Trouble With Soy Anyone?

[wonkabar]

Hi! I'm not sure if this belongs here because it has to do with my 3 year old son, but it's a global question. I started limiting his dairy last week; he's been gluten free since the beginning of March with tremendous success. He's not on a casein free diet; I've just switched the "major dairy" (milk, yogurt, pudding, etc.) to soy. He seems to be calmer and even less irritable without the massive amounts of dairy in his system...this is within reason for a just-three-year-old boy! We saw the first wave of calmness and decreased irritability when we eliminated gluten...it still amazes us!! While he doesn't appear to be in any GI distress from the soy, his poops have become soft and pasty (like the paste we used in kindergarten) versus hard and formed when on dairy. If he has a problem with soy, how do I work around the whole dairy thing?? Thanks for your input!

--Kristy

[lonewolf]

I'm sensitive (allergic? intolerant?) to soy. It causes digestive upset and joint pain for me. I, personally, don't think it's good to give small children large amounts of it, since women take it for help with female hormones. It's full of phytoestrogens. You can get more information, if you're interested, at:

Open Original Shared Link

My son and I are both dairy intolerant. We use rice milk (NOT Rice Dream) and almond milk. There aren't any good dairy free, soy free cheeses. There are lots of margarines that are dairy free that just have some soy in them.

[jaten]

Hi! I'm not sure if this belongs here because it has to do with my 3 year old son, but it's a global question. I started limiting his dairy last week; he's been gluten free since the beginning of March with tremendous success. He's not on a casein free diet; I've just switched the "major dairy" (milk, yogurt, pudding, etc.) to soy. He seems to be calmer and even less irritable without the massive amounts of dairy in his system...this is within reason for a just-three-year-old boy! We saw the first wave of calmness and decreased irritability when we eliminated gluten...it still amazes us!! While he doesn't appear to be in any GI distress from the soy, his poops have become soft and pasty (like the paste we used in kindergarten) versus hard and formed when on dairy. If he has a problem with soy, how do I work around the whole dairy thing?? Thanks for your input!

--Kristy

I have soy and dairy intolerances. I work around the dairy thing by avoidance of cheese, yogurt, etc. For milk I use Vance's DariFree on my cereal and for cooking. Others here have the same intolerances and hopefully will have more suggestions. With a 3 yr. old, I'm not sure what the recommendations would be. Additional intolerances definitely make a strict gluten-free diet more challenging. Good luck!

[jenvan]

Hmmm, it is really hard to say about your son's stools...especially since it hasn't been for too long. For me, soy causes cramping and gas. You could try eliminating all dairy and soy (not as hard as it sounds) and see if stools change back to normal. For milk alternatives I would recommend a Rice Milk like Pacific, Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Full Circle (NOT Rice Dream) or Vance's Dairy Free, made from potatoes. Some here also enjoy the "nut milks" like almond. Soy is hard when it comes to items like condiments...but perhaps he could tolerate a bit of soy in the end. I can't eat soy chips or soy milk, but soy in small amts of miracle whip etc. don't bother me. My recommendation would be to keep a food/symptom journal during this time to help link his symptoms/stool changes to specific foods. Good luck!

[lonewolf]

Just thought of something else. If he's not casein free, then butter is probably okay and you might try small amounts of raw goat cheese - it's better than it sounds. You can also get goat yogurt in a lot of places - our Trader Joe's has it.

[kabowman]

There is rice and nut milks too. Once a person adjusts to the taste, they are fine. I love my hazlenut milk.

If you are just limiting lactose - what about lactaid milk? Is there a gluten issue with that, if not, go that route - it still has casien. My son didn't even notice much of a difference between that and regular milk and now that is all he has. He cannot handle even cheeses or yogurts but the lactose free milk is OK.

[wonkabar]

Thanks for the input everyone! I haven't tried just eliminating lactose. I don't want to go to the extreme of a casien free diet if I don't have to. Is it more likely that eliminating the lactose is what's actually helping him feel less irritable and calmer? Hmmm...I hadn't thought about that. He doesn't have any overt GI issues with dairy. Boy, this is all a major balancing act.

Also, my son doesn't have a definitive Dx (neg. bloodwork/we think too young for biopsy...he's 3) BUT he is highly symptomatic of celiac; we've thought so for the last year. The only thing I'm not dilligent about is using dedicated cookware and utensils. Should I be at this time? I've checked out everything that he uses and eats, and they're all gluten free. I'm dilligent about baking with parchment, using cupcake papers, using HOT water to clean, not using the same utensils to serve him to avoid cc, foil in the toaster oven, etc. I don't want to sound like some nutcase mommy who's going overboard without a DX, but he clearly has major issues with gluten. If this is something that's simply second nature to him at this young of an age I'm hoping it will help him maintain this diet as he gets older. Sorry this was a little rambling at the end...............

--Kristy

[jenvan]

Thanks for the input everyone! I haven't tried just eliminating lactose. I don't want to go to the extreme of a casien free diet if I don't have to. Is it more likely that eliminating the lactose is what's actually helping him feel less irritable and calmer? Hmmm...I hadn't thought about that. He doesn't have any overt GI issues with dairy. Boy, this is all a major balancing act.

Kristy-

It is possible that a lactose intolerance might be causing him some behavioral changes, simply because of digestive distress...however, lactose intolerance itself will really only cause GI distress like gas, bloating, diarrhea etc...not behavioral changes. Casein however, has been known to cause behavioral changes, ADHD, what have you, like gluten. So, that may be your answer. Perhaps you want to ck into some of the gluten-free/cf sites for kids with behavioral issues/autism...simply for information. Open Original Shared Link

[wonkabar]

Kristy-

It is possible that a lactose intolerance might be causing him some behavioral changes, simply because of digestive distress...however, lactose intolerance itself will really only cause GI distress like gas, bloating, diarrhea etc...not behavioral changes.

He definitely doesn't have any GI distress...the only time he's ever had solid poops was when we took him off gluten but stayed on diary! I can certainly try Lactaid and other lactose free stuff. How long should I give eliminating lactose from his diet? His behavior isn't out of control, thank God, but there sometimes seems to be irritability for no apparent reason and that's not his general disposition. I hope that makes sense. Am I trying to do too many dietary things at once?? I just want to help him feel better.

--Kristy

[wonkabar]

We stopped giving Zachary soy last week after a week of icky poops. We also found out last week that he has a very mild allergy to soy which is probably manifesting itself that way. We've switched to Lactaid which has definately helped. His poops are almost back to normal again, and there's no change in his behavior. I guess it is the lactose that's bothering his belly right now. I've been giving him rice cheese if he wants it and organic vanilla yogurt...neither of which seem to be bothering him. Thanks for the help!!

--Kristy