30 day no soy experiment

I have bad skin, very acne prone.  Always have.  Two years ago it was really bad, and after a 30 day experiment without caffeine I disovered caffeine is a trigger for my acne.  (Haven't had it since.)  So I know for a fact it can get worse based on what I eat.

Since becoming pescetarian I noticed a bit of an increase in the problem again.  I have also recently switched to more homeopathic treatments and all-natural skin care, but since the acne is not limited to my face (I know, gross) I can safely assume that the increase is not due to my new face care routine.

I thought it was due to the slight increase in seafood, but I went ovo-lacto 3 weeks ago (going with the 30 day experiment idea) and have seen no improvement since.  In fact, I think it's still getting worse.

Which makes me wonder if it might be soy.  Which would be really, really horrible, because every product under the sun has soy.

So at the end of the week I plan to try a 30 day no soy experiment to see if that fixes my skin. 

All of this is to ask if I can please get some recommendations for healthy convenience foods that do not have soy in them.  I usually have kashi golean and a luna bar every day, both of which will be out.  I DO NOT want to increase my dairy consumption, at all.  I do still consume dairy, but it is quite limited, and I want to keep it that way.  My milk and almost all ice cream has been soy for a while. 

I will be adding the fish/seafood back in, sparingly, for some extra protein.  And I am also more than happy to eat plenty of beans and lentils.  But, with a full time job, a part time job, moderating here, running, cycling, life in general...  I just do not have a lot of time for cooking.  Hence the request for 'convenience foods'.  By that I do not mean processed foods, necessarily, just stuff that is little or no cooking involved.  I don't want to say that money is no object...but I do not have qualms about spending extra on quality food.  All my groceries come from Trader Joes and Whole Foods, so anything in those stores is fair game.   

Thoughts?  I will also be posting back after the 30 days in case anyone is curious of the results.  :)

Hmm.  I'd suggest a lot of sandwiches.  Almond butter and raw honey.  Avocado and tomato with tahini.  Portobello mushroom is good, you can toast them in the toaster oven and top with veggies and a vinegar dressing.  Have you tried mashed chickpeas?  Use a potato masher and mix them up with minced olives, green onions, an apple, some lemon juice, and sundried tomatoes.  It makes a good mock tuna-salad, on greens or as a sandwich. 

Smoothies?  I like to add greens to mine; some of my favorites are cherry-blueberry-banana with orange juice and greens, or cherry-nectarine-banana with cranberry juice and greens.  Lately I've been using broccoli greens because my garden is full of them.

Veggie omelets with salsa are quick and easy.  I will also throw veggies on a frozen cheese pizza for a quick dinner.

Good luck with your experiment!  I can't wait to hear how it goes.  I've been trying to eat a lot less soy lately and it seems to have helped my digestion.

rice milks and rice dream instead of soy ice cream? almond milk? the milk part is easy without increasing dairy. i prefer rice milk over almond milk...

Okay, how is the world can anyone not eat soy????  I mean really??  I LOVE soy.  Tofu and soymilk are staples for me and people think I am strange when I say that I like the tast of tofu right out of the package...but I hate tempeh =( .

Gook luck with the soy exclusion diet, if you can do that you are stronger than me. 

I went to my mom's for a couple of weeks one time and went for a week without soy: no tofu, no soymilk and I developed such a craving that when I went to the store with my mom (I didn't have a car because I was visiting) I had to get soymilk and a block of tofu and just sucked it all down.  My mom doesn't eat soy.  Once your body gets used to it, it seems you can't go without it (at least for me).

It's not so much that I don't want to eat soy, or that I in any way look forward to even trying to cut it out of my diet considering how prevalent it is...  But if I am allergic, and that is what is causing my skin to be so much worse, I will gladly give it up!  This isn't a cosmetic issue for me - it physically hurts to talk right now because my face is so broken out, and that is *not* normal for me, at all.  Something is causing it, and I almost hope it is soy because at least then I will know how to fix it.  :)

To be honest, I  am 29 and have acne on my cheeks, neck, chest, and back and have had it ever since I reached puberty.  I have tried to cut out chocolate: didn't work, cut out dairy: didn't work, birth control works...a little.  I doubt cutting soy out would help, in fact, it may make it worse.  You probably have the same issue I do, too much testosterone...if you are female.  I am a woman and have too much testosterone, I have a peach fuzz mustach (which luckily isnt't very noticeable) and I have to pluck beard hair out of my chin every once in a while and I now know that this is what is causing my acne, nothing in my diet. 

However, I would assume that soy may actually help acne because it is estrogen, and would help in the same way birth control helps, by increasing the amount of the hormone estrogen.  I can't seem to find any way to reduce testosterone, but I can over compensate for it by increasing my estrogen and that does help with the acne.  You may want to see a doctor, it could be a Thyroid problem and have nothing to do with your diet.

fruit!  convenient, portable, and definitely something that is good for you!  i'm trying to eat 3-4 servings of fruit daily.  do you have a good natural foods store nearby?  granola and rice milk or almond is good, or even just plain granola.  or granola w/ rice milk and sliced fruit!

Thanks for the advice everyone!  And cesty, thanks for the extra suggestions!  :)  I wasn't sure myself at first, but after doing a quick internet search on 'soy allergy', I found one of the most common symptoms is acne.  And I definitely have more than that one symptom on the list.  Since I do not really have any other symptom of an over abundance of testosterone, I don't think that is the issue.  Anything is possible, but I would be surprised. 

I am significantly more broken out now than I was a year ago, or 6 months ago, or 3 months ago.  If it was the same as always I wouldn't bat an eye, but something is causing the increase.  A year ago I ate little to no soy, and have increased it since.  I increased it a lot a couple months ago when i started cutting out dairy, and when I became pescetarian. 

As I said, when I was drinking a lot of caffeine two years ago I saw a big increase in the problem, and a big decrease when I cut caffeine out of my diet.  So I can say without any reservation that the food I eat has a big impact on my skin.  If this doesn't work I'll be headed back to the dermatologist again, but I think this is at least worth a shot.  :)

Now you have me thinking that maybe I should try some of your ideas.  I haven't cut out caffeine (even though I am supposed to because it gives me heart palpaltations) but if that can cause break outs then maybe I will try that.  Does that mean cutting out chocolate???? No, no way, can't do that, impossible.

I am terrified that I may have a soy allergy as you suggest you have, horrifying thought, if soy is causing my acne...  Maybe I will try Almond milk for awhile.

read those lables with things that use soy.

you may have an allergy and you may be eating animal products.

which is not unusual.. i find many 'vegetarian'  soy products are packed with dairy and chemicals that are derived from animals.

I have a very good friend who developed what's called Adult Onset Acne, and she had to go on medication for it.  Whatever it was, though, solved the problem because her skin has been fine for the past 5 or 6 years.  So I'm sure you've already done this, but I thought I would suggest seeing a dermatologist.  They can actually test for allergies rather than you trying a hit-or-miss experiment.  Just a thought.

Oh, and I don't know if your Whole Foods has a nut butter-making-station?  Because that is a really fun way to get your nut protein in: just choose your nut variety and whip it into a nut butter.  Mmm.

Pandajenn19 - How's the experiment going so far?  Any improvement?

Thanks for asking!  :)  It's only been a week since I quit soy, and knowing my face as well as I do I expect it to take almost the full 30 days before I know for sure if there are any changes. 

I'm finding it harder than I even expected to get food in me without soy.  I work sooo much that I really don't have time for cooking, and rely on healthy convenience foods.  A lot of which, of course, have soy.  But, I discoverd lara bars do not have soy, as well as a few other obscure name bars from Whole Foods.  Those are helping, as well as my regular regimen of fruit, nuts, oatmeal, raw veggies, little microwaveable cups of organic lentil or black bean soup, quick mexican food (whole wheat tortillas, avocado, refried beans, salsa, greek yogurt), Amy's dinners, the few microwave meals I can find at Trader Joes that have neither meat nor soy...   Just bought some rice milk yesterday and it's pretty good!

So far so good, any way.  :)

Everyone has had some great ideas for you.

I was wondering if you have gone to the doctor and had an allergy test? I think the results would be a lot faster.

Good luck to you. I hope your skin clears up and stops hurting.

You are not alone Panda, wifeypoop has terrible acne (all over).  The pill seems to be the only thing which was consistently making the acne go away.  Please let me know if you find that Soy or anything else either increases or decreases your acne.

i am not a fan of soy. it's not that i don't enjoy it. but evidence is rising to the surface that soy is extremely toxic to humans. i used to believe this was just propaganda from the meat industry- i no longer think so. soy is relatively safe once it's been cooked properly (fermented), which means most of the toxins have been destroyed. however, that process is time consuming and isn't as cost effective as simply selling it raw... therefore, the soy industry has gone through great pains to market all soy as this wonder health food, when in fact most people put themselves at great risk for all sorts of diseases when they consume the most marketable types of soy out there.

please visit this website, it's sooooo informative. it's an independant organization, and all research is well backed up. there are also links to allergies to soy, packaged foods that do not use soy, etc...

http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/04phytoestr ogens.htm

i believe that anyone can be allergic to any food, and it can manifest in all sorts of ways. i break out on my back (ugh) every time i quit smoking cigs, and whenever i go back to eating meat. maybe not so much an allergy, but a build-up of toxins? perhaps eating soy does the same sort of thing to you?

read all labels, they LOVE to put soy in everything!!!

woops to that website link... the correct link to the homepage is...

http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/

I never eat soy, and have no problems with protein intake. In fact, the calorie-count analysis of my nutrition seems to sit at A- or A. I am not vegan, but am pretty close to it. I do not eat eggs and most of the time don't eat much with milk in it.

I'm not sure if I believe it, but...

One of my gym clients hadn't been in for a week because of some scheduling conflicts, and she told me last night that my skin looks like it has cleared up some.  I'm not seeing it, but since it had been a full week in between when she saw me last, I suppose her opinion is a bit more objective.  :)

By the way, rice milk, a teaspoon of evaporated cane juice (sugar), 2 tsp of cocoa, 1/2 tsp of vanilla, and a shake of cinnamon makes the most divine hot chocolate.  :D

yummy... will try sometime!

I am having the same skin problem as you originally described!  I have not eaten meat or seafood in over 15 years (chicken , yes).  Needless to say, I've been eating a lot of foods with soy in them. 

I decided two days ago to try and eliminate soy from my diet.  I spent 1 1/2 hours at the grocery store reading labels.  MY OH MY how discouraged I was when I left with ONE grocery bag and spent nearly $50!  Not only do I have to go back to the store for more food to get me through the next week or so but I HAVE NO CLUE what else I can buy without eating the same old stuff over and over! 

I am looking forward to reading about how you've done on your 30 day NO SOY experiment.  Please let us know what you've been eating.  Also, have you come across any helpful tools online that offer guidance on what to eat?