Soy Free Earth Balance & So Delicious Coconut Milk

[lisa25]

I am suspecting something I added to my diet last fall has a trace amount of cross-contamination. I am super sensitive to gluten, dairy, and soy. My husband is super sensitive to gluten. I am the one that has been having the most issues, so I don't think it is a gluten problem. For those who have to be soy and dairy free, do you have a problem with the new Soy Free Earth Balance or So Delicious Coconut Milk? These are two products we use frequently and were added to our diet last fall. I stopped using these two products yesterday in hopes of seeing a difference and have started a food diary. If this isn't it, then I need to figure out what else might be causing the more frequent headaches, nausea, and sinus stuff. Your thoughts and experiences would be appreciated.

[burdee]

Hi Lisa:

I have diagnosed (by Enterolab stool test) soy and dairy allergies as well as gluten intolerance. I have very strong reactions (gastrointestinal cramping pain and bloating) to those foods. I do NOT react to Earth Balance soy/dairy free margarine. I don't use Truly Decadent coconut milk. However, I eat their coconut milk based ice creams (chocolate, passionate mango, cherry amaretto, coconut) and have NO reaction to those flavors. (Other flavors contain one of my other allergens, vanilla.)

I suspect dairy contamination from other sources may influence your 'sinus stuff'. I get headaches after consuming aspartame. I get nausea after consuming another one of my diagnosed allergies, cane sugar.

Good luck finding the culprit!

SUE

[mushroom]

No problems with Earth Balance soy free; don't use that coconut milk but eat their ice cream safely.

[CandyLady]

Hi Lisa~I don't know about Earth Balance, but I've never had a problem with cross-contamination of any Turtle Mountain products. That's probably because they have a very strict allergen prevention program, which you can read about here: Open Original Shared Link

[Maggie Mermaid]

I used to use So Delicious Coconut Milk but gave it up after having some slight reactions to it. I couldn't figure out what was in it that gave me a reaction. However, I do use the So Delicious Coconut Kefir (plain) sparingly every other day & don't seem to have a reaction to the kefir. Go figure.

Never tried the Soy Free Earth Balance.

[missy'smom]

The dairy-free, soy-free Earthbalance contains pea protein. Since it is proteins that allergic/intolerant people tend to react to, may be that's it? Something about it just makes me wonder and I reacted to "beans" when I was tested. Haven't re-introduced them yet to see how I react. Peas were separate on the test but I wasn't tested for those. It also contains safflower, which can be an allergen-my test was neg. for that so I'm ruling that ingredient out for myself. Just some thoughts.

The coconut milk seemed to set well with me.

[lisa25]

Thanks for the replies. I am glad the general concensus is that the Earth Balance and Coconut Milk are okay because I love those new products. Hopefully I will figure something out from my food diary. It is just frustrating trying to figure everything out, whether it is cross-contamination or another food sensitivity. I will have to keep an eye on the cane sugar idea, I have never thought of that and I do love sweet things. I have been against artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, for quite a while so I don't think I have any of that in my diet. I have also been trying to eat less corn, meaning no visible corn...only trace stuff like in xanthan gum and baking powder. I have also become more aware of all the stuff they put high fructose corn syrup in and am looking for healthier alternatives.

[burdee]

Thanks for the replies. I am glad the general concensus is that the Earth Balance and Coconut Milk are okay because I love those new products. Hopefully I will figure something out from my food diary. It is just frustrating trying to figure everything out, whether it is cross-contamination or another food sensitivity. I will have to keep an eye on the cane sugar idea, I have never thought of that and I do love sweet things. I have been against artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, for quite a while so I don't think I have any of that in my diet. I have also been trying to eat less corn, meaning no visible corn...only trace stuff like in xanthan gum and baking powder. I have also become more aware of all the stuff they put high fructose corn syrup in and am looking for healthier alternatives.

Hi Lisa: Rather than guessing what other food allergies you might have or eliminating foods which other people suggested you eliminate, consider getting a blood test for delayed reaction (IgG) food allergies. I assume you were diagnosed with dairy and soy by Enterolab stool tests. Did you also test for yeast and egg through Elab? Because Elab only tests for those 6 allergens, I got an ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) blood test for over 100 different foods plus an herb and spice test. Those 2 ELISA tests diagnosed 4 more allergies for me. When I stopped eating all my diagnosed allergens, I stopped having food reaction symptoms. Then I could focus on other gastrointestinal causes of symptoms (like bacteria, parasites and candida).

SUE

[mushroom]

The dairy-free, soy-free Earthbalance contains pea protein. Since it is proteins that allergic/intolerant people tend to react to, may be that's it?

Uh-oh. I have just reacted big time to green peas and have been avoiding all legumes. I think I have a problem with lectins. Looks like I should just stick with good old butter come June. And maybe actually get tested for something, perish the thought, instead of playing the elimination game, although I don't think they have a test for lectins since most people have barely heard of them

[lisa25]

Hi Lisa: Rather than guessing what other food allergies you might have or eliminating foods which other people suggested you eliminate, consider getting a blood test for delayed reaction (IgG) food allergies. I assume you were diagnosed with dairy and soy by Enterolab stool tests. Did you also test for yeast and egg through Elab? Because Elab only tests for those 6 allergens, I got an ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) blood test for over 100 different foods plus an herb and spice test. Those 2 ELISA tests diagnosed 4 more allergies for me. When I stopped eating all my diagnosed allergens, I stopped having food reaction symptoms. Then I could focus on other gastrointestinal causes of symptoms (like bacteria, parasites and candida).

SUE

I have thought of getting other testing done. I did get tested for egg and yeast by Enterolab. I think they came back as 4 and 7. I went to my PCP last year asking for more allergy testing. She told me it was going to be an IgA blood test. When I got the negative results back I noticed it was an IgE blood test and my insurance didn't cover a bit of it because I had already been tested by my former allergist for all IgE reactions of which none were positive. Luckily I got the doctor's office to take the charge off my bill since it was the wrong test. Who did you go through to get the IgG testing? Did your doctor have to order the test?