Question About Interolences To Other Things

[spryng]

Ok So I think I also have an intolerance to soy.. I made chicken fried rice the other day and ate it for lunch.. within an hour I was itching like crazy.. next day had leftovers for lunch and within an hr I was running to the bathroom. It was gluten free soy sauce so I'm thinking it was the soy, the only other things in the dish was rice, chicken seasoned with only salt and pepper, 1 egg, peas and soy sauce.

So tonight I made myself an omlet to rule out the egg (just in case) and I feel fine an hour later so it's the soy sauce? ok my question is, I know with gluten even if you eat a little bit you are constantly damaging your body whether you have side effects or not that you can feel or see, but what about other intolerences like soy, milk or eggs? do you just get the physical side effect but no internal damage done or does it work like the gluten and you are hurting yourself?? I just wasn't sure if it was something I could still eat on occasion if I was willing to deal with the side effect? I'm still very very new to this so I'm apologize if this is a silly question.

[Skylark]

That's not a silly question at all. Gluten is the only food known to directly cause autoimmunity. We have had a few folks on the board who didn't get well until they went off dairy, so dairy may be an "avoid completely" kind of food for folks who get a gluten style reaction to it.

If you are reacting to a food with intense itching and the GI trouble hits fast it could be an allergy rather than an intolerance. Allergies can come and go, and they can sometimes get pretty severe. There is a list of symptoms and some info here.

Open Original Shared Link

If you can, talking to an allergist or at least a doctor about the soy would be a really good idea. Allergists are pretty good at helping people with food allergies and would give you pretty good advice. My dad has had some luck using preventative antihistamines for his milder food reactions.

Intolerances that make you tired or head for the bathroom a few hours after eating the food are less worrisome. Most people simply avoid foods they don't tolerate well to the degree that they don't feel ill and there is no risk of anaphylaxis or other dangerous reactions.

[mushroom]

That raises some interesting questions in my mind, Skylark, along with some gaps in my knowledge apparently. I have always referred to the foods I react to as intolerances, no matter the reaction, as the reactions all came on after going gluten free (well, except for the corn which I could not differentiate from the gluten). Most post-gluten problems with food for me have been skin reactions - itching without rash, rash without itching, itching rash, hives. Would you consider all these reactions to be IgE mediated? I did react positively to skin prick testing for soy and corn many, many years ago, but did not have any rashes or other noticeable reacftions to soy until gluten free. Don't mean to hijack a thread here, but thought the answer might be interesting to the discussion.

[Skylark]

Heya, Shroomie.

Itching, rash, and hives in various combinations could definitely be an IgE allergy. Hives in particular are usually allergic. You would know for sure if it improves with an antihistamine. You can put Benedryl cream on a small reaction or take a Benedryl pill if it's more widespread (assuming you have read the package and Benedryl is safe for you). Do try Benedryl and not another antihistamine. It will likely make you drowsy but it's still the best antihistamine on the market, particularly for itching.

Very interesting that you gained possible IgE allergies after going gluten-free. I lost a mild shellfish allergy, which I was happy to part with.

[spryng]

Thank you so much Skylark! That does make a lot of sense.. so if it's an allergy then it's not like gluten where it's causing extensive damage every time I consume a morsel so I could take something like benadryl to curb a reaction but still consume it if I wanted to? Ok not that I want to though, I'm going to try and just avoid it as well but since I just went off gluten 5 days ago I'm going to have to take one thing at a time for sure. I just needed to make sure I wasn't just harming myself more. I already feel so much better off the gluten I don't want to undo that progress with something like soy for sure

[Skylark]

Right. Food intolerances are usually unpleasant but not harmful.

Just make sure you don't get into a situation with a true allergy where you ignore a strong, systemic reaction. I went into anaphylaxis once from a medicine reaction and it was awful! That's why I always tell folks who think they have allergies to talk to a doctor. An allergist can help you decide what precautions to take, or whether you need to avoid the food.

Glad to hear you're already feeling better!

[mushroom]

Hives in particular are usually allergic. You would know for sure if it improves with an antihistamine. You can put Benedryl cream on a small reaction or take a Benedryl pill if it's more widespread

Can't really test that theory out because, lucky me, I do not tolerate antihistamines either (including Benadryl - which hypes me up rather than putting me to sleep).

[alex11602]

That's not a silly question at all. Gluten is the only food known to directly cause autoimmunity. We have had a few folks on the board who didn't get well until they went off dairy, so dairy may be an "avoid completely" kind of food for folks who get a gluten style reaction to it.

If you are reacting to a food with intense itching and the GI trouble hits fast it could be an allergy rather than an intolerance. Allergies can come and go, and they can sometimes get pretty severe. There is a list of symptoms and some info here.

Open Original Shared Link

If you can, talking to an allergist or at least a doctor about the soy would be a really good idea. Allergists are pretty good at helping people with food allergies and would give you pretty good advice. My dad has had some luck using preventative antihistamines for his milder food reactions.

Intolerances that make you tired or head for the bathroom a few hours after eating the food are less worrisome. Most people simply avoid foods they don't tolerate well to the degree that they don't feel ill and there is no risk of anaphylaxis or other dangerous reactions.

Just curious about this since I read somewhere (can't remember where right now) that soy and dairy can also damage your intestines and I know that my daughter has gotten intestinal bleeding from consuming soy. So would that damage be something other then an intolerance? hmmm it is very curious...

[spryng]

that does sound serious Alex!

[Skylark]

I've seen folks on the board whose doctors told them flattened villi was sometimes dairy. I can't find a single thing on dairy and villi in the peer-reviewed medical literature and I've looked more than once.

Soy is tricky to begin with. It's hard to verify that cultures used for miso and tempeh weren't grown on barley. Unfermented soy is supposedly bad for you because it makes calcium and proteins difficult to absorb and digest. On top of that, almost all non-organic soy in the US is GMO. About the only soy I eat these days is my San-J tamari.

I'd wonder about your daughter and GMO soy. It was banned in Great Britain because it was found to be more allergenic than natural.

[alex11602]

I've seen folks on the board whose doctors told them flattened villi was sometimes dairy. I can't find a single thing on dairy and villi in the peer-reviewed medical literature and I've looked more than once.

Soy is tricky to begin with. It's hard to verify that cultures used for miso and tempeh weren't grown on barley. Unfermented soy is supposedly bad for you because it makes calcium and proteins difficult to absorb and digest. On top of that, almost all non-organic soy in the US is GMO. About the only soy I eat these days is my San-J tamari.

I'd wonder about your daughter and GMO soy. It was banned in Great Britain because it was found to be more allergenic than natural.

Well whatever it is we stay away from soy, she was already in the hospital once for the bleeding and with her only being 2, I don't think I want to be chancing it right now.

[Googles]

Okay,

I have another question to add to this thread, but not exactly the same topic. I have problems with pumpkin if I have been glutened. I also had trouble with it when I first went gluten free. It get indigestion and heart burn. Is this just some sort of irritation? Leaky gut? If I haven't been glutened for a long time it doesn't bother me (well, it may not bother me in small amounts if I haven't been glutened) I haven't had any large amounts when not glutened recently. I hope that makes sense. I had a large amount at christmas (multiple servings over multiple days) but had been getting glutened before that. I had been find at other times in the past when I hadn't been glutened for a while. Is this just that the pumpkin is irritating already irritated digestive track? I don't experience any other symptoms related to it.

Thanks for any insight.