eliminating dairy and soy...help!

[zjandosmom]

My Dr thinks ds3 is allergic to dairy and soy. My son lives on yogurt, kefir, tofu, and loves his Morningstar veg breakfast sausages. I really don't know what he will eat. He will not eat meat or beans. He's pretty good with fruit and veggies. Pizza without cheese? yuck. I really would like to find him some substitutes before getting rid of all dairy/soy. Any suggestions/ideas are welcomed. Thanks

[4Blessings]

I stopped trying to substitute dairy and life got a whole lot easier.

A great cookbook is The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook http://allergycookbook.blogspot.com/

[nalo]

Unfortunately there are not any good tasting cheese alternatives IMO. It's a sad reality . However, Amy's makes a VERY good cheese-less pizza that (when I was still eating gluten) 100% satisfied my need for pizza. Do I still miss "real" pizza? Hell ya, I won't lie, but you learn to like what you CAN have. If he likes the morningstar sausage I don't see why you couldn't find a meat one that tastes the same. Our local co-op market, Whole Foods, etc. make really great breakfast sausages (fresh, not crappy processed ones) that you could probably swap out - especially if you make a homemade sausage mcmuffin or something (that used to be one of my fav breakfasts). You could do an english muffin with sausage and egg and even some fake cheese so it looks more normal. Just don't put too much 'cause it doesn't taste too good. You can make coconut milk yogurt (and then add berries or other yummy toppings) and kefir and use alternative milks (almond, rice...) for baking/cooking. Just a few thoughts.

[Alyantavid]

Just stop giving it to him. After some time, you can try introducing the subs and he probably won't protest as much.

My kids love pizza without cheese. I make my own with just sauce and pepperoni (or whatever other toppings we feel like). The cheese subs are not great and some still have dairy in them.

[kjbrown92]

how old is he? littler kids have a shorter memory, and if you take out the foods they can't have (as in out of all of the whole family's meals, so that he doesn't see them at all) and introduce others, they're pretty quick to adapt. It's easier to make other kinds of foods than to try to make things just like what you had only lacking.

[zjandosmom]

Thanks for your suggestions and ideas. He is 5 and pretty aware of what this means for him. I did have him make a special trip just Mommy and ds3 to pick out some snacks and 'milk' that he can have. He was really excited to see all different things he could have and that helped. I am assuming goats milk is different and did get some goats milk yogurt. Taking out the dairy doesn't seem too hard but the soy is really difficult. I did not know soy was in so much.

What is soy lecithin (sp?) ..that one ingredient is making this hard!

Friday is our family pizza night and he only likes cheese pizza. We'll see how that goes. I'll make him his own with sauce only and see what happens.

Thanks again and would love more info,
kathy

[nalo]

Originally Posted by zjandosmom

Thanks for your suggestions and ideas. He is 5 and pretty aware of what this means for him. I did have him make a special trip just Mommy and ds3 to pick out some snacks and 'milk' that he can have. He was really excited to see all different things he could have and that helped. I am assuming goats milk is different and did get some goats milk yogurt. Taking out the dairy doesn't seem too hard but the soy is really difficult. I did not know soy was in so much.

What is soy lecithin (sp?) ..that one ingredient is making this hard!

Friday is our family pizza night and he only likes cheese pizza. We'll see how that goes. I'll make him his own with sauce only and see what happens.

Thanks again and would love more info,
kathy

I would strongly suggest you do NO dairy. Occasionally, people who cannot tolerate cow dairy can tolerate goat or other dairy but not too many. I would take him off 100% of dairy for a few weeks. You can then trial goat dairy if you want. If he ends up fine with goat dairy you are very lucky because there are tons of delicious goat cheeses and he will never even miss cow cheese but I don't know how likely this is. Just want you to be aware.

I have never used nutritional yeast but many on here have and apparently it has a cheesy taste to it. Perhaps you could sprinkle a bit of this on his pizza for a slight cheese flavor.

Soy lecithin. Some soy intollerant people cannot tolerate this and some can. Again, I would suggest removing 100% of soy for a few weeks then trialing soy lecithin. There is a good chance he will be okay with it.

Also, be aware that dairy comes in many odd names that you need to be on the lookout for as ingredients of various things. One example is sodium caseinate which is found in almost all deli meat. You just have to be really careful.

Keep posting and good luck!

[Chinese Pistache]

I agree with Mary. Eating goat's dairy or soy lecithin right could possibly muddy the results. I would strongly suggest waiting until his system is all clear of dairy and soy (a couple weeks) and then trial the other ingredients one at a time. I think you'll get a clearer picture of what he can tolerate and what he can't.

[zjandosmom]

thank you, thank you! I will 'hide' the yogurt for now! I did not get anything with soy lecithin as I didn't really know what that was. I got him rice milk and a few crackers/snacks that were dairy-free and contained no soy. Even the Rice Cream (ice cream) had soy lecithin in it which just about produced a huge crying fit in the store! I felt so bad. The Dr did say we should see a difference in 2 weeks if it is indeed a milk/soy allergy.

My son 'craves' yogurt, milk, vegetarian options (soy) and the Dr said that that makes sense if he has an allergy. This makes no sense to me. I have zero experience with food allergies and am feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the info out there. Why would he crave the things that could be hurting him? I thought he was going to die when he found he had to give up yogurt. Seriously, he wakes up looking for his 'bannilla' yogurt. He probably eats 2 of the large containers a week.

Again, thanks for the great info and please keep it coming!
kathy

[nalo]

Originally Posted by zjandosmom

thank you, thank you! I will 'hide' the yogurt for now! I did not get anything with soy lecithin as I didn't really know what that was. I got him rice milk and a few crackers/snacks that were dairy-free and contained no soy. Even the Rice Cream (ice cream) had soy lecithin in it which just about produced a huge crying fit in the store! I felt so bad. The Dr did say we should see a difference in 2 weeks if it is indeed a milk/soy allergy.

My son 'craves' yogurt, milk, vegetarian options (soy) and the Dr said that that makes sense if he has an allergy. This makes no sense to me. I have zero experience with food allergies and am feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the info out there. Why would he crave the things that could be hurting him? I thought he was going to die when he found he had to give up yogurt. Seriously, he wakes up looking for his 'bannilla' yogurt. He probably eats 2 of the large containers a week.

Again, thanks for the great info and please keep it coming!
kathy

It's true. People often crave what they are allergic/intollerant to. Also, your DS may show some good improvement after a few weeks but even if it is *just* a dairy/soy problem it can take much longer. We had to have dairy out for a few months, plus gluten (and other things just to be safe) and lots of gut healing techniques for my DD to get to baseline. Dairy can take quite a while to get out of the system but then gut healing has to happen as well so please don't give up or think the culprit might not be dairy if things don't get better in 2 weeks. This can be a VERY long process.
Regarding treats: if you are on the west coast you can buy Coconut Dream, a delicious non-dairy ice cream. You can also make anything you would have before just by subbing rice milk or almond milk or something for regular milk and Purity Farms ghee (casein/lactose free - fine for dairy free diet) or coconut oil in place of butter.

ETA: Coconut Bliss, not Coconut Dream. Sorry.

Soy lecithin is an emulsifier I think and is in SO many things, you are right. There is just a strong chance this will be okay so don't stress about it yet. Just cut it all out then trial this in 2 weeks and see if he reacts.

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by zjandosmom

Even the Rice Cream (ice cream) had soy lecithin in it which just about produced a huge crying fit in the store!

My son 'craves' yogurt, milk, vegetarian options (soy) and the Dr said that that makes sense if he has an allergy. This makes no sense to me.

Ha- I almost had that same crying fit myself. And then I was mad- why would they put soy in rice ice cream? Why wouldn't I just buy they soy ice cream then?

I had serious dairy cravings... got off dairy because DD reacted it to it, and then had myself tested as well and it showed that I'm also allergic!! It took a couple months, but I am completely craving free now. Except for the occasional ice cream craving- but I just make some coconut milk ice cream to satisfy that.

[Chinese Pistache]

My dd eats this one without any problems: http://www.tastethedream.com/product...t/1483/204.php

[zjandosmom]

Yea, the Rice ice cream with soy really had me scratching my head. Some of the flavors had it but not all. We got the strawberry and it's really good! He made it all day yesterday with no yogurt! The only time he seemed to miss it and did get a little upset was before bed. His bedtime snack is usually yogurt. All in all I think he did really well for 'day 1'!

What do you all do for butter? He loves pasta with a little butter. I tried a little olive oil and he thought it smelled funny and wouldn't eat it. I felt so bad for him as he really wanted the Annie's mac and cheese his brothers were eating. He typically could take it or leave it with Annie's but since he couldn't he wanted it!

Thanks again for all the great info. I hope this will solve some of his health issues.
k

[kjbrown92]

My DS does olive oil with salt & pepper on his pasta.
We fry/scramble eggs in extra virgin coconut oil.
I make coconut milk yogurt (with dairy free yogurt starter). My DD will eat it plain. I like to dip bananas in it (YUM). And I use it in a lot of recipes.
We cut out our weekly pizza making dinners.
When we eat out, we do it at Red Robin or Outback, who are both good about telling you ingredients for everything and offering alternatives (most french fries in restaurants are cooked in soybean oil, unfortunately).
We use rice milk for a lot of things.
I have recipes on my blog (in my signature) if you're looking for some tried-and-true ones. You just search by allergen and it'll give you the recipes that you can use.
Good luck. It gets easier, I promise. My DS is 8.

[Handsomesmomma]

I am sorry that ds has to get off the foods that he enjoys.
I agree with everyone too about just doing your best to get him totally off for a while and see how it goes. Soy lecithin is in everything, it's true. We have been off dairy for five months and let me tell you that fake cheese does not taste the same AT ALL!! It is okay melted like in mac and cheese, but that is the soy cheese and he can't do that either. You'd think there would be some alternative out there.

And then I was mad- why would they put soy in rice ice cream?

I am still trying to figure out why wheat is added to ice cream and twizzlers!!!
Good luck

[nalo]

Instead of butter I use Purity Farms ghee. I'm sure you know that ghee is purified butter often used in Indian cooking. Don't ask me how but this is safe for a dairy-free diet. The Purity Farms brand is certified to be free of lactose and casein (the protein that causes allrgy/intollerance). I use it daily. It is not as good as the real thing but it's close. And, for a dairy free life, it's an amazing luxury. I bet your LO would not notice the difference if this was used on pasta or anything else. I will say, however, that you may want to not introduce this new item until your eliminations have been happening for a while on the *off* chance there is some reaction. There was a thread on here a while back and all of us dairy-free mamas were revelling in the fact that we get to eat ghee so I promise I'm not the only freak or something.

And, yes...wheat flour in red vines? That was a rude awakening.

[Chinese Pistache]

We also started using Purity Farms ghee (clarified butter) without any problems. They certify that all the casein (dairy protein) and lactose are removed. Otherwise, we use olive and canola oil.

My allergic dd eats pasta the way Kathy's son does.

[loveandkindness]

My 5-year-old sounds like yours -- love, love, loved yogurt and cheese. She was diagnosed in February, and she feels and acts SO much better now that it is all worth it.

I would suggest though, that in fairness to your son, you only make foods that he can eat. It won't hurt the family to go without mac 'n cheese and pizza. It will help you all be more compassionate to him, and make him feel that his needs are important to the family.

Instead of ice cream, we buy sorbet (but check, because some have dairy in them!!) and lots of popsicles. We also eats lots of fruit parfaits -- I put cut-up fruit in a sundae glass, then douse with dairy-free chocolate sauce.

You can also find dairy-free chocolate chips, dairy-free mac 'n cheese (called mac 'n Chreez), etc, at Earthfare, etc. It takes a bit of searching, but now I know exactly where to find everything, and who has the best prices.

I haven't tried making the coconut milk yogurt yet but that is next on my list to try.

Edited to add that we use Earth Balance fake butter -- it is the best non-dairy spread we have tried. But I will be trying the ghee also.

Good luck!

[nalo]

Just a quick note - doesn't Earth Balance have soy though?

[zjandosmom]

Earth balance does have soy. We will try the ghee...thanks for that info. I am struggling with how much of his restrictions to put on our other kids. I don't want them to resent him for making them give up foods they like yet I do want to be sensitive to his feelings. At this point I do want to use up the food we have (that he can't have) and take it from there. I went to the market yesterday and it was so strange not to buy yogurt, kefir, and loads of milk! Sure was nice on my bill. Made me realize how much dairy I was buying just for him...a bit shocking actually. He came down with a raging ear infection yesterday but is doing so well with his new 'diet'. I am really curious to see where we are in 2 weeks!

Loveandkindness- thanks for the info on chocolate chips! We were just looking at our farmers market yesterday for an alternative! I know he would love for me to find a chocolate sauce he can eat. I'll have to go back to Whole Foods and/or Trader Joe's and see what I can find.
thanks!