Parent Warning: Hidden Soy Allergies

I am eliminating all soy from my daughter's diet because she has a severe peanut allergy. This is a great challenge because it means a lifestyle change... This is just not a risk I'm willing to take.

Here is what it boils down to:

SOURCE
http://www.allergies-asthma-sinus-relief.org/allergy/soy-allergens.php


1. If your child is allergic to peanuts, you must eliminate all soy as well as all peanuts from your child's diet. Your child's life may depend upon it.

2. Because the numbers of children with allergies to peanuts are increasing, we can expect to see greater numbers of children and adults reacting severely to soy. Peanuts and soybeans are members of the same botanical family, the grain-legume type and scientists have known for years that people allergic to one are often allergic to the other. Other children at risk for an undetected but potentially life-threatening soy allergy include those with allergies to peas, lima beans or other beans, a diagnosis of asthma, rhinitis, eczema or dermatitis, or family members with a history of any of those diseases. Reactions to foods in the same botanical family can be cumulative, resulting in symptoms far more severe than either alone.

3. Even Soy-Lecithin (which is considered hypoallergenic) can cause a reaction.
The industry newsletter The Soy Connection states that highly refined oils and lecithin "are safe for the soy-allergic consumer." Unfortunately, many allergic persons who have trusted such reassurances have ended up in the hospital. Highly susceptible people cannot use either safely. Adverse reactions to soy oils -- taken either by mouth as food or via tube feeding -- range from the nuisance of sneezing to the threat of anaphylactic shock.

4. There is strong evidence that soy allergies are on the rise because of genetic engineering.

5. The Mayo Clinic concurs that soy induced anaphylaxis is more likely to occur in those who have a peanut allergy. http://www.foodallergyangel.com/documents/FoodAllergy/Mayo%20Clinic%20Soy%20Allergy.pdf

6. The only way to avoid reaction is through avoidance.

7. In January 2006, the American Heart Association reversed its endorsement and position on soy.

Please read this: http://allergykids.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/soys-role-in-the-peanut-allergy-what-european-mothers-already-know/