Why are Martinnaise products are Soya Free

In this post you will find out more about the growing food allergy to soya. This is after all the reason my family and I started Martinnaise Food Products because of our own struggle with various food allergies including soya allergy. I am always promoting that amongst all the things we do differently, our products are all soya free without exception. Most people are unaware of the just how much of the food they consume on a daily basis, contains soya. We have been conditioned to accept soya to be a healthy protein and alternative food source. It is especially popular as a main ingredient in meat replacement products. There is, however, a side to the regular consumption of this age-old legume that seems to be worth looking at. This ranges from a mild un-diagnosed intolerance to a full blown allergy.

Now I know there are many foods that people have allergies to, some more than others, but let’s just look at soya for today. The intolerance or allergy to soya often manifests as a rash on your skin. In our family, my wife’s battle with soy only began after the birth of my youngest daughter and my daughter was born with it. For six months, our GP at the time treated them for a skin condition known as scabies I suppose because it so closely resembled the appearance of this rash. However the treatments were completely ineffective. Finally the possibility of a food allergy was explored and soy emerged as the culprit. We eliminated soya from our eating lifestyle and my wife and daughter were both well and flourishing!

It is worth mentioning at this point that food #allergies are often related to the condition of your gut and more specifically an inability to properly digest the protein component of the food item that you are allergic to. This is often related to a condition referred to as leaky gut, which is a condition of your small intestine, and sadly many more people suffer from this condition and are completely unaware of it. Should this be of interest to you I would be happy to chat about it.

So what are the most common symptoms of a #soy allergy? In our family they have ranged from itchy skin rashes that appear all over the body for no apparent reason as well as redness of the skin (flushing), small red pimple-like bumps that appear on the hands and around the lower part of the legs and ankles. They have also experienced palpitations, shortness of breath as well as numbness of the tongue and an itchy pallet. It has sometimes lead to nausea and even diarrhoea. It is interesting to note that the skin rashes are aggravated by heat, perspiration and exposure to the sun. Even if you run your fingernails across your arms it quickly shows as welts. This has been our family’s experiences but I think it safe to say that the symptoms and their intensity will vary from person to person.

The challenge when you have an allergy or #intolerance to soya, is that it is in almost everything – health foods and regular grocery store foods! Now I know we all eat healthy here, but if you think back on your high carb days where you indiscriminately ate anything and everything, you would see that it appears in the ingredient listing on the labels of so many food products you bought. Even cosmetics as well as certain alcohol beverages like fresh cream liqueurs, the flavourings in many snacks and so much more! So the average person that buys all their food from the local grocery store is constantly saturated with soya.

Two years ago my wife underwent surgery and we were amazed to learn that even the aesthetic contained soya. We have learned that we just need to ask the question wherever we go and not to take for granted that soy is not a possible threat. Recently a visit to the hair dresser had my wife reaching for her emergency treatment as she started experiencing symptoms after they washed her hair. Yup, you guessed it, there was soya in the shampoo and conditioner! We have very few restaurant that we can go to, because I find in general that the people who serve you are completely unaware of the reality of food allergies, or maybe they just don’t take it seriously at all. We usually have to insist on seeing the ingredients listing on their ingredient packaging and in spite of usually having been assured initially that none of their food contains soya, it usually turns out to be present and they stand amazed. Had we taken the waiter’s word, my wife would have been ill.

I guess it comes back to having to take charge of our own health and that of our families. The things I share with you, changed my family’s life and our health for the better. I can only share from our experience, and if it helps you in the process, then it was worth sharing! I have so much more to share with you on the topic of soya and why our family will always eat soya free and why all Martinnaise products will always be soya free, but more in future posts. We believe it is in our health’s best interest. You need to decide what is best for you and your loved ones because ultimately the outcomes of those decisions define your reality that you have live with each day. I wish you wisdom as you pursue good health and longevity!