Advice for someone new to soy allergy

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admin rebekahc:
robyn
New Member
Posted: 11.04.2008 at 08:18:01

Hi all. I have a friend who has a son that was recently diagnosed with a soy allergy. We deal with peanut in our home but I would like to be able to help her adjust to this major life change. Her main issue is finding things he can eat!

For those of you have lived with this for a while, what products do you recommend? (Things like bread, cereal, desserts, and anything else you can think of.) Also, can you recommend a store (online or off) that would be good. I will recommend Whole Foods and Enjoy Life since I have personal experience with them. But what else?

My hats are off to you guys. I did a soy elimination early on with my son and was amazed at how terribly limited this allergy makes eating options.
Thanks so much for all of your help!

Robyn
-6 yr son w/ PA & TNA

admin rebekahc:
booandbrimom
Member
Posted: 11.05.2008 at 07:08:55

Robyn, the first thing I would ask her is whether she's going to try to avoid all soy or just soy protein. It makes a HUGE difference.

My son has a soy protein allergy and he tolerates soybean oil and soy lecithin without a problem. He is extremely allergic to soy - has had several hospital trips from reactions - so this isn't about the level of his reaction.

If she can have these two things, avoiding soy only is relatively easy with the exception of things like packaged mixes and soups.

admin rebekahc:
GingerPye
Moderator
Posted: 11.05.2008 at 09:35:04

DS has soy allergy until he challenged out of it at 9 y.o.

We avoided soy protein and soy flour but not oil or lecithin. I know some people do need to avoid the oil and lecithin because of extreme sensitivity. I didn't find eliminating soy as being very limiting, not like the milk/egg/peanut.

It really didn't add much into our diet to add soy in when he outgrew. What helped the most was not having to avoid certain breads, soups, lunch meats, etc. that had soy protein.

So that's my advice, such as it is: watch for the soy in soups, breads, lunchmeats, etc. But there are alternatives of those products that do not have soy. One soup I can think of that the kids really liked is the Healthy Choice Bean n Ham soup.

DD, 15 - MA/EA/PA/env./eczema
DS, 12 - MA/EA/PA/env./asthma
DH - adult-onset asthma
me - env. allergies, exhaustion, & mental collapse

admin rebekahc:
robyn
New Member
Posted: 11.05.2008 at 05:10:55

I had no idea that some soy was OK in certain situations. When I did our our soy elimination, I avoided everything with the word "soy" in it. I had to make bread from scratch!!

Thanks for the advice. I would love to hear from others, too. I think I may just direct her to this page so she can see what you guys have to say. There's nothing like hearing from others who deal with the same allergy you do.

Robyn
-6 yr son w/ PA & TNA