Saturday, 23 May 2009
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Soy Is Poisoning Me -- HELP!
My diet is horrible. I have two options right now: starve to death, or continue feeling nauseated all day, every day. I need help.
No matter what I eat, often times I feel sick. A few years ago, it got so bad and painful that I went to a gastroenterologist, got a biopsy, and told I was cancer-free (for now), and given the option of Zelnorm. Sure, that this was part of a bigger issue, I passed on the meds at the time.
Then I tried to change my diet, and for a while, assumed I was lactose intolerant. My diet of soy milk was clearly not helping, so I gave that up and just tried to eliminate stress and stayed away from foods that I even thought made me feel queasy.
It got a little better, but then about two years ago I had my allergies retested and discovered I was allergic to peas. I was told to (obviously) stay away from peas completely, but she also said I should try to stay away from all related legumes: beans, peanuts, etc. Well I've done pretty well about staying away from beans and peanuts, but recently, I realized I've been neglecting soy.
And therein lies the problem. Assuming that soy is the reason I felt even sick during that "lactose intolerant" stage, and the reason I'm often queasy, I started checking labels last week of things I eat all the time, a lot of which are "healthy" prepackaged meals and fast foods and drinks -- and EVERYTHING has soy! I am not kidding. Every soup, every sauce, every french toast stick... everything has soy, soybean oil, vegetable oil, etc. I've also recently switched to a more vegetarian diet, and all you ever hear in the way of meat substitutes and healthy eating is SOY. I'm screwed!!!!
Those who know me well know that I cannot cook. Sometimes people would joke that I'll learn someday out of necessity, but I assumed I could continue to microwave frozen things and munch on healthy snacks. Apparently now, I really will starve to death if I don't learn to cook for myself, because I have such a restricted diet, I can't eat anything prepared unless I know exactly what's in it. And unfortunately, the one thing I'm allergic to is the stuff of choice. It's like putting a fish in a bucket of windex and telling it to breathe easy.
Since cutting soy, I've been feeling less nauseated, but I am practically starving. I think I've lost five pounds in the last two weeks (albeit, I wanted to lose those anyway, just not this way).
Does anyone have suggestions for a vegetarian diet that does NOT include soy? Or does anyone know of prepackaged meals (or desserts, for that matter) on the market that are soy-free? Keep in mind that I also have blood sugar issues, so I can't eat a diet of straight carbs either. I eat fish, I love veggies (and I used to love peas...), and I take iron supplements, but I would really like some natural, easy, TASTY alternatives for my very difficult diet.
Thanks!
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- From: eowynnabeeowyn@xanga
- Name: Lady of Ithilien
- Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States
- About Me: "What do you fear, lady?" he asked. "A cage," she said, "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire." I am a recent college grad, with a love for traveling and the stuffed dog who accompanies me.
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Comments (28)
If you want a diet that doesn't include soy, don't include soy.
You'd have to start making yourself salads (obviously without beans and such) without the oil.
You could buy stir fry easy peasy. Salmon, tuna, etc. great foods, serve them with the veggies.
Berries yumyum. Berries=smoothies
Can you drink rice milk? I think there is such a thing?
Chocolate! To keep your weight somewhat stable. 70-83% is really tasty.
But are you not able to drink regular milk? I know you thought you were lactose intolerant but you aren't?
I can't eat soy, either. So I try to stay away from anything that's prepackaged (they sneak soy into a lot of stuff).
I would suggest trying quinoa. You can eat it like rice, but I find it doesn't affect my blood sugar the same way as rice does. It's fairly high in protein (for a grain... or a seed... whatever it is). You can eat it hot (like rice) or you can refrigerate it (after it's been cooked) and add some veggies to make a nice salad. Just make sure to rinse it well before you cook it (or it'll make you sick).
No soy? Just dont have soy.
first, i feel compelled to commend you for remaining a vegetarian (well, pescetarian) through all of this. i have been a vegetarian my entire life (i was raised as one, and have never eaten any kind of meat or fish- my entire family is, you see).Â
since you eat fish, you should eat as much of it as you can- it's a great source of lean protein. beans and rice and nuts and dairy are also very good, but remember that they must be eaten together in order to be a complete protein.
Food preparation can be fun and you might surprise yourself. That seems to be your biggest blocker there. I never eat soy. I eat meat but eat lots of veggies. Also give the meds a chance. Have your gall bladder checked out this time around. Your problem is more lifestyle changes (cooking and preparing) than choices. People who are intolerant of flour and have gone gluten free do lots of their own prep and cooking from scratch.
I'm also vegetarian (vegan, to be exact), and the most important thing for a vegetarian to understand is amino acids.
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. There are 22 total, and most of them we can synthesize ourselves. There are 9, though, called essential amino acids, that we need to get from our diet.
Meat, eggs, dairy and soy are "complete proteins" which means they contain all 9 essential amino acids. This is why many vegetarian meat-substitutes contain soy. The other way to get all 9 of these amino acids is through combining grains [whole wheat, corn, barley etc] and legumes [peas & beans].
If you can't have soy OR legumes, then you really do need to consider eating eggs, dairy or meat to get these nutrients.
Low fat yogurt (especially Greek-style) can be high in protein. Or try having fried or scrambled eggs for breakfast; they are quick and easy to make. Another rarely mentioned option is quinoa. Quinoa is a South American grain, that like soy, is a complete protein. You cook it just like rice. My only critisism would be that while it has these proteins it's not very HIGH in protein, so you would need to eat a lot if it were your only protein source.
Good luck!
*my bad. EIGHT essential amino acids.
Don't have soy, there are tonnes of other options!
Cooking fish is really, really easy. You can fry it up (no need to bread it or anything, just spray the pan first - check it for ingredients) with some lemon juice and capers and it's delicious. Salmon can be done the same way, or with a little warmed dijon mustard spread over the top. Baking fish is also really easy. Just google "baking salmon" (or whatever kind of fish) and you'll get a ton of recipes.
Fresh fruit, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, salads, sandwiches. Switch to whole foods rather than processed foods, and you will easily cut out soy.
rice or almond milk have protein and u might not be allergic/intolerant
seitan is a fermented wheat gluten protein high food that shouldn't have soy in it (especially if you can find it fresh)
also, have u tried goat milk? often ppl who have problems with cow milk can digest goat milk fine
soy is going to be semi-impossible to avoid unless you learn how to cook at least a little : /
You are limiting yourself by NOT cooking... As mentioned above, THAT is your biggest problem. Also, as mentioned above as well, I suggest eating eggs.
I'm a veggie, all my protien comes from soy. Seems like you mayneed to go back to eating meats.
Damn that really sucks...maybe you should try the Eden diet or a macrobiotic diet & eat raw, pure foods & focus primarily on fresh fruits & veggies
Fat free milk and rasin bran. Fat free philly cheese on whole wheat english muffin. Catfish with adobo, onions and jalepeno ;)
Baked potato with the skin, (Take most the white part away if it causes you sugar problems! Potatos are cheap, remember?)
Make some bran muffins and put amaranth in it. Eat Spelt or quinoa noodles with maranera sauce. Add some parmesan if you like.
Buy some acidphelous pills. Those healthy bacteria will help you digest food and reduce gas.
my dad is a gastrentrologist and has seen an extreme case of a woman who felt pain whenever she ate because the lining in her gallbladder had worn down and there was a hole in it, so that everytime she ate stomach acid would go into her whole system and caused severe pain.
go back to the doctors, it could be really serious
sry for all your dietary troubles. i can relate..for awhile i had to go on a no wheat nor dairy diet. i thought it'd be easy enough..until i noticed one or both was in almost everything.
thankfully there are many substitutes nowadays. go to a health foods store. some of them even have lists of soy-free foods for you to peruse.
and take the time to learn how to cook--it tastes SO much better than any frozen heated up junk and only takes a little practice to get a handle on.
woww you aren't going to starve.
there are children in africa still alive even though they barely eat anything.
eat fresh fruits and vegetables. ask your DOCTOR what other things you can eat. it might be expensive and take some work (learn to cook!) but you're ridiculously assuming you're going to "starve". haha.
There is plenty of food you can eat, you just probably won't be able to find it in a box. Avoid processed foods because besides the fact that many aren't very healthy in the first place, many contain soy. Put a large emphasis on your diet eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Instead of soy milk there is rice, almond, hemp, or oat milk. Seitan is a wheat product that can be used similarly to tofu or tempeh. There are also rice burgers that you can find (but you will have to go to a health foods store to find them). You can eat rice, couscous, noodles, bread, quinoa, etc.
Some soy/legume free foods I like:
-Whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce, bell peppers, and zucchini
-Almond butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread
-Stir fry but instead of using soy sauce you can use peanut sauce or another type of sauce--brown rice and lots of veggies
-Potatoes with olive oil and broccoli
-Tacos using flour tortillas, couscous, salsa, corn, peppers, onions, and avocado
-A ratatouille type meal with potatoes, zucchini, squash, and eggplant and tomato sauce
-Potato pancakes with chives or green onions and garlic
Basically, I feel like you just have to get used to cooking your own meals and don't rely on pre-packaged meals. Find recipes online for food you can eat. Eat lots of food in their natural state. Good luck!
if you live in a town/city with whole foods or trader joes or anything, you can get almond or rice milk (sadly, they don't have it in the middle of nowhere :( )
there are some foods that are made out of seitan (kinda pronounced satan :( )
and another one called tempeh (pronounced tempee)
@MermaidsAreSeasluts@xanga - Tempeh is soy.
Try goats milk for your milk product. As for the food with soy look for things that don't have soy in it. Just simple small portion regular foods is very good for a diet. The low calorie items are the best. It is not always good to go low fat, you need the good fats in your body. Of course fresh vegs. and fruits are the way to go.
@Embl@xanga - rice milk is sooo yummy its not even funny but its really hard to find