My Soya Free Experiment
Tue, August 07, 2018 1:12 PM
My Soya Free Experiment
Summary
A month ago I stopped eating anything containing any type of soya products. My symptoms improved within 2 weeks and are still better now.
The Full Story
I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis about 2 years ago and have only been on a maintenance dose of mesalazine for the last year or more. Compared to how things had been before, I was pretty pleased with my progress but more recently I seemed to reach the end of the improvements. Things weren't bad enough to complain about but I still had good days and less-good days. It seemed approximately cyclic but not linked to anything I could identify. I keep a food diary and couldn't find any correlation at all.
So, why did I think to eliminate soya? Well, here is where the stoary gets a bit odd. Somehow while online I stumbled across an article about soya in pig feed that had caused severe ulceration to the animal’s gastric tract. This got me thinking about soya as a possible issue. Searching online however brought me zero results of soya being a problem for people with UC and I actually found one or two articles saying it was beneficial. The other odd thing about this is that since the day I read the article, I can no longer find it or any other saying the same thing, and instead lots of websites are promoting soya animal feeds. Spooky?
Anyway, despite having no food allergies and not being aware of having any food intolerances I decided that it was worth the experiment, and then I could see for myself (the internet doesn't know everything) and I'm glad I did.
So, how did it improve things? Well, without being too graphic, overall I would say fewer toilet visits, firmer stools, reduced 'urgency' and most significantly (in my view) no more cyclic fluctuations in symptoms. Most days now I feel a lot more like I don't have an illness.
The Caveats
First, I know we are all different and some people find soya is good for them.
Second, I may have an undiagnosed intolerance to soya. Although if that can be true for me then it may also be true for some others.
Joined Aug 7, 2018
Tue, August 07, 2018 1:16 PM
Reply posted for nsb123.
Part 2:
Third, it is possible that some other ingredient in the foods that I no longer eat was the actual cause, but I'm not going to try eating pure soya to find out.
Giving Up Soya
How much soya was I eating? Well, here's the thing, if you had asked me before I researched it I would have said 'none at all'. I have never eaten tofu or any product where soya is the main ingredient. What I learned though is that there are many soya extracts and products that are used as minor ingredients or additives in prepared/manufactured foods. I do almost all my own cooking and don't eat takeaways or ready meals, but here (in the UK) it is almost impossible to buy bread without it in. I eat at least some bread every day, so this was where I was getting almost all the soya from - albeit a small amount. So I bought a bread maker.
Incidentally other foods (in the UK) where I found soya unexpectedly are instant gravy and chocolate. Lucky for me I'm not a fan of chocolate.
Conclusion
It has only been a month, so whilst I’m optimistic, this could be a coincidental and uncharacteristic good patch. But, I wanted to document my experience so far just in case it's of benefit to someone else out there in internet land. After all, what are the chances I'm the only one?
Joined Aug 7, 2018
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