removing soy from son's diet...need help

triciamarie
triciamarie Posts: 70 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am gf for almost 2 yrs . My 5 yr old son has just been diagnosed with a soy allergy (positive skin test). The allergist has recommended that I get rid of gluten and soy to help his eczema. I am noticing that soy is in everything esp most of my GF food. I am in process of researching the soy allergy but can you help me with some not so obvious foods that may contain soy. example mustard, ketchup etc what do I look for besides the obvious SOY on ingredients list. (natural flavors?) Anyone know of any candy that is soy free as a "treat. TY for ur help :)

Replies

  • ThisCanadian
    ThisCanadian Posts: 1,086 Member
    You need to start checking ingredients on food labels when grocery shopping. Any ingredients which cause allergic reactions are usually bolded at the bottom of the list with the warning "May contain soy, nuts, etc"

    My daughter has a peanut allergy so I must verify everything before I allow it in the house. It is work at first but soon became like second nature.
  • epie2098
    epie2098 Posts: 224 Member
    If you cook, the Veganomicon is amazing (going with .ca as I'm Canadian, but it'll be in your home country's Amazon too): http://www.amazon.ca/Veganomicon-Ultimate-Isa-Chandra-Moskowitz/dp/156924264X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373941126&sr=8-1&keywords=veganomicon there is a huge variety of gluten- and soy-free foods to make, all marked with symbols next to the recipe. Handy!

    I hope this link helps: http://www.webmd.com/allergies/guide/soy-allergy

    For treats, check out your nearest health food store. I found some vegan soy-free gummy worms that were to die for! They were so good.
  • littlebudgie
    littlebudgie Posts: 279 Member
    I used to really love candied fruit as a snack (especially candied pineapple). I can't think of any reason why soy would be in those.
  • wideeyedla
    wideeyedla Posts: 138 Member
    Watch out for lecithin. It is often soy derived. Best bet on candied treats would be the nonfat varieties. I think the best recommendation I can make, though, is to Google soy allergy and find a support group devoted especially to that. They would be most knowledgeable.
  • sarbar71
    sarbar71 Posts: 191 Member
    I was most surprised to discover that nearly every main brand of tuna at the grocery store has soy in it! I could only fine one that did not; BUMBLE BEE® Prime Fillet® Solid White Albacore Very Low Sodium in Water. That was shocking to me - I have never bothered to read the label for tuna - one would expect tuna to be tuna. Not so! Read every label looking not just for soy but also lecithin which is in many processed foods (even those being advertised as health foods). I've found that the best way to avoid it is to a) read all labels and do not buy anything with ingredients that you can't identify, and b) make virtually everything, including sauces from scratch.

    Good luck - allergies are so tough, especially if sending to school.
  • Sprinkelss
    Sprinkelss Posts: 40 Member
    I am soy free, I just eat whole foods because like you said its in everything. I know with kids it can be hard, but my friend makes homemade fruit leather for her kid and there are a lot of other soy free recipes. Check out Wellness Mama its a great resource:

    http://wellnessmama.com/
  • stephanj
    stephanj Posts: 898 Member
    There was a boy in my daughters class with those issues, he could have those pre packaged Rice Krispies treats - no soy in marshmallows I guess!?
  • kaylynbrooks1234
    kaylynbrooks1234 Posts: 7
    well hello there,
    I have a 6 year old son... who has had positive skin allergies to... soy, sugar, wheat, vinegar, honey...
    It can be so hard I know.
    When he wants a certain something and you have to say no...
    A lot of homemade baking and such... can be hard when your a full time worker aswell.
    Well good luck
    :)
  • Karabobarra
    Karabobarra Posts: 782 Member
    I am allergic to dairy and soy, and I'm gluten free also. I am finding more and more products that are using coconut, almond or rice as their base. which I am happy for ... there was a time there where I thought every dairy free product on the market had soy in it.

    To answer your question make sure you check lunchmeat, for some reason they like to add soy protein isolate.. it is also a very common ingredient in crackers (even rice crackers) and the puffed chips made out of oatmeal or corn (like pop chips or quaker chips).

    A book I found very helpful with providing recipes that were allergy friendly to my needs was "Everyday Paleo" they even have snack and lunch recipes for small children.

    hope this helps, on a good note once you have gone through and read all the labels you'll know which foods to stick to and your grocery list will be smaller :)
  • KatieDuvall612
    KatieDuvall612 Posts: 17 Member
    I have a new allergy to soy (as well as a few new intolerances like lactose and onions) and like you said, soy seems to be in everything. I have a hard time eating out since it hides under other names and restaurants tend to only skim the labels for "soy." Watch out for lecithin, soya, tofu, and vegetable oil if it doesn't specify what kinds of oils because it often includes soybean oil. I've also read that sometimes guar gum and vitamin E can come from soy but luckily I haven't had an issue with it before.

    Also look in unlikely places. For example, fresh produce. I kept getting sick from apples and finally figured out it's due to the vegetable wax they put on it because it contains soy.

    I eat all my meals at home now with mostly whole foods and make a lot of things from scratch. Meijer, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods are great because they have lots of options for organic foods and snacks that have fewer ingredients. Here are some things I buy that are often hard to find without soy...

    Meijer (or Kroger also carries some of the non-Meijer brands): organic fresh and frozen fruit and veggies, Meijer Organics cinnamon sticks and graham crackers, Lara Bars, children's vitamins (vitamins often contain soy but Meijer brand doesn't), Back to Nature granola and wheat crackers, Rold Gold pretzels

    TJ's: organic wheat bread, organic frozen 3 cheese pizza, flour tortillas, spinach tortillas, hummus, pretzel slims, caramel sauce, sunflower seeds

    WF's: Equal Exchange chocolate bars (I was so excited to find choc. bars that are soy-free!), Enjoy Life chocolate chips for baking, they also have Enjoy Life allergy friendly cookies

    That's all I can think of for now, but I'm constantly finding more replacements for treats or ways to make things soy-free which is great. You're welcome to add me as a friend if you want. Everything I eat is soy-free, although most if it isn't GF also.
  • babyluthi
    babyluthi Posts: 285 Member
    I am gf for almost 2 yrs . My 5 yr old son has just been diagnosed with a soy allergy (positive skin test). The allergist has recommended that I get rid of gluten and soy to help his eczema. I am noticing that soy is in everything esp most of my GF food. I am in process of researching the soy allergy but can you help me with some not so obvious foods that may contain soy. example mustard, ketchup etc what do I look for besides the obvious SOY on ingredients list. (natural flavors?) Anyone know of any candy that is soy free as a "treat. TY for ur help :)

    You need a referral to a nutritionist asap.
  • 1longroad
    1longroad Posts: 642 Member
    I have a soy intolerance and was also shocked at the amount of products containing soy. I have cut way back on prepared foods, use almond milk and do my best to 'limit exposure'.

    My grandson is allergic to oats, tuna, peas and peanuts. There are oats in many things that I would never have thought would contain them also.
  • liesevanlingen
    liesevanlingen Posts: 508 Member
    My son is allergic to soy, nuts, dairy, fish/shellfish, eggs, potatoes, garlic, peas and tomatoes. I understand completely. There are several meat sauces (such as Peking duck sauce, tamarind curry paste) that he can have. I also make a delicious meat sauce with apricot, peach or pear jam, mixed with maple syrup. My son also likes Renee's Vinaigrette sweet onion salad dressing(and you can pour it over chicken/pork chops and bake it for another tasty meat idea.
    One of my son's favorite dishes is something we call hamyam--yams, onion and ham (but you can use any meat) Chop the yams into small pieces and parboil them for a few minutes, Meanwhile, chop up the ham and onions and fry them in canola oil. When the yams are just soft enough to pierce with a fork, drain and add them to the ham/onion mix. Add salt and pepper, plus any spices you like. Delicious!
    I also recommend The Everything Food Allergy Cookbook, by Linda Larson. Lots of good stuff there.

    Hope this helps!

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