Soy Allergy

Updated on August 17, 2009
T.S. asks from Buckeye, AZ
7 answers

Hello Mamas! My 19 month old son was just diagnosed with an allergy to soy. I am feeling a little overwhelmed. The majority of the food I purchase has some kind of soy in it! Bread, crackers, cookies, toddler snacks, etc. Also, many of the things that I use to cook and bake with have soy in it. Cream of.... soups, canned soups, seasonings, shortening, cooking spray, vegetable oil. The list goes on and on. I did not realize just how many of the every day foods we use have soy in them! I guess I am looking for any and all suggestions, tips, tricks and alternatives.

Another issue is that his sister drinks soy milk and refuses to drink "cow" milk. My plan is to wean her by adding cow milk to the soy milk and gradually increasing the amount of cow milk.

We enjoy going out to eat occasionally and do not know what to do with our son, since soy is so common. We asked several pizza places and they all use soy.

Sorry this is kind of long. Thank you for all of your advice. It is very appreciated!

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So What Happened?

Thank you for all of your wonderful responses. We are starting to adapt to life without soy. I have found some alternative recipes for some of the things that I use. It is going to be an adjustment for all of us, but we will get through it. Thank you for your advice and support.

More Answers

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E.D.

answers from Tucson on

T., my son just outgrew his soy allergy. it is one of the worst. my son couldn't have soybean oil, either. most people with a soy allergy can have soybean oil, which really helps you if that's the case. first, i would switch to either rice milk, a nut milk or hemp milk, not cows milk, the switch will be easier. hemp milk is what we used. it's expensive, but more nutritios for a growing body. second- going out to eat is impossible if he can't have soybean oil. all commercial breads have it. if he can have oil, it helps things a bit. are you in tucson? if so az pizza company is soy free. magpies pizza is also soy free, however they havesoy cheese as an option, so there is always a risk of contamination. i have recipes for condensed soup replacements and such. if you are interested, feel free to email me. good luck to you!

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A.

answers from Albuquerque on

Sounds like moving to a whole foods based diet will help you avoid all those soy additives. Here are a few resources to help make you feel better about avoiding soy:
The book and website, The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla Daniels
http://www.westonaprice.org

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J.F.

answers from Phoenix on

I know just how overwhelming a food allergy can be. I am allergic to cow milk and when I was first diagnosed, I cried in the grocery store because I couldn't find anything I could eat. Now, I have 4 kids, 3 of them have food allergies. I have 1 with no allergies who loves cow milk, 2 allergic to cow milk, and 1 allergic to soy and cow. I buy 4 kinds of milk: fat-free cow milk, regular soy milk, low-fat soy milk and Rice milk. All the kids know what they are allergic to and which milks they can have. In fact, my oldest started kindergarten this year and refused a snack of cheese when it was handed out by his teacher. With all the things she had going on in the first week of school, she mistakenly gave it to him. You will have to teach your son to speak up and advocate for himself when he's older.

Rice milk is a really good alternative that you can use on cereal or to cook and bake with. It can replace milk in recipees with no adjustments needed. It's a life saver. What you are beginning to figure out is that you can't feed your child any convenience foods - no premade foods or even mixes. While it's overwhelming, you will begin to see that the food you make is far better for them than the other stuff. You will cook and bake and not need all that bs stuff you find in the ready made foods. When you do need something pre-made, you can find some items in health food stores. Also on-line. My favorite is www.glutenfree.com. They have lots of soy-free items. Also, check out "Living Without" magazine. It is really helpful!

You can check ingredients on-line for most restraunts and fast food places. You may be able to find a few places or a few items that your son can have in a pinch.

In the end, his diet will be a healthy one. Best Wishes!

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L.M.

answers from Phoenix on

I stopped eating soy a couple of years ago and you can find lots of items w/o soy at natural food stores... whole foods, sunflower, sprouts. you just have to spend a lot of time at the store reading labels. Your child isn't ready for energy bars, but fyi lara bars are soy free. There are too many types of foods to list them all here.

http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/

This site has some really good info about why soy is not so good.

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L.M.

answers from Tucson on

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=whfkitqa&dbi...
One of my favorite websites.
I admit to being curious is to why you'd take your daughter off soy milk. Cow milk isn't essential to human life, contrary to popular belief from the dairy industry and doctors. My son never drinks it, likes rice milk. There's plenty of ways to get the same nutrients without dairy.

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D.P.

answers from Phoenix on

T.- I so understand your situation. We have been living with my daughters peanut allergy for the last six years. When we first found out it was so shocking and difficult.
I want to share an allergy group that is here in phx with you- we chat alot on the yahoo group and have meetings in person for people that want to meet others that way too. I would recommend you connecting to all of us parents that deal with different food allergies so you do not feel alone and can get ideas. You are not the only one dealing with this and we can all share our stories to help you out:)

____@____.com
If you have a hard time finding it or logging on let me know and I can help you out.
Sincerely,
D.

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S.K.

answers from Tucson on

Dont worry first of all, my son is allergic to egg and nuts. You just learn to adjust you cook things differently and everyone adjusts. Most of the "crappy" food has these idemes in it, processed, you just have toread lables, find safe restaurants. It will work out ok! we have adjusted nicely! hang in there.

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