Help! Soy allergies, how do you cook?

[CA_POPPY]

I only recently was told that I am allergic to soy. I will spare you the symptoms, but I am highly motivated to trying to avoid soy. We don't eat much pre-fab food anymore, but I notice that every darned thing we pick up at the grocery store has soy in it, sometimes in as many as three different forms!

So what happens in this case? Do I have no choice but to cook everything from scratch forever? Are there any snack foods that do not contain soy? Is there a list of soy free items on the web anywhere? Are there any stores that have a soy-free section?

If anybody has tips or experience with avoiding soy in the diet, I would very much appreciate it.

Meanwhile, I am convinced that all struggling farmers should switch immediately to soybean crops. :B

[magnusfide]

Wife says that her sister who has soy allergies and nut allergies has been through it all. There's even soy in moisturizers and make-up products that's absorbed through the skin (the skin being the largest organ on the body absorbs quite a bit). So she's had to read every label on every thing that is eaten or put on the skin.

Allergies can come from over-exposure to a product. Apparently soy allergies are one of the fastest growing problems because it's in everything.

[Tiger4x4RV]

Medlineplus.gov, my favorite good health info site, provides these two links. Both have lists of soy foods and the names soy goes by.

Mayo Clinic link

Food Allergy Research & Education link

It sounds like you will be doing a lot of label reading but possibly not 100% of your own cooking.

If you want to cook, go to Amazon.com and type "soy-free" into search box under the Books category and you will get a long list of books of recipes and info.

[USARMYCW]

My wife is allergic to soy and eggs and it's hard to find anything that does not have these in the recipe.:M

We don't eat much prepared foods and ask to see the ingredients when we order out.

Keep looking.:)

[doxiemom11]

I have a friend who has gluten allergies. She has discovered that just because one brand has gluten, it doesn't mean they all do. She has found many things where there is 1 brand that does not contain it and she can buy and use it. Check various brands, you may find this to be true also.

[Ramblin_Recks]

I'm allergic to tree nuts and some legumes, including peanuts, peas,lentils, and soybeans. Anything concentrated with soy I immediately know I've eaten something "bad". I always have within reach an epipin and chewable childrens benadryl. We read all labels of everything we purchase. Certain breads have more soy flour/oils then others. Certain types of coffee creamer also. Like mentioned earlier, just about all frozen and/or processed foods have some type of soy products. Weird that I can have soy sauce (I'm told because the soy has been fermented, don't know for sure).

My DW is a great cook and cooks everything from almost scratch and is just as diligent (if not more) than I am :B.

My allergic reactions differ based upon what and how much I ate by mistake.
Plus we always ask what the food is cooked in or with what when we go out to eat.
Just stay in tuned as much as possible with what you buy and you will be fine. But know the symptoms and keep your medicine close just in case.

[camperpaul]

Go to the store, pick up a can of tuna (any brand) and read the list of ingredients.

[Francesca_Knowl]

CA POPPY wrote:
cook everything from scratch forever

That one... just kidding!

You'll get used to reading labels. Soy oils, especially, are starting to disappear from more and more fast and prepared foods, so that's good news. And soy "protein" is also falling out of favor- most likely to encounter that as a meat extender, so stay away from frozen meat loaf dinners etc.

Good luck!