Recently Found Out Had Soy And Egg Allergies

[Clarise49]

I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions about dealing with egg and soy allergies? I found out I had those on top of my gluten and dairy intolerance. I am having a somewhat difficult time adjusting to these new allergies because I didn't realize that soy is practically in everything and egg is not too far behind. I've been gluten and dairy free for about 4 years so I'm fine with those but soy and egg is driving me crazy and making me very mad. If anyone has suggestions, advise, anything I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks

[burdee]

I also have gluten, dairy, soy and egg allergies (plus a cane sugar allergy). However I don't always eat vegan meals. I noticed you were vegetarian. So will you now eat vegan (no animal products) meals? I do eat vegan meals 2-3 times daily, but try to have at least one meat meal per day. For my vegan meals I use combinations of legumes and grains (peanut butter and bread or rice and beans) and sometimes grains and nuts or seeds (rice with tahini) or corn with legumes (corn tortillas with refried beans).

Here's how I substitute for soy:

Obviously there's NO safe soy sauce, so I add more salt and sesame or peanut oil to flavor stir fry dishes.

Instead of cow's or soy milk, I use almond milk. However I will eventually have to switch to hazelnut milk, because both almond milk companies changed their recipes and now include soy in their almond milks.

I make my own vegan ice cream from cashews, fruits and maple syrup or agave.

I use coconut oil or tahini instead of butter on bread or vegies.

I bake or cook with palm oil shortening or coconut oil.

I fry with peanut or olive oil, rather than soybean oil.

I use a lot of nut butters or nuts instead of eggs or soy.

I don't miss cheese enough to make my own cheese, but I have an 'Uncheese' recipe book if I ever decide to make vegan cheese.

Here are my egg substitutes:

I used flax meal dissolved in hot water until I realized I was sensitive to flax. (I tested negative on ELISA allergy test, but suspect flax bothers my diverticulosis.) Now I use Ener-G Foods Egg replacement product for baking.

I make my own mayonnaise from a cashew, honey, lemon juice recipe.

I haven't tried the recipe, but I saw an eggless quiche recipe using white beans in my allergy cookbook.

Like you, I had a few years to adjust to living without gluten and dairy, before I got my egg and cane sugar allergy diagnoses. However I only needed about a month to realize I reacted badly to soy. Still having time to adjust to a couple of allergies at a time made the transition easier. Above all I looked for substitutes for all my regular mealtime favorites, rather than just focussing on what I could no long eat. We (I with my 5 allergies and my husband with his 7 allergies) successfully negotiated with a PF Chang's chef for 2 safe and delicious dinners. Having 10 allergies between us (we share gluten, dairy and egg allergies) makes eating out challenging, but still possible.

BURDEE

[AndreaB]

Here's some recipes I've posted from cookbooks I have.....vegan.

Open Original Shared Link

I'm not vegan anymore due to intolerances, but for my family I wouldn't go back to the vegan diet. I would highly encourage you to try and eat some animal based protein, even a couple times a week.

A caution. Sometimes peanuts will follow after soy......they are the same family and many people who develop an intolerance to one will develop one with the other.

[covsooze]

Rice milk is also a good substitute if you can tolerate it, just make sure to get a brand that's gluten-free and everything else free.

[hathor]

If you have any more specific questions, ask. It is hard to respond sometimes to an "any advice" sort of post

I have the same intolerances as you do (been told by Enterolab I should avoid yeast too, but I don't notice a problem now) and I'm vegetarian.

You just have to read labels. But you have been doing that anyway, right? There are gluten-free vegan items out there (you will have to check for soy). I was told by Enterolab that soy lecithin is OK. If you find this true for you, it will make things easier.

There is a Yahoo group for gluten-free vegans with lots of recipes. Fatfreevegan.com has a gluten free section of recipes. Also many vegetarian or vegan recipe sites or cookbooks have recipes that are fine or can be converted. You've already been told of two good egg substitutes for baking. Unfortunately, the tofu & soy sauce recipes are out ... but there are plenty of others.

All of the recipes in the book "Food Allergy Survival Guide" are vegan & don't have any of the common allergens (like gluten and soy). It also discusses nutrition & menu planning.

If anything, I have more recipes than I can ever hope to try. And I've learned to throw things together from what I have on hand. Just focus on what you CAN have rather than what you can't. You can have nongluten grains (rice, wild rice, buckwheat, quinoa, millet, amaranth, teff, sorghum, corn -- OK, not all technically grain, but you know what I mean) & items made from them (pasta, polenta, bread, etc.), legumes (except for soy, you can have beans, peas, lentils, peanuts), potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds. And dark chocolate, of course! If you think you need soy for protein (or something else), think again. Read up on protein at drmcdougall.com.

If it is support you want, there is a discussion board at vegiac.com for vegetarians and vegans who are gluten free. There are also a few of us on a gluten free board at drmcdougall.com.

After a while, following the diet you want will be second nature. At home I have no problem finding a wide variety of meals. I've learned what restaurants around here have things I can eat. My only problem has been on vacation, when I was on a small river cruise & my options were limited & they wouldn't accommodate me. Then I ate fish. I tolerated it, but I can't say I found it that appetizing and it certainly didn't make me feel any better (if anything, I felt worse). The one thing I tried that I did like that I think I will occasionally have is goat cheese. You don't need too much to impart a flavor and it doesn't contain casein. I had no problems with it. Perhaps this is something you might like, too.

Of course, you have to go by how you personally feel. I've talked to one person who was following a vegan diet who went gluten-free without problems. But when she found she had to cut out soy, too, she just adjusted by having fish two or three times a week. I think she made lots of stir fries with soy sauce or dishes with tofu & didn't know how to cope. She thinks she feels better from having the fish (thinks things are tasteless without the soy). I think she just needs a wider variety of recipes. But I guess it isn't my choice, it is hers

Be sure to take a B12 supplement.

Finally, on the subject of milk, I've tried almond milk & rice milk. But in terms of flavor & the absence of additives I don't particularly want, I've come to like hemp milk. It also has omega 3 in it.

That's all I can think of right now. Again, any other specific questions, just ask.

[Juliebove]

I know how difficult food allergies can be. I am allergic to dairy, eggs and almonds. Daughter is allergic to dairy, eggs, wheat, gluten, peanuts, soy and bananas.

Soy is in everything! All the mayo I've found has either soy or eggs in it. Makes it hard to do a good tuna salad.

I found a mayo substitute that my daughter likes but it seems odd to me because it leaves a chalky taste in your mouth. At least I thought it did. It was basically half water and half canoloa (I used olive) oil. It was seasoned with salt, pepper, dry mustard, onion powder, a bit of cayenne, some lemon juice and thickened with arrowroot powder. I think it's the arrowroot powder that leaves that chalky feeling.

Since then I've been mixing equal amounts of olive oil and lemon juice and adding some other things to taste like parsley, salt, pepper and onion powder. I think that makes a nice dressing for the tuna. Daughter doesn't like it because it's too lemony.

We used to use Annies Organics French dressing and a lot of chopped cucumber to make the salad, but we gave that up after they changed the label. I can't remember the particulars now, but I think there might be cross contamination issues.

Potato salad is another problem. I guess I am just used to having it with egg in it. Just not the same without the egg. But I made one that I thought was good using sliced cooked Yukon Gold potatoes and plenty of sliced sweet onion that had been sauteed in some olive oil until soft. The dressing was simply plenty of lemon juice, a bit more oil, salt black pepper and parsley.

Pasta salads can be made using large shapes of rice or corn pasta and a vinegar and oil type dressing. I assume you can still eat cheese so that would add zip.

My friend gave me this recipe. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds good:

Soy Sauce Substitute

1 1/2 cups boiling water

3 tbsp. beef bouillon

pinch pepper

1 tbsp. dark molasses

4 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cider vinegar

2 tbsp. sesame seed oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring to blend thoroughly. Pour into a clean jar. Cover and seal tightly. Keep refrigerated. Shake well before using.

Yield: 2 cups

I was going to make some teriyaki chicken for my daughter, using that to make the sauce, but when I went to the store to buy chicken, she found some precooked chicken legs that are baked with honey. There's nothing in there she's allergic to and she likes them so much I haven't bothered to try the teriyaki.

When it comes to baking, I either use Ener-G egg replacer or ground flax seeds and water. I find the flax works best in something that has a hearty texture to it or a strong flavor like spike or chocolate. I'm not sure how well it would work in a white rice bread.

One thing my daughter was really craving was candy corn. Seems all we could find in the store had either egg or soy in it. So I found this recipe:

Open Original Shared Link

Since we can't have dairy, I used Vance's Dari Replacer (it's a powder) and coconut oil for the butter. They came out really well! They were a bit larger than the ones you get in the store but the taste was great. I've also made this same candy for other holidays, forming them into different shapes, including pumpkins and sometimes dipping them in melted chocolate. We use the Enjoy Life chocolate chips.

Egg and soy can be tricky ones when it comes to prepared foods. I get annoyed when I find something that is gluten free, like donuts, only to find out it contains eggs. The Enjoy Life Foods things are all egg and soy free. Some of the Ener-G products have no eggs or soy but a few do. And then there are the labels that are next to impossible to read.

We went to a gluten free fair and I saw some crackers. I knew I had seen them before and thought they had soy in them. But when I read the wrapper, I couldn't see soy listed anywhere. I believe they are an Australian product. They had all sorts of languages listed with English being in very fine print. I bought one single serve package only because I was still suspiscious of them.

A few days later, daughter asked for a snack. She began eating the crackers, commenting on how good they were. Next thing I know she was doubled over in pain and running to the bathroom. So I looked them up online at one of the vendors who sell them and sure enough, they have soy in them!

Another thing that's really tough to avoid is lecithin. It's in all sorts of baked goods, chewing gum and other foods. It is mostly egg or soy based, although recently I've heard of it sometimes being corn based. Because of this I find I have to make a lot of things from scratch.

[burdee]

JULIEBOVE: THANKS SO MUCH for posting that soy sauce substitute recipe. I've been soy free for 3 years and never found a safe soy sauce substitute. My hubby has sesame (and 6 other) allergies, but can have soy. So I'll make that for myself or substitute peanut for sesame oil.

HATHOR: Would you post a link for the "Yahoo group for gluten-free vegans with lots of recipes". Is that the "Fatfreevegan.com" or the "vegiac.com" site?

Could you also repeat exactly what Enterolab said about soy lecithin? I noticed soy reactions when I substituted soy for dairy products after my Elab milk sensitivity diagnosis 3 years ago. I thought I reacted to soy lecithin as well, but I still had other yet undiagnosed allergies (egg and cane sugar) and gastrointestinal problems (gut bacterial imbalance and low stomach acid) which could have caused symptoms which I thought were soy lecithin reactions. I'm scared to try anything which could give me soy reaction symptoms, but avoiding soy lecithin restricts a lot more foods for me.

BURDEE

[hathor]

Let me know how the soy sauce substitute works. I ran across a similar one (molasses & balsamic vinegar was it? something like that ...) and someone said it was awful.

Fatfreevegan.com has a number of gluten free recipes, but this wasn't the Yahoo group I meant. Nor was the vegiac.com, which only has a few recipes and seems to be just starting. Rather I was referring to this: Open Original Shared Link

What Enterolab said in response to my question as to what I had to avoid given my positive test for antisoy antibodies was to avoid anything with the word soy in the ingredient list but that: "The only ingredient with "soy" in it that seems to be ok as far as we can tell is soy lecithin."

There was a topic on this subject once.

Open Original Shared Link

As you can see, some folks react to the stuff and some don't. I'm afraid I can't come up with a risk-free way for you to find out which category you are in other than trying some. How were you diagnosed with soy problems? It may make a difference if you are intolerant versus allergic to the stuff. But as you can see from the discussion, even some allergic folks can handle soy lecithin and even some soy oil. But the latter exception doesn't seem too workable to me, since it is only oil that is processed in a certain way and I don't see how you can know.

Now that I've avoided for six months everything Enterolab said to avoid, I have tried a few things with a bit of soy (like soy flour way down the list of ingredients, not a hunk of tofu) and yeast (no nutritional yeast recipes, just things like my first Redbridge last night .... yum) and haven't had a bad reaction at all. I even had a gluten, dairy & soy free English muffin the other day, which DID have egg white & was made with yeast, and I didn't have a problem. So I think my sensitivity may have been due to a leaky gut, now someone healed due to going gluten-free. I may have tested sensitive to about every protein if Enterolab had the tests for them. So there may be hope for some of us I don't feel like tempting fate with tofu or some soy-based veggie burger, or any appreciable egg (I know my stomach wouldn't like the latter one especially). But being able to have wheat-free soy sauce would open up more possibilities, as would bakery products with a bit of egg or gluten-free products with some soy flour (my favorite gluten-free pasta contained soy, and then I found I shouldn't eat it. ) .

Speaking of which, I remember researching all this in the beginning and reading some who thought that fermented soy wasn't a problem or as big a problem. But I never found any studies; just assertions.

Anyway, good luck straightening out what you can and can't eat. It seems like this is my hobby this year.

[dalss1]

Just wondering how you all found out what you were allergic to...seems like just eliminating certain ingredients and them reintroducing them one at a time would take a lifetime to confirm. Do we need to visit an allergist? (My children are diagnosed celiac and one is still having problems.)

[hathor]

Just wondering how you all found out what you were allergic to...seems like just eliminating certain ingredients and them reintroducing them one at a time would take a lifetime to confirm. Do we need to visit an allergist? (My children are diagnosed celiac and one is still having problems.)

An allergist can find allergies, but not food intolerances (different immune responses).

I found my intolerances through Enterolab (but they only test for a few things). Another poster mentioned a different lab. There are places that test blood to find sensitivities. I have heard people here mention that they are sensitive to things that don't show up this way or don't find they are sensitive to what they supposedly are. But this would at least give a starting point for dietary testing. I may do this myself at some point. But the last thing I want now are MORE things I can't or don't want to eat ...

I suspected my egg problem since I've had real difficulties digesting them for years. But the egg test comes bundled with soy and yeast -- and they found antibodies to those as well.

An elimination diet doesn't take a lifetime, although I guess it would seem like that I think it would be easier to eliminate the most common intolerances and see if your children feel better. If so, you then add back things one at a time. I personally wouldn't do a complete elimination diet unless I was desperate.

[AndreaB]

I've done ELISA (IgE/IgG) blood draw testing, Enterolab for what they test and most recently ASYRA. They all have good points but based on my experience the ASYRA is the most accurate. It is a test that measures frequencies in the body and records what doesn't resonate. It's alternative, but is FDA approved. A form of muscle testing is usually used in conjuction with ASYRA for even more concrete results. My practitioner uses ART (autonomic response testing). I like the ASYRA because it lists food compounds that are causing problems as well.

You could also do an elimination diet. Go down to a basic diet of turkey, a few veggies, a few fruits and I think rice. That is more time consuming but doesn't cost anything extra. You have to take details notes in a food journal.

[Jestgar]

I've just discovered a problem with soy by running out of salt and using soy sauce to flavor something. A happy accident

[hathor]

I've just discovered a problem with soy by running out of salt and using soy sauce to flavor something. A happy accident

This was wheat-free soy sauce, right?

[Jestgar]

This was wheat-free soy sauce, right?

Oh yeah. I've been doing this for about a year and a half so I'm pretty sure I've found all the tricky things. And my gluten response is all in my head , this was a gastro response.