I've been trying to eat more chocolate, only because it has antioxidants, can lower blood pressure, and can even soothe a cough. Well, I'm also addicted, but that's beside the point. I was checking out the label of a bar I picked up and noticed soy lecithin in the list of ingredients. Is it something I should avoid? To find out read more
Soy lecithin is a food additive extracted from soybeans, and is a by-product of soybean oil. Only a small amount (about one percent of the weight of the food) is added to chocolate to keep the cocoa and cocoa butter from separating. It's not bad for you and actually is high in choline, which is also found in egg yolks, and has been found to be good for brain development, increased memory, and heart disease prevention. Awesome. Another reason to eat chocolate.
Fit's Tips: Soy lecithin is bad if you have an allergy to soy, since it's made from soybeans. So check labels on all products, especially candy bars, breads, cakes and other baked goods. It's used in dough to make it less sticky, and it's added to cake batter to make it spread in the pan more easily.
Alexander McQueen
Crocs
Jasmine Di Milo
wow, so awful for alergic people - have to chekc all the labels for such a small thing as 1% of chocolate...
1In college I was in a club supporting Small Businesses. We put together a business and marketing plan for a company that sold Soy free chocolate developed b/c the owner was allergic to Soy Lecthin. Funny how you never pay attention to something like that...now I've developed an allergy to Whey which is a milk derivative and I'm constantly checking labels.
2that pic of chocolate looks so tasty!
3im allergic to soy
4i cant eat ANYTHING yummy...
Never knew...
5There are other emulsifiers besides lecithin out there...Emulsifiers help keep the food components evenly distributed and together (especially with foods like chocolate, where you have both oil and non-oil components that need to stay together) There are even other lecithins out there, derived from other food sources.
6It's pretty cool stuff, but I agree, it is unfortunate for those allergic to soy (or other ingredients).
Read this: http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/lecithin.html
7I've heard that soybean OIL is bad for you and can slow your metabolism. I actually hypothesized that soybean oil lowered metabolism even before I accidentally found the claim If soy lecithin is derived from soybean oil (if, in fact, it contains the oil component, then I believe it should be avoided.) I have been trying to avoid soybean oil and sometimes when I eat chocolate (I can't avoid EVERYTHING; it's difficult enough as it is) I notice this icky greasy taste that makes me feel kind of icky. So I wonder...and it worries me.
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