Vitamin E is Often Derived From Soy

Vitamin E in gel caps or in liquid form are derived from soybeans.

Wow. I thought I was doing something good for my body by ingesting vitamin E and applying it to my skin…in theory, I was! Unfortunately, the kind of Vitamin E I was using was derived from soybeans. My understanding is that Vitamin E in gel caps or in liquid form is always derived from soybeans. After applying Vitamin E to my skin before bed every night for four days straight, my irritated skin began to feel like it was on fire! Of course it was…I was applying pure soy oil to my allergic-to-soy skin!

Thankfully, after talking to one of the many helpful employees at Lassen’s, I was able to find Vitamin E that contained no soybeans:

Jarrow Formulas Dry E-400 does not contain soy!

Jarrow Formulas Dry E-400 is soy-free. Because it is dry, I cannot apply it directly to my face. Although, I suppose I could get creative with this by emptying the capsule into a dot of (soy free) lotion and applying it that way…hmm…might be worth trying…

This Vitamin E discovery led me to thinking about all the other vitamins that I take that may contain soy. Sure enough, several of my vitamins contained soy (multivitamins and beta carotene were among them). Fortunately, there are soy-free options for everything. I hope you have a good health food store nearby. Look specifically for the vitamins that clearly indicate there are “no soybeans”. Here’s a Rena-friendly multivitamin I found: RAW ONE for Women. It contains “raw food-created nutrients” which purportedly is easier for the body to absorb.

RAW ONE for Women is a great soy-free multivitamin.

Many, many cosmetics lines and hair products will include soy in their products and advertise boldly their product contains Vitamin E. Beware! This usually means those products contain soy. As you read the labels, you will want to avoid “tochopherol acetate” (vitamin E derived from soy). I will write a separate post about our beauty products next.