CLEAN SWAP: Soy Sauce
Welcome to my weekly featured ”IN WITH THE NEW” CLEAN SWAP! This week we are taking a closer look at soy sauce!
I’m always fielding questions from clients and friends about how they can swap out some of their favorite products for safer, toxin-free options without a loss in quality, taste, or performance (depending on the product). Every week, I cover food, cosmetics, personal care, cleaning and laundry products, and even behavior, so if you enjoy these Clean Swaps, please follow me on Instagram and sign up for my 360° OF WELLNESS Newsletter (⬅️by clicking on this link to the left) so that you never miss a new one.
Let’s talk SOY SAUCE 🍣
Soy sauce is traditionally made from fermented soybeans and wheat used to enhance flavor in Asian cuisine. It is a staple in Asian food as well as in cooks’ kitchens everywhere.
Soy has long been touted as a healthy protein food (I’ve even seen some articles referring it as the “world’s healthiest food”😱🙈), and as tasty, fat-free (like that's a good thing 🤦♀️), and high in antioxidant content. However, if you know anything about nutrition, you‘re aware of the big controversy when it comes to soy and your health.
Soy is big business, so it is highly profitable to continue to market it as a health food in any form (e.g., edamame, soy milk, soy sauce, tofu, and the soy protein isolates present in many processed foods, like shakes, bars, veggie burgers, meat substitutes, low carb breads, etc.). As a result, the industry’s purported health benefit claims are endless, but unfortunately, most are simply not true.
SO WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT SOY SAUCE? 💁♀️
Natural production of soy sauce can take as long as 18 months. Made the old-fashioned way, through a careful fermentation process, soy sauce can actually be nourishing. Fermented soy contains friendly bacteria or probiotics that help nourish the gut and digestive flora, boosting digestion and the absorption of nutrients. However, the long production time cuts into profitability, so enter commercial soy sauce production. Most soy sauce you’ll see in restaurants or on grocery store shelves takes only two to three days to produce, but can be harmful to your health. How harmful?
The consumption of soy may:
🚫 INCREASE FOOD ALLERGIES AND DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS.
More than 93% of soy in the US is genetically engineered (GMO) to be able to withstand large amounts of the toxic herbicide, Round Up, allowing farmers to use nearly twice the amount on GMO soy without any damage to the crop. This creates a much higher risk of residue in the finished product, which has been shown to reduce digestive enzymes in studies with mice. In humans, this may lead to increased food allergies and digestive issues. If that weren’t enough, glyphosate, the active ingredient in Round Up, can disrupt hormone balance and lead to infertility, is toxic to unborn children in the mother’s womb, can damage the pituitary gland, cause cancer, and much more.
🚫 INCREASE BREAST CANCER RISK.
Soy products contain isoflavones, estrogen-like chemicals, which can suppress hormones associated with ovulation, disrupt menstrual cycles, and accelerate proliferation rates of breast cancer cells.
🚫 INTERFERE WITH THYROID FUNCTION.
Soy blocks the activity of the TPO enzyme and has been linked to the development of autoimmune thyroiditis. In addition, soy sauce contains goitrogens, substances that disrupt the production of thyroid hormones by interfering with iodine uptake in the thyroid gland. This can disrupt the synthesis of thyroid hormones and may lead to hyperthyroidism.
🚫 DECREASE FERTILITY.
Regular consumption of soy sauce and other soy products can suppress hormones associated with ovulation and adversely affect sperm count.
🚫 OBSTRUCT MINERAL ABSORPTION.
Unfermented soy contains high levels of phytic acid, a substance that prevents absorption essential minerals calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc, and prevents your body from taking in all the necessary nutrients from the food you eat.
🚫 OBSTRUCT PROTEIN ABSORPTION.
In addition to phytic acid, soy contains large amounts of anti-nutrients, chemicals that interfere with the normal action of digestive enzymes in the body, which can affect your ability to digest food and absorb its nutrients. One of the anti-nutrients in soy is an “enzyme inhibitor” for the key protein-digesting enzyme called trypsin, which hinders protein digestion and absorption. This means that even though soy is a seemingly good source of protein, the anti-nutrients therein make it difficult for your body to use it.
🚫 AFFECT NEUROLOGICAL HEALTH.
Excess soy consumption has long been associated with ADD/ADHD, depression, anxiety, and dementia. It can also aggravate seizures.
🚫ADVERSELY AFFECT THE KIDNEYS.
Oxalates in soy sauce can bind with calcium in the kidney to form kidney stones.
In addition to all the health issues above, soy sauce can also cause digestive issues and pancreatic problems, trigger asthma attacks, and isn’t recommended for pregnant women, as it can hamper the growth of a fetus.
READY FOR the CLEAN SWAP?🙋♀️
Although I generally recommend staying away from soy to the greatest extent possible, if you don’t want to give up your soy sauce (especially if you’re a sushi lover), try the least harmful option: OHSAWA Organic Nama Shoyu Sauce.
OHSAWA Nama Shoyu Sauce is organic (which means it’s non-GMO), unpasteurized (which means it is alive with healthful living enzymes which haven’t been cooked out of it), made with very special mountain spring water from a small Japanese village called Kamiizumi, fermented and aged for nearly 24 months, and doesn’t contain any preservatives. It is delicious, naturally low in sodium, and can be used for cooking or enhancing the taste of just about any dish at your table. It is also macrobiotic, vegan, raw, and kosher. Win-win-win-win!
I have a big bottle in my fridge for cooking and the occasional takeout, and carry a little bottle in my purse when I’m going out for sushi. If you’re looking for the gluten-free version, try their wheat-free, organic Tamari sauce.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Victoria Gregory is an Integrative Nutritionist and founder of NEWTRITION NEWYOU. Her focus—whether with private clients, readers of her blog, or her followers on social media— is whole body wellness, incorporating whole-food nutrition, supplementation, exercise, toxin-free living, and mindset coaching. Victoria’s personal mission is to help make the world a healthier place, one person at a time, and she has helped thousands of people find joy and self-love through better eating habits and mindfulness. Learn more about Victoria.