. I buy chocolate online through soyfreesales.com.

I hope this helps.

Comment by Dianne on June 23, 2010 at 9:29 am