Soy Free Food:
Diet Management By Choosing
Healthy Snacks
Have you been advised to start eating soy free food or soy free healthy snacks? A soybean is a legume. Botanically,the soybean and the peanut belong to the same food family, but without allergy testing there is no other way {besides experimenting, which is highly not recommended without a doctor's supervision} to confirm if you are allergic to both product lines. Included in this line is also about 30 other species of beans, peas, lentils, carob and licorice that all belong to the legume family. Do not assume because you are allergic to one or two, that you are allergic to all. There is no way to confirm a products safety without getting sensitivity tests done on each individual food. What's The Next Step After DiagnosisNow that it has been a few days to weeks after your diagnosis, you are probably starting to realize avoiding soy is not going to be as easy as you thought it was. Most people at first assume avoiding soy means no soybeans, soy oil, tofu and probably soy sauce. The reality though, soy has permeated it's way through all of the American diet in manufactured and processed foods. The list, therefore, has grown quite extensive. Soy has become very popular in the manufacturing world for its capabilities as a flavor enhancer and a texturizer. It is also very popular to use in many processed and convenience foods for its capabilities of reducing production costs by being a food extender (an additive which stretches the allowable quantity of usable product). How Do I Recognize If Soy Is PresentMany people at first assume processed foods are soy free foods because they do not see the word soy anywhere on an ingredient label. This misconception needs to be cleared up right away. Keep a copy of the avoid soy list with you at all times and use it as a safety net when reading ingredient labels.The Soy Free Food Diet - What Is AllowedThe following is a general overview by food groups what types of products are allowed for your new diet:- Milk Products: Skim, 1%, 2% and whole milk, Cheese and Yogurt
- Breads and Cereals: Check all labels on every manufactured baked good unless it specifies soy free
- Vegetables: All fresh or frozen vegetables plus canned vegetables packed in their own juice
- Fruit: All fresh or frozen fruits plus canned fruit that is packed in its own juice
- Meat/Poultry/Fish: All fresh or frozen meat, poultry and fish. Some canned tuna packed in water (check label)
- Eggs: All plain eggs
- Legumes: It is recommended you check with your doctor or allergist, most dried peas, beans, green beans, lentils, split peas, and peanuts are usually safe.
- Nuts and Seeds: Packaged plain nuts and seed, peanuts, peanut butter, pure nut butters (almond butter)
- Fats and Oils: Butter, cream, peanut oil, olive oil spray (Avoid any product that just says "oil" without revealing its source- it usually is soybean oil
- Spices, herbs and seasonings: All herbs and spices with no added ingredients
- Sweets and Sweeteners: Sugar, molasses, 100% maple syrup and honey, corn syrup, 100% pure cocoa and cocoa butter, artificial sweeteners, 100% jams and jellies
Current Consensus On Soybean OilPure soy oil is not considered allergenic but it will often get contaminated during the manufacturing process. So highly allergic people must refrain from its use also. Currently there is no way to verify its purity.Soy Lecithin is another soy product which is usually safe after the refining process because the allergens do get excluded. Again, this is a subjective answer because there is no way to confirm it. Pure-pressed, unrefined, and expeller-pressed are never "clean" soy proteins. These items all need to be discussed with your doctor before using any as a soy free food.
Return to "Soy Allergy" from "Soy Free Food".
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*Disclaimer*
This site is not intended to replace the advice and supervision of your professional medical treatment plan. Although all of the information is true and accurate to the best of our knowledge, we still recommend you carefully check all food labels before consuming any food product. We can not assume any legal responsibility for any illness obtained while following the advice contained on this site.
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