Today's guest post addresses a common "health food" that has become mainstream over the past decade or so.

While billions of dollars in advertising by the soy industry would have you believe that soy products such as soy milk, soy protein, soybean oil, and other processed soy foods are "healthy" for you, in fact the evidence shows something quite different.

The truth is that processed soy has a number of potential negative health effects on the body, and in the form in which soy is sold - at least here in the U.S. - it is typically NOT a health food at all.

This isn't to say that all soy is bad. In fact, in small amounts, certain types of soy foods may be quite beneficial for your health. But as with many other types of food, the manner in which soy is grown and processed has a lot to do with whether it should be considered a health food, or just the opposite.

The guest post below explains the real truth about soy.

I'm back, and I apologize for the delay in getting your July freebie posted! I had intended to post last weekend, but we arrived home from vacation much later than expected, so I wasn't able to get to it...

We had a lovely trip to Minnesota and it was wonderful to see and spend time with the family! We experienced many different types of weather, including heat and humidity, chilly blanket nights, a perfect day on the lake, and a fun day trip to Duluth and our favorite malt shop. We also ate way too much amazing food, as my Minnesota family are wonderful cooks and also enjoy growing lots of their own food. (It was amazing to see that their gardens are almost as advanced as ours here in Ohio, despite not being able to get them in until June!)

Unfortunately, I returned to find the scourge of gardeners everywhere (deer!) had gotten into my garden for the first time ever, and chowed down on my beans, tomatoes, and beet greens. :-(  Now that they have discovered the bounty within the fence, they have been visiting regularly, and the battle to save my precious garden begins... Scattering a bag of dog hair (which usually protects my raspberries and tulips in the spring) did not seem to help, so now I'm trying Liquid Fence, and plotting how to improve the actual fence for a more permanent solution.

It has been such a rough garden season so far (we also got nearly 6 MORE inches of rain while we were gone, plus 2" more since we've been back - for a total of 15" in the past 3 weeks), having to deal with the deer issue on top of everything else is very discouraging. :-(

Speaking of gardening, since we're in the heart of garden season, this month's freebie is all about growing your own amazingly nutritious "superfoods"!  Learn more and download your copy of this awesome resource below...