Friday 13 November 2009

The Joy of Soy

Forget the free bikinis and gives-you-a-wedgie-the-moment-you-put-it-on-underwear: I knew I was moving up in the world when a PR insisted on having organic feminine hygiene products – developed by two guys in Australia, no less! – couriered to my door.

But that’s for my day job. Or my all-hours-of-the-day job, if you are a certain editor in New York who has been making my life hell for a month. (Would it be so difficult to throw in a please or a thank you before you ask for eleventeen million impossible things in the next hour? And, um, can I remind you that this story is just 1500 words?)

I’ve kept the blog a PR-free zone, mostly because it’s been my private space and because – both on and offline – I’ve always prided myself in my inability to be bought. All of this is a very long way of saying: I’ve decided I will accept and sometimes write about products that interest me. I’ll be clear about how I got whatever it is (for free) and hopefully the reviews won’t make for boring reading (from experience, it’s much easier to write a witty negative review than an even remotely witty positive one) and/or blog pollution. So… an experiment, of sorts.

I’m not sure I would have jumped at the chance to try soya milk, except buying some had already been in my head. I tried some Alpro soya yogurt samples when I was at Hay-on-Wye earlier this year (they were handing out a flavor I didn’t particularly like, so I’m not sure it’s fair to judge), and I kept coming across soya milk as an option when I hunt, as I do occasionally, for ways to add a bit of protein to my otherwise carb-tastic breakfast (porridge with raisins). I’d also tried a splash of soya milk in my tea when I went windsurfing this summer and remembered thinking there was a touch of sweetness that might be nice in porridge.

So… So Good Soya Milk sent me a sample of the regular kind (as opposed to vanilla flavored, light, or any other permutations), and I tried it in my porridge every day for a week. Honestly, I don’t think I felt any more full than usual (but I use only about 1/3 cup of milk in my porridge), but I did like the bit of sweetness it imparted. For me it honestly hit the, erm, sweet spot of sweeteners, which is that it tasted nice but wasn’t quite sweet enough to kick off the woo-hoo-it’s-sugar-effect, which then makes me want to overeat. And as a bonus for all the single ladies (can you tell I’ve been listening to Beyonce?), soya milk has a much longer shelf life than the cow variety. If I traveled in anywhere near the amounts I used to, I’d definitely keep a carton of soya milk on hand to prevent the first-day-back-at-work-but-there-‘s-nothing-to-eat-for-breakfast-so-I’ll-just-have-to-buy-something-at-Starbucks (or somewhere else unhealthy) syndrome – which then makes it that much more difficult to get back into any kind of healthy eating routine at all.

Hmmm. Was that painful?

2 comments:

  1. Due to your obvious omission of any name brands of soya milk, I would say this was definitely not an overt plug.

    Your have not sold your soul yet, sister.

    (You do seem to mention Starbucks quite often, but to avoid that place would mean you live on the moon or something. Starbucks is even here in Moscow, with multiple locations. Big emphasis on the "bucks" of Starbucks...$8 US for a vanilla latte. Yet I continue to find myself there.)

    They need to give you a Prada bag or something at these PR events. That may get you talking...

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  2. Not painful, at all. I have eliminated soy from my diet (to avoid the estrogen), but I'm glad you like it!

    To find some healthy protein for your morning meal, it might be good to look at some vegan blogs. They have really opened my eyes to how many foods have protein that I never even thought of (like brown rice!).

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