soy/dairy allergies

[Saacsmum]

My ds is allergic to both soy and dairy. He is breastfed at the moment and I am drinking ricemilk which is awful. Any suggestions for what else I could try, and does anyone know of a table spread that is soy and dairy free, I have checked the mfd website but no joy. Help appreciated.

I'm not sure what you mean by table spread, but the best spread I've used that is dairy free is from the Tescos free from range, it tastes just like my margarine.

there's a sunflower spread called 'pure'- avail tesco and asda- no dairy or soya.

suma also do one at twice the price.

you'll get used to the ricemilk- add loads to coffee.

co-op have list online of dairy free foods, also soy free one

Oatly - I can't recommend it highly enough. It's the nicest milk-substitute that I have found. You can get it at Waitrose/Ocado (though they seem to be having supply problems at the moment) and at health food shops.

saacmum just out of curiousity how did you find out he was allergic. my ds broke out in hives with cows formula, i am breastfeeding and he is now 6 and 1/2 mths. do you feel its what you eat that affects him?

Hi, Isaac had projectile vomitting, excema, blood in his stools and wheeziness very badly, Paed suggested I go dairy free and he stopped vomitting (had been vomitting up to 8 times a day) we then continued to do eliminations from my diet to see what else was effecting him. He also had blood tests for gluten, skin pricks for eggs,dairy,nuts and fish and stool tests. Tests and eliminations from my diet concluded that he was allergic to cows milk protein, lacked the ability to produce lactase in adequate amounts to properly digest any mammalian milk including breast (but this was still the best option for him) and that soy was linked to the excema, wheezing and to some degree his blood in poohs) He is not on any solids and has only ever tried hypoallergenic formula for a couple of days when we tried to wean him due to the lactase issue (we were unsuccessful at weaning, we both ended stressed and miserable) so it is definately through my breast milk that he reacts. To do eliminations we were told to completely cut out the suspect food and derivatives for 14 days and then reintroduce while keeping a symptom diary. For the soy we repeated challenge 3 times and there was a definate difference, I have not tried reintroducing dairy at any stage as he used to vomit so much that he wasnt gaining alot of weight and needed hospitilisation for dehydration at one stage.

Slight ammendment, I said he wasnt on any solids, he does have 1/2 tsp of pear every second day with probiotics in it to help his gut flora.

wow, your poor thing, what a trauma for the ittle fella. i keep thinking i should cut dairy out of my diet but dont get round to planning otherwise, how long will you breastfeed for and were you intending to do that anyway?
my doc is slow to move on to the testing as he thinks he will agjust...another thread!

I am hoping that once he starts solids he will get used the taste of the hypoallergenic formula and I will be able to start to wean him. I am vegetarian and cutting out dairy and soy has been a real challenge to my diet (had no problem shedding my preggie weight though as a bonus) so am looking forward to him weaning off breast. He had a bowel perforation when he was born and has had surgery which apparently can sensitise the gut making allergies more likely, hence why he was tested when he started showing symptoms.

Hi saacsmum

Ds1 has exactly the same food sensitivities, only we didn't realise about the soya one until we'd been feeding him soya formula for a few months. (I wouldn't have given him formula at all had I known what I know now.) Once he came off it, and any other food containing soya, his symptoms disappeared and his weight shot up .

We also use 'Pure' margarine - the sunflower one with the yellow lid. Watch out because the organic version (blue lid) has soya in it.

I have to admit that I like rice milk . Although perhaps I've just got used to it as I haven't drunk any cow's milk for ages. (Ds1 is nearly 3 now.) What variety do you use? We usually have Rice Dream (fortified) but buy Provamel rice milk when Rice Dream isn't available. I've called Provamel to check and their rice milk doesn't contain soya (some of them do, unfortunately).

Other alternatives are oat milks, nut milks, one made from quinoa, and 'Tiger White' which is made from a spanish cactus. All available from health-food shops and starting to be more available in supermarkets too, in the UK at least. I can check the brands if you like as I'm sure some of them should be available where you are. Also, we buy orange juice with added calcium and for a while ds2 didn't have any milk 'substitutes' but just had diluted juice on his cereal.

You're probably getting used to label-scanning, but I'm wary of anything saying 'lecithin' as it is usually soya lecithin (used as an emulsifier). Also loads of baked goods have soya flour in them now, so we never buy anything from in-store bakeries as you can't check the ingredients. We've only found a few varieties of bread that have no soya flour in them. You're in NZ, aren't you? Do the supermarkets do 'free from' lists over there? In the UK many of the supermarkets have jumped onto this bandwagon but so far I've only found a soya-free list at ASDA. It's quite useful to know that, for instance, some of their apple pies don't contain either cow's milk or soya.

I have a great book by Jonathan Brostoff and Linda Gamlyn called 'Food allergies and intolerance'. If you can get hold of one I thoroughly recommend it. As well as giving a thorough background to the science behind reactions to food, it gives you ideas of what to watch out for and what alternatives are available. If you can't get hold of it I can e-mail you the bits about soya and cow's milk if you like.

Another thing I could do is to write down everything we eat for a week or so and send it to you so you have ideas. I was planning to do this for ds's nursery anyway as they seem to have milk and cheese in every meal and can't think of very good alternatives. (I dread to think how they deal with kosher diets.) We do eat meat but some of our meals are vegetarian so it may help you a bit.

Also, if you're a veggie you probably know more than the average person about nutrients but medics and dietitians seem to worry about calorie intake and calcium intake for kids who are non-dairy. I found the UK Vegan Society website (and other vegan sites) useful for non-animal sources of calcium (of which there are loads).

By the time we worked out about ds1's sensitivity to soya he was already weaned off breastmilk but he ate really well so we didn't worry about his calories - and just stopped the formula completely without looking for an alternative. But ds2 is 7 months and only taking very small amounts of solids and we're trying to do the weaning very slowly just in case there are other sensitivities around. So I'm not sure what we will do for a milk substitute when he gets a bit older. But did you realise that the 'hypoallergenic' formulas are still based on cow's milk protein and they can be marketed as 'hypoallergenic' if they cause no reaction in 90% of the kids they are tested on? It's worrying that 10% of the children may still react. Also, the one I was recommended by a dietitian (Nutramigen) also contains soy protein, which she neglected to tell me. So I'm steering clear of any formulas for the moment.

Some people find that goat's milk is okay although at the moment ds1 still reacts even to goat's milk cheddar. But I was brought up on goat's milk and I wonder if it may be better for you to try a goat's milk based formula instead of the 'hypoallergenic' one?

Do you take any supplements yourself, and make sure you get enough calories and fat in your diet? I take a post-natal multivitamin, calcium supplements and DHA supplement because I worry about the effect a restricted diet has on me - and of course there's the higher energy requirement for breastfeeding mums too. I'm not surprised you lost that weight.

I know I've thrown out lots of ideas but few specifics, but I'm typing this late at night and too lazy to go and look things up. Do CAT me if you want more details because it seems that we are in very similar situations and there are all kinds of things that it's taken us a while to realise so I'd like to save you the time if possible.

hth

Sam

sorry, have just re-read your posts and noticed about the lactase issue as well, so it seems that my goat's milk formula suggestion may not be very useful

Hi SamN, where do I start thanx for your amazing reply!
I havent managed to track down Pure yet but will keep trying. I use RiceDream fortified and will try the oatly that prettycandles suggested. I am really careful about all soy or possible soy additives in foods and mfd website have really good list of brands which are free of certain additived, have found some bread products including bagals and pita bread but no actual sliced bread other than Dovedale which is like a rock. I will look out for that book thanx, I have been trying to find a good book on allergies so it is great to have one recommended. It should be available through Amazon if nowhere else. Recipe ideas would be AWESOME!! I make alot of vegan food now but mostly it would be unsuitable for ds as there are alot of curries and chillies. The formula we tried was called Neocate which is based on amino acids but has got soya in it, when I questioned the soy content I was told that the amount was negligable and unlikely to cause a reaction! Not impressed with this answere as you can imagine. I am under a dietitian but struggle to get enough protein in my diet, I take multivitimins especially designed for lactating women, and extra calcium suppliments. What do you mean (just to sound a little dim here for a moment) by CAT you? Would appreciate any and all info you have to offer. THANX. Rach.

Hi, there is no spread in NZ which is both soy and dairy free. They all contain soy. Sorry. Dipping your pita bread in olive oil?

Have you tried the vitasoy rice milk. It's not as awful, or chocolate which covers up the bitter taste.

The soy lecithin in the Neocate is less likely to cause a reaction as it is so broken down. It's not that's its a small physical amount, but how processed the protein has become which is important.

You may find that if you repeat the soy challenge when he is older that you don't get a reaction. It is worth trying before switching to the neocate.

saacsmum - you poor thing - that's a difficult challenge. I was advised to keep ds and dd off all dairy and do very careful slow weaning with them both until 18 months due to family allergy history (I had massive milk allergy as a baby, but not to soy). Things I found useful during weaning were pulses which both loved, and just loads of fresh fruit and veg which I'm sure is a huge part of your diet already. For a while while I was b'feeding, I cut out dairy as ds had a lot of runny bottoms and for a spread to moisten the bread rather than butter, I often used a scrape of houmous or soft goat's cheese which were fine in a savoury sandwich (not so great under marmalade ). Also preferred the oatly milk to rice as it seemed less watery.

Also, bobbybob is right, your ds may well grow out of some of these allergies faster than you imagine, as his gut heals. The probiotics you are giving him are a great idea for that. My milk allergy, or at least the life-threatening element, had gone by the time I was a year old.

And I agree with Samn - a dha and calcium supplement for you is a good idea.

Have you tried using mayonnaise instead of spread? I dislike 'spreads' very much, and got into the habit of using mayo instead when I had dairy intolerance problems. You would have to label-scan, though, because I'm sure most have all sorts of stabilisers that might include soya-derivatives. Alternatively, you could make your own (as if you had the time! ).

you poor thing! I was all set to write you a long post but SamN has been so thorough and helpful I don't think I can add to it - suffice to say i have had very similar food restrictions with my son, it made life absolutely intolerable (screaming colic and agony for months) so my heart goes out to everyone who experiences these difficulties Hummous (check supermarket ingredients - things can slip in) was a great salvation for me as something filling to eat - it's a pain since breastfeeding is such hungry work. good luck and it will all pass eventually and you will have tonnes of compassion for other struggling mums - it is the one thing that i have taken from this ordeal!

Hi Rach

'CAT' stands for 'contact another talker' and it's an option where Mumsnet forwards a message on to your e-mail. I've tried to contact you but you must have chosen not to receive messages from Mumsnet - if you turn that option off for a bit then we can exchange e-mail addresses and talk about diet further. I've been through my food diary for the last few weeks and made a list of veggie meals we've had.

It's been interesting to go back through the list! I've realised that my snacks are far more varied than my main meals. And that I depend quite a lot on speciality foods (often gluten free varieties) which may not be available in NZ. (Certainly Pure and Dietary Specials are just UK based.) But it may still be of some use to you.

It's such a shame there are no spreads in NZ which are both dairy free and soya free. I guess soya was the main dairy substitute for so long, and it's only recently that manufacturers are realising soya can be a problem for some people too.

Hoummous is a big feature in our house and I like wilbur's idea of using it for a spread. Other ideas are tahini (although it's pretty strong), avocado and various nut butters. I like cashew nut butter when I can get hold of it.

I forgot to say that I often use coconut milk in cooking - especially good for 'creamy' sauces.

And when I get round to it I bake bread - but I have to admit that lately we've been depending on shop-bought bread more often than not. It's a shame you haven't found any soya-free sliced bread - what about small local bakers where you can actually talk to them about what they are putting into the bread?

anyway, if you don't mind me e-mailing you then change that option and I'll send you my meal list, otherwise I'll post it here as another long message!!

Sam

Hi, I have allowed the option for you to contact me, please note I really appreciate this. If you are interested I have a few recipes too, they maynot be suitable for a young baby but maybe for an older child and are ones that I eat at the moment.

Hummus and tahina are very easy to make so you don't need to worry about commercially added nasties. Tahina is also rich in calcium. You need to be able to get hold of tinned chickpeas and tahina paste in jars (we can get in supermarkets, health food shops or ethnic shops in UK).

Tahina: simply blend all ingredients together:
jar of tahina paste
lemon juice (about 1 lemon's worth, but taste as you go along)
crushed garlic (about 1 clove)
salt (optional obviously if you're making it for a baby)
generous pinch of paprika.

The tahina will go lumpy and grainy at first, and won't seem to blend, but just keep mixing and scraping all the lumps into the mixture, and it will eventually become a smooth cream. You can add water if you want it thinner. Keep it in the fridge. A partially used jar of tahina paste will keep for months in the fridge.

Hummus:
can of chickpeas, drained (you can use dried chickpeas, but then you have to soak overnight and boil for 2h)
lemon juice (about 2 lemon's worth, but taste as you go along)
crushed garlic (1-2 cloves)
about half a cup of tahini (the made version, not straight from the jar)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt (needed for taste, but a baby might not miss it if you ommitted)

Blend the chickpeas in a food processor, and gradually add all the other ingredients. You can make it as rough or as smooth as you like. I like to hold back some of the chickpeas and add them almost at the end, so that the paste is mostly fairly smooth but has some lumps.

Sorry I can't be more precise about quantities, but it's something we make at home without paying much attention to exactly how we're doing it.

Basics fruit rings are now soya free (check labels in case old stock though). Do you get the updates from Allergy NZ to the mfd list?

Hi, I get updates through the mail from Allergy NZ. Are fruit rings a cereal or dried fruit type thing Bobbybob? Thanks Pretty Candles for those recipes, we do make our own hummus but didnt have a tahini recipe so will try that one out.

I presumed they were a biscuit.