This Soy Thing...

Since I've found out that I have problems with soy (it causes breast pain) I've been trying to eliminate it from my diet. It's a real challenge! I am gaining a new respect for people with food allergies. I can't compare my issues with soy with life threatening allergies by any means, but I am finding that trying to avoid a product that seems to be in EVERYTHING is a huge job. Since I’m new at this, I am just starting to read labels looking for soy. Things you would never think of have soy or soy bean oil listed as an ingredient.

I started reading labels more closely because I was reacting when I didn’t think I had eaten anything with soy in it. Now I’m figuring out where I was messing up. Pizza dough. Tortillas. Bagels. The whole wheat bread from the grocery store bakery. The jambalaya mix that was a go-to quick dinner for the family. Something I put on my salad at the salad bar, probably several items, actually. It seems like even the least little bit of soy is causing problems, too. I’m like a walking soy detector.

I have a girl in one of my Girl Scout troops with severe food allergies. Peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, and eggs in even the smallest amounts could kill her. I worked with a woman once who had celiac disease.

I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for them. (For the mom, in the case of my Girl Scout, since she’s still a child.) You have to question every bite of food that goes in your mouth. Eating out must be a nightmare. Waiters don’t take food allergies seriously since people will say they have allergies when they really don’t, so the waiters don’t bother and nothing happens. Then when someone really is allergic, they can die. Then there’s the woman I heard about when I took a first aid class a few years ago. She had no idea she had a food allergy and went out to eat in a seafood restaurant. A waiter walked by with a plate of steaming shrimp and the SMELL of it sent her into anaphylactic shock and killed her. Just the smell! It’s scary.

But for me, I don’t have an allergy, I just have some minor pain and discomfort I’d rather avoid. I’m counting my blessings.

A Dietary Setback

I'm having issues with soy, which is a huge problem now that we are vegetarian. Soy in all of its incarnations is a new culinary adventure for me but I was going at it full tilt. I tried tofu at various restaurants and from the prepared foods case at Whole Foods. We tried several of the soy "meat" products from the grocery store. I bought tempeh. We made stir fries and marinades with soy sauce. We even threw roasted edamame on salads.

Well.... turns out all that soy caused me to have some problems. Namely, it made my breasts feel like they did when I was lactating and it was past time for the baby to nurse. In other words, tingly and tender and sensitive to touch, but with no relief from actually nursing. Blech. I didn't realize it was the soy at first and went to the doctor about it but she couldn't find anything wrong. I finally had an epiphany one day- IT COULD BE THE SOY, and asked my acupuncturist (a long time vegan) if it was possible. She said go off soy to see what happens, duh. Well, I went off soy, and yep, that's the culprit. I even reacted to a tiny bit of soy sauce in a recipe. It's definitely the soy.

BUT IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!!!!! Why couldn't I have known this going in? I mean, it only cropped up after I really started to like soy and soy products. I'm bumming. There are so many things we discovered and really liked, and now we have to give them up. Well, I have to give them up. No more faux BLTs. No more "Joggin' John" with the soy sausage. No more soy marinated mushroom caps filled with guacamole. (From the raw foods class I took last year.) No more stir fry. WAHHHHH.

OK, OK, if that's the worst of my problems life is pretty good. But it's still aggravating!

PS: Does anyone know of any substitutes for soy sauce?