Hello again, everyone. Please remember my disclaimer from my last two posts!
I'd like to go over a few symptoms of allergic reactions. This is probably not a whole list, but it's a start. Once again, feel free add other reactions in the comment section on this post so others can know what to look for.
Flushed face
Hives or rash
Red and/or itchy skin
Swelling of eyes, face, tongue, lips, throat
Trouble breathing, speaking or swallowing
Distress
Faintness
Paleness
Weakness
Cramps
Diarrhea
Vomiting
Drop in blood pressure
Loss of consciousness
Anxiousness
Sense of doom
Rapid heartbeat
The last three are the symptoms I experience when I am toxic on soy products. I feel like a basket case when this happens.
If you have any one of these symptoms when you are exposed to an allergen, please take precautions and do what you have to do to get better! Don't wait! Get help! Your life may depend on it! Also, educate others on what to look for in your particular case. If necessary, let them know if you carry an Epi-pen and tell them where to find it and how to use it.
I have still been watching carefully. With loads of luck and the help of God, I am doing well. I am just waiting to make my one-year appointment with the cardiologist six months from now. I can hardly wait to see if I make it without an episode. If so, I am going to see what the doctor says about soy toxicity.
Take care of yourselves.
Regards.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Names of Soy-based Products
Hello, again. Please note my disclaimer…I am not a medical doctor nor do I give advice to anyone regarding health issues. I am just trying to find answers to my own mysterious medical problems.
This post will be geared toward the names of soy found in products and products I’ve found soy in. Soy is not brand name specific so don’t think that because you use a generic brand that it is safe.
I’ve scoured some sites and found lists of the hidden names of soy. A short list of these follows. If you find there are more names than I am giving to you, please feel free to post comments in my comment section. I’ll appreciate it greatly and so will many others who read these posts.
Some Names of Soy
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
Lecithin
Miso
Mono- and di-glycerides
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Natto
Natural Flavors
Soy - anything that says soy or begins with soy (cheese, fiber, flour, grits, meal. milk, oil, protein, sauce, yogurt, lecithin)
Tempeh
Tofu
Vegetable Oil
Vegetable Protein
Vitamin E - in larger words, Alpha-D Tocopherol
Okara
Yuba
Natto
Brominated Vegetable Oil
Daizu
Taho
Bulking Agent
Emulsifier
Guar Gum
Gum Arabic
Protein filler / extender
Seasoned Salt
Stabilizer
Shortening
Thickener
Vegetable Gum / Starch / Oil / Protein
OK. Now for the down and dirty part which really, REALLY shocked me. After I realized I may be poisoning myself by eating too much soy, I took a marker into my pantry and marked everything with my husband’s initial. I did this so I’d know only he can eat the stuff. So, I read labels and marked. It took me about 30 minutes, maybe more, to go through all of my foodstuff shelves and freezers. What I found was that approximately ONE-THIRD of the items I stocked I COULD EAT. I gave away three plastic grocery bags of groceries to my neighbor with an explanation about ridding my body of soy.
Here’s the kicker…the products I found soy in by just using the list above.
Flour, canned spaghetti sauce, all crackers, breads, chocolate milk powder, chocolate and regular candy (including chewing gum!), cake mixes, cream and regular soups, tuna and other canned meats, puddings, baking chips (all flavors), potato chips, pretzels, tortilla chips, cookies and other snacks, coffee creamer, tomato sauce, chicken bouillion, dry seasonings, ramen noodle soups, gravy packets, salad dressing packets, mayonnaise and salad dressing (mayo-like and for greens), worcestershire sauce, other liquid seasoning sauces, prepared baking mixes, margarines, vitamins, some fresh seasoned meats, breads, vegetable oil, processed cheeses, hydrogenated vegetable oil; all prepared frozen items, such as, frozen pizza, french fries, onion rings, pizza bites, frozen dinners, frozen whole turkey and meats (injected with stuff for flavor), ice creams, an on and on. I found I am mainly allergic to soy items I can eat.
Another issue, if you’re totally allergic to soy, is the items you put onto the outside of your body. Soaps, shampoos and conditioners, face creams, lotions, cosmetics, perfumes, etc.
PLEASE READ THE LABELS. It's easy and it's free.
A couple more of my rules is: if I can’t pronounce the ingredients, I don’t want to eat it. If the item has more than a few ingredients, then there’s soy in there somewhere. This saves me a lot of time and frustration in the grocery store. On my first trip reading labels, I spent 1-½ hours in the food section. In the middle of the grocery store, I received a phone call from my worried husband wondering where I was.
Yes, I do cook a lot for myself and my family - I always have. I do read the labels faithfully. I don’t eat out. When I eat at a relative’s house, I try to choose carefully. This is very tricky since about every product everyone uses contains soy. Relatives tend to watch what you eat and will insist on you eating a little of everything they’ve made. Find a good excuse and stick with it no matter how much they prod you to eat.
The upside of removing soy from my diet is losing two clothing sizes of what I call ‘toxic fat’. I didn’t lose but a few pounds of total mass. That doesn’t bother me as long as I see an improvement in my health.
I hope some of this either helps you or makes some sense to you. I am glad I’m not alone in my quest to lead a normal lifestyle through better eating habits. I have read many websites and postings of others who are trying to find a solution for this soy problem. Good luck to all of you!
Take care of yourself. Help yourself because no one else knows you better than you. When a mysterious affliction shows itself, always ask the question “Could I have a food allergy?”
Next post may contain allergic reactions and some easy recipes.
Regards.
Hello, again. Please note my disclaimer…I am not a medical doctor nor do I give advice to anyone regarding health issues. I am just trying to find answers to my own mysterious medical problems.
This post will be geared toward the names of soy found in products and products I’ve found soy in. Soy is not brand name specific so don’t think that because you use a generic brand that it is safe.
I’ve scoured some sites and found lists of the hidden names of soy. A short list of these follows. If you find there are more names than I am giving to you, please feel free to post comments in my comment section. I’ll appreciate it greatly and so will many others who read these posts.
Some Names of Soy
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
Lecithin
Miso
Mono- and di-glycerides
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Natto
Natural Flavors
Soy - anything that says soy or begins with soy (cheese, fiber, flour, grits, meal. milk, oil, protein, sauce, yogurt, lecithin)
Tempeh
Tofu
Vegetable Oil
Vegetable Protein
Vitamin E - in larger words, Alpha-D Tocopherol
Okara
Yuba
Natto
Brominated Vegetable Oil
Daizu
Taho
Bulking Agent
Emulsifier
Guar Gum
Gum Arabic
Protein filler / extender
Seasoned Salt
Stabilizer
Shortening
Thickener
Vegetable Gum / Starch / Oil / Protein
OK. Now for the down and dirty part which really, REALLY shocked me. After I realized I may be poisoning myself by eating too much soy, I took a marker into my pantry and marked everything with my husband’s initial. I did this so I’d know only he can eat the stuff. So, I read labels and marked. It took me about 30 minutes, maybe more, to go through all of my foodstuff shelves and freezers. What I found was that approximately ONE-THIRD of the items I stocked I COULD EAT. I gave away three plastic grocery bags of groceries to my neighbor with an explanation about ridding my body of soy.
Here’s the kicker…the products I found soy in by just using the list above.
Flour, canned spaghetti sauce, all crackers, breads, chocolate milk powder, chocolate and regular candy (including chewing gum!), cake mixes, cream and regular soups, tuna and other canned meats, puddings, baking chips (all flavors), potato chips, pretzels, tortilla chips, cookies and other snacks, coffee creamer, tomato sauce, chicken bouillion, dry seasonings, ramen noodle soups, gravy packets, salad dressing packets, mayonnaise and salad dressing (mayo-like and for greens), worcestershire sauce, other liquid seasoning sauces, prepared baking mixes, margarines, vitamins, some fresh seasoned meats, breads, vegetable oil, processed cheeses, hydrogenated vegetable oil; all prepared frozen items, such as, frozen pizza, french fries, onion rings, pizza bites, frozen dinners, frozen whole turkey and meats (injected with stuff for flavor), ice creams, an on and on. I found I am mainly allergic to soy items I can eat.
Another issue, if you’re totally allergic to soy, is the items you put onto the outside of your body. Soaps, shampoos and conditioners, face creams, lotions, cosmetics, perfumes, etc.
PLEASE READ THE LABELS. It's easy and it's free.
A couple more of my rules is: if I can’t pronounce the ingredients, I don’t want to eat it. If the item has more than a few ingredients, then there’s soy in there somewhere. This saves me a lot of time and frustration in the grocery store. On my first trip reading labels, I spent 1-½ hours in the food section. In the middle of the grocery store, I received a phone call from my worried husband wondering where I was.
Yes, I do cook a lot for myself and my family - I always have. I do read the labels faithfully. I don’t eat out. When I eat at a relative’s house, I try to choose carefully. This is very tricky since about every product everyone uses contains soy. Relatives tend to watch what you eat and will insist on you eating a little of everything they’ve made. Find a good excuse and stick with it no matter how much they prod you to eat.
The upside of removing soy from my diet is losing two clothing sizes of what I call ‘toxic fat’. I didn’t lose but a few pounds of total mass. That doesn’t bother me as long as I see an improvement in my health.
I hope some of this either helps you or makes some sense to you. I am glad I’m not alone in my quest to lead a normal lifestyle through better eating habits. I have read many websites and postings of others who are trying to find a solution for this soy problem. Good luck to all of you!
Take care of yourself. Help yourself because no one else knows you better than you. When a mysterious affliction shows itself, always ask the question “Could I have a food allergy?”
Next post may contain allergic reactions and some easy recipes.
Regards.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Introduction
Hello, everyone! I would like to begin by with a disclaimer: I am NOT a member of any medical profession. Nor do I give advice to others. I am trying to find the reason behind my one medical problem by trying to discover what causes my symptoms. With this blog, I hope to get people to pose questions to their medical doctors. The big question being "Could I possibly have a food allergy?" Remember this question and use it when there seems to be no other hope or reason for an illness.
Several years ago, I began eating soy products to help slow down the female problems that come with aging. Menopause is not a fun thing when you watch others deal with hot flashes and the miseries associated with it. I want to avoid menopause or, at least, lessen its effects. Soy was my best friend. I drank soy milk every day with my morning cereal. I ate organic frozen meals which contained soy. I ate soy nuts. Soy this and soy that. Everyday I ate something soy.
I began experiencing symptoms of nervousness, my heart racing at a fast rate, and a fear that my heart would race. I had to go to the emergency room three times last year for drugs which would return my palpitations to a normal beat. When I went in to the emergency room, I couldn't have my blood pressure taken because the machine wouldn't recognize it while my heart was beating fast. I mean, 214 beat per minute! It would let my heart race and race like this for hours because I didn't like the medicine given to me. The medicine gave my really bad breath for days, made me lethargic and made me urinate with a hot or burning sensation. DON'T DO THIS TO YOURSELF!!! GO TO THE HOSPITAL WHEN YOUR HEART BEATS THIS FAST!!! I learned from the last experience that it is not worth waiting as long as I did. I could've done terrible damage to my heart. I will get to the hospital within 30 minutes from now on if I ever get these symptoms again. PROMISE! Even though I don't like the medicine, I will never chance it again.
I had to go to a cardiologist for a check-up after being released from the hospital. My cardiologist is great and treats me with respect. I was told to cut out caffeine and chocolates the three times I went for a visit. OK. Kill me. Chocolate is one of my major food groups. They are both hard to kick, but it's worth it for good health. Then, after hearing the OTHER options for a third time - do nothing until the next attack, take blood pressure medicine every day (for the beta blockers), have an operation on my heart which would entail cutting a nerve in the center of my heart so it wouldn't double beat - it scared me because that the last option may be my option. My health was good. Nothing else was wrong with me, I was told. My emergency room visits were getting to be every three months on the nose and it annoyed me and set me back a huge chunk of money, to boot.
The changing point for me was when a co-worker called in to say she'd be late to work because her heart was racing. When she arrived to work, she said she had palpitations when she'd go to a buffet restaurant which used a lot of MSG. BINGO! I looked up MSG and guess what it was made from? SOY! The last time I had palpitations I had soy something-or-other for breakfast and washed it down with the coffee I couldn't give up at that time. So I checked what I had to eat the day I talked with my co-worker. I had toast (soy, soy oil and soy lecithin), really great chips for a snack (cooked in soy oil), my favorite organic frozen dinner for lunch (tofu and soy products). I looked up allergy websites to see what kind of symptoms show with a soy allergy. HEART PALPITATIONS was one of them. I HAVE BEEN POISONING MYSELF is what I was thinking. From that day on (early October 2006), I vowed to quit soy for at least 3 days to a week to see what would happen. I kept a journal of everything I put into my mouth. After 3 days, I was not feeling as anxious. Ok, so I kept on being soy free. After one week, it was amazing how much better I felt. It took a long while to quit thinking about when or if my next attack (as I call it) would come. It took months to get over this feeling, a feeling of dread of sorts, but I can say I'm not thinking of it now.
IF I DO HAPPEN TO EAT SOMETHING WITH SOY IN IT, I CAN FEEL THE HEART RATE GO UP. Soy is in just about everything made, today. I take my own heart rate just about every day to make sure it's not high. I count the beats for 10 seconds and multiply by 6 to give me a good approximation of beats per minute.
I have not yet gone to get tested for soy allergy. It is one of the things I will do as soon as I can. Hopefully, this will confirm that I am allergic to soy or something that happened to get cut out of my diet because I'm not eating soy.
I'm going to leave you now with all of this to think about. If you have a mysterious illness that a doctor cannot pinpoint a cause for, ask the question "Could I possibly have a food allergy?
Next time, I will tell of all the products I found soy in as well as the hidden names for soy-based products.
Regards.
Several years ago, I began eating soy products to help slow down the female problems that come with aging. Menopause is not a fun thing when you watch others deal with hot flashes and the miseries associated with it. I want to avoid menopause or, at least, lessen its effects. Soy was my best friend. I drank soy milk every day with my morning cereal. I ate organic frozen meals which contained soy. I ate soy nuts. Soy this and soy that. Everyday I ate something soy.
I began experiencing symptoms of nervousness, my heart racing at a fast rate, and a fear that my heart would race. I had to go to the emergency room three times last year for drugs which would return my palpitations to a normal beat. When I went in to the emergency room, I couldn't have my blood pressure taken because the machine wouldn't recognize it while my heart was beating fast. I mean, 214 beat per minute! It would let my heart race and race like this for hours because I didn't like the medicine given to me. The medicine gave my really bad breath for days, made me lethargic and made me urinate with a hot or burning sensation. DON'T DO THIS TO YOURSELF!!! GO TO THE HOSPITAL WHEN YOUR HEART BEATS THIS FAST!!! I learned from the last experience that it is not worth waiting as long as I did. I could've done terrible damage to my heart. I will get to the hospital within 30 minutes from now on if I ever get these symptoms again. PROMISE! Even though I don't like the medicine, I will never chance it again.
I had to go to a cardiologist for a check-up after being released from the hospital. My cardiologist is great and treats me with respect. I was told to cut out caffeine and chocolates the three times I went for a visit. OK. Kill me. Chocolate is one of my major food groups. They are both hard to kick, but it's worth it for good health. Then, after hearing the OTHER options for a third time - do nothing until the next attack, take blood pressure medicine every day (for the beta blockers), have an operation on my heart which would entail cutting a nerve in the center of my heart so it wouldn't double beat - it scared me because that the last option may be my option. My health was good. Nothing else was wrong with me, I was told. My emergency room visits were getting to be every three months on the nose and it annoyed me and set me back a huge chunk of money, to boot.
The changing point for me was when a co-worker called in to say she'd be late to work because her heart was racing. When she arrived to work, she said she had palpitations when she'd go to a buffet restaurant which used a lot of MSG. BINGO! I looked up MSG and guess what it was made from? SOY! The last time I had palpitations I had soy something-or-other for breakfast and washed it down with the coffee I couldn't give up at that time. So I checked what I had to eat the day I talked with my co-worker. I had toast (soy, soy oil and soy lecithin), really great chips for a snack (cooked in soy oil), my favorite organic frozen dinner for lunch (tofu and soy products). I looked up allergy websites to see what kind of symptoms show with a soy allergy. HEART PALPITATIONS was one of them. I HAVE BEEN POISONING MYSELF is what I was thinking. From that day on (early October 2006), I vowed to quit soy for at least 3 days to a week to see what would happen. I kept a journal of everything I put into my mouth. After 3 days, I was not feeling as anxious. Ok, so I kept on being soy free. After one week, it was amazing how much better I felt. It took a long while to quit thinking about when or if my next attack (as I call it) would come. It took months to get over this feeling, a feeling of dread of sorts, but I can say I'm not thinking of it now.
IF I DO HAPPEN TO EAT SOMETHING WITH SOY IN IT, I CAN FEEL THE HEART RATE GO UP. Soy is in just about everything made, today. I take my own heart rate just about every day to make sure it's not high. I count the beats for 10 seconds and multiply by 6 to give me a good approximation of beats per minute.
I have not yet gone to get tested for soy allergy. It is one of the things I will do as soon as I can. Hopefully, this will confirm that I am allergic to soy or something that happened to get cut out of my diet because I'm not eating soy.
I'm going to leave you now with all of this to think about. If you have a mysterious illness that a doctor cannot pinpoint a cause for, ask the question "Could I possibly have a food allergy?
Next time, I will tell of all the products I found soy in as well as the hidden names for soy-based products.
Regards.
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