Feeling rubbish again, possibly Soya Milk

Hi all

I've been feeling really good for weeks now and have been enjoying lots of power walking and feeling very fit and happy in myself.

I had some Organic Firm Tofu a couple of weeks ago, I made some burgers with it, and for a few days after I didn't feel 100% but not too bad. This week I met a friend for a coffee and the only alternative milk to dairy (I'm a Vegan) was Soya and ever since I had that coffee on Monday I've had diarrhoea and nausea. Has this happened to anyone else that has eaten/drunk a soya product?

[Maureen1958]

I'm not good with soya either. When I was trying out the various alternatives milks, I avoided the soya ones.

[Hidden in reply to Maureen1958]

Thank you for your reply Maureen1958 , hope you don't mind me asking but what symptoms do you get?

[Maureen1958 in reply to Hidden]

Well I haven't had soya for a long time, since when I was mainly IBS(D), so it would have given me more urgency and probably made me go more than usual (like fibre might). Oh and yes nausea would have gone hand in hand with that.

[Hidden in reply to Maureen1958]

Thank you very much for your further response Maureen, very much appreciated. I think this now answers that the soya milk I had on Monday has contributed to me feeling rubbish since.

Hope all's good with you.

[Sheeniejay]

I can't eat dairy because I am severely intolerant of whey - it's of allergy proportions without anaphylactic shock. I don't have a soya intolerance but I do feel decidedly off when I have soya - ranging from headaches to nausea, depending on which form or brand. Check the ingredients though too - often it can be the preservative, the gums etc Only have pure products. I have Isola Bio unsweetened almond milk and Rude Health cashew milk & no problems. I'm toying with trying soya cheese or tempu or natto to see if that is better, but I suspect it's just a thing I should avoid.

[Hidden in reply to Sheeniejay]

Thank you very much for your reply Sheeniejay . Fortunately I don't have dairy as I'm a Vegan, I changed my diet to Vegan to improve my health but around a month after changing I got food poisoning and it upset my system completely and am almost back to normal but not quite. Sounds like you really do suffer though if you have dairy. Think I may stay off soy and look at making my own again but look to see what's the most cost effective i.e. the decent plant milks or making my own. I'm going to stay off soya all together as I have to admit I didn't enjoy the tofu I had last week which also upset my tummy even though it was organic.

[Stuart24]

Hello, yes it is the soya bean that is bad, soya lecithin (whatever that is) seems to be ok. If it just says soya or soy it means the whole bean. And the coffee wouldn't help either. Best move to decaff. Almond milk is fine.

[Hidden in reply to Stuart24]

Thank you for your reply Stuart24 , I'm starting to get the gist that it's the soya bean, think I'll just steer clear from it. Fortunately I've been having decaf coffee for a long time as I react quite badly to caffeine, I get acute nausea with it. I'll stick to the Almond and Cashew Nut milks that I have.

[AmandaJW]

I stick to unsweetened almond milk, but like you I've been caught out when meeting friends for coffee and only soya milk is available. I end up with nausea, upset stomach, pain and bloating. Some places now offer unsweetened soya milk and I tried it, I had no problems at all, so for me it's sweetened soya milk that causes problems. However I make sure that I don't have unsweetened soya milk more that twice a week, I keep it as a treat.

[Hidden]

Thank you AmandaJW for your very helpful reply, that's exactly how I've been this week from having a coffee with soya, it was a decaf coffee as well. Would you mind letting me know how long your symptoms last?

Thank you

[AmandaJW in reply to Hidden]

It usually lasts for 3 days, the 1st day is the most severe and then it tapers off. So if I drank it on Monday I wouldn't feel better until Thursday. Do you think it could be the decaff coffee as well? The reason I'm mentioning it is because it causes lots of problems for me but regular coffee is ok. I know we are all different but it might be worth looking into, it could be both causing you problems not just the soya milk.

[Hidden in reply to AmandaJW]

Thank you for your reply AmandaJW which is very helpful. I do love my coffee and only drink decaf as I cannot tolerate caffeine at all. I do sometimes wonder if it's the make of coffee that could affect me i.e. I bought some decaf ground in a tin, Illy Espresso Ground Coffee, which was decaf and it's really lovely and I don't seem to have a problem at all drinking that but I also have one in my cupboard at the moment which is Aldi's own make and I don't feel 100% so maybe it's the coffee as well as the Soya. I had some Tofu about 3 weeks ago now, I made some burgers with it and I wasn't very well after eating it.

[arty_1]

I seem to be okay with Soya myself. But as I’ve read it’s not meant to be good, I went on oat milk (when trying FODMAP diet) which doesn’t have the nutty taste that almond milk has. I actually detested the almond milk in tea and coffee. As I’ve taken things off FODMAP diet and reintroduced certain things, I’m back on normal diary milk, but I have the ‘filtered milk’, such as Cravendale, that’s so my whole family can drink it as well. Lots of supermarkets do have their own version, fractionally costs more than normal dairy milk. Some coffee shops in U.K. now also serve lactose free coffees as well

[Hidden in reply to arty_1]

Thank you arty_1 , for your reply, much appreciated. Yes I've read a few things on line and wrote on here to hear about people's experience with Soya Milk. I'm a Vegan so therefore only have plant milks, sorry I should have said I was a Vegan. I changed to a Vegan diet to improve my health and it was certainly working until I had food poising then it all went pear shaped as they say. I'm pretty sure that Soya is a problem as I reacted to Tofu as well.

I'm really going to have to follow the FODMAP diet properly as I've only been doing it bit by bit. I did go and see a Nutritionist and she said that I had a high sensitivity to gluten, wheat, rye, barley, Formalin (a preservative), cow's milk and a medium sensitivity to peas. I've since tested these findings inadvertently as I had a Vegan Magnum in August and I was poorly that very same night and the following morning so thought I would check the packet and it listed pea protein so that was the answer to that one and then I went out for a meal with a friend about 5 weeks ago and decided to have spaghetti (the reason for that was because I had been eating sourdough bread with no issue whatsoever), I reacted to the spaghetti for about 2 weeks which wasn't pleasant. Sourdough is fine with me because of the fermentation process, I have a Spelt sourdough starter in my kitchen which is doing really well, can't wait to make the bread.

Once again, thank you for your reply.

[arty_1 in reply to Hidden]

Oh okay re. Vegan. Try the oat milk. That was the best for me

[Hidden in reply to arty_1]

Thank you, I may give that a try.