Vegan With Soy Allergy
Posted by johnnyv on May 12, 2007 · Member since May 2007 · 1 posts
Hey everybody,
I was wondering, my girlfriend is trying to go vegan and has developed a rash on her hands. So she thought it might be the soy intake.
So now that she stopped eating soy for a week, the rash has gone down quite a bit. This makes for a sad vegan who wants protein. I know that beans are a good source, but what about the tofu scramble or the tempeh, are there any alternatives to that stuff without soy. She thinks she needs to go back to dairy for her protein. We're kind of in a pinch, and I want to help her stay off of animal products.
Any help on this topic is greatly appreciated.
I think you'll need to look to protein complimentaries. This is getting about 1/3 from legumes and 2/3 from whole grains. Black beans and brown rice will give you the same, high quality usable protein as tofu. While tofu's protein is of high quality, on a par with animal products, there is not a lot of it. Tofu is not high protein in and of itself, but what it has is excellent. You can duplicate this with beans and whole grains.
You could also look on the web for antique types of beans. They are not what you find in the grocery store and they are fun looking, pretty colors. They are higher in protein than what you get with your standard bean.
Think black beans and rice, pintos and polenta, red beans and rice, quinoa and lentils, etc. You can also try rice milk instead of soy.
A rash on the hands is suspect for all kinds of other things, however. You might look up the symptoms of a soy allergy. Most, though not all, systemic reactions that cause rashes, begin with trunk (body) rashes that spread to the extremities. I am not a doctor by any means, but if this were my reaction, I'd be thinking of contact dermatitis in the absence of throat swelling, digestive complaints and a trunk rash, but then I tend to treat my problems intuitively and homeopathically.
I highly recommend Becoming Vegan. It is written by nutritionists and provides info on pretty much everything nutrition-related with vegan diets. It provides the nutritional breakdown of certain foods and provides animal-product nutrition info for comparison. It provides a number of these comparisons so you aren't limited in the types of foods that you know the nutritional info for (some books only talk about soy-based things, nuts, and beans...this talks about all food groups). I bought mine off of Amazon and it was pretty cheap (like $12 or $13). It's an invaluable resource.
A few protein comparisons that the book provides are:
1 cup of lentils has almost 18g protein vs. 1 cup of milk has 8g protein.
1 cup of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) has almost 15g protein vs. 1 egg has 5g protein.
Here's a cool equation to find out your recommended protein intake:
1) weight in pounds divided by 2.2 to get weight in kg (or, just take your weight in kg)
2) multiply your weight in kg by 0.9--this gives you the number of grams of protein recommended for your weight
Ex. Weight in pounds: 110
Weight in kg: 50
50 x 0.9 = 45g protein/day
People get really caught up in "getting enough protein" when really, most people (namely omnis) eat way too much protein (it's only supposed to make up 10-15% of one's caloric intake). As long as she's eating enough calories and isn't a junk-food-a-holic, she is likely already getting enough protein.
Another book I recommend is The China Study (also way cheap on Amazon...can you tell I love Amazon?). Top-notch researchers put this together, and it talks about all of the health problems associated with animal-based diets. One of the researchers was actually part of a nutritional campaign in developing countries that pushed the protein thing, only to later find out that the kids on these protein programs were developing liver cancer...yikes!
If you suspect an allergy you should seek professional advice. I decided to become a vegetarian thinking I would create better health for myself. Unfortunately, I nearly died doing so. It turns out that I am allergic to soy, peanuts, green beans, peas, garbanzo beans, legumes, lima beans almost all tree nuts, avocado, corn & oats. This is by skin and blood testing. Because I was allergic to soy and intensified the use of it and legumes without rotation I developed a cross reaction to all related foods. This is rare and not the typical scenario.
It's been five years & I miss everything except soy. 80% of soy is genetically modified (genetically altered with brasil nut & animal protein). Monsanto has genetically changed it to accept the herbacide Round-up. Most soy products must go through procesing by petroleum solvent extraction, solvent removal, degumming, refining, bleaching (animal byproducts), deodorizing etc. to become, soy milk, flour, TSP, margarine, protein powder etc. Soy is mainly grown in America as animal feed. Human food markets represent less than 10% of it's original intended use. That goes against any vegan principles I had hoped to adhere to.
If you are serious about being vegan and are concerned with possible allergy to soy, seek help before your only diet options are meat & dairy.