Strict vegetarian avoiding soy...HELP!?!

Strict vegetarian avoiding soy...HELP!?

I need to eliminate soy from my life. Sad, but true. Can anyone with soy allergies help me out with some advice? I don't consume any animals products at all (well, except for honey). I'm mostly wondering about margarines (as healthy as possible if there is such a thing) and dressings. It pretty much seems like when it comes to anything even remotely creamy (Vegenaise, dairy-free ranch, goddess dressings, etc.) it's either soy or nothing. If you avoid soy like the plauge and are also a strict vegetarian, please help me with some advice and helpful hints. I'm becoming depressed!

1 day ago
Does anyone know of any general products they keep handy for adding creaminess to potatoes, soups, etc. that is NOT dairy or soy???

1 day ago
Re; above detail, something a bit thicker than almond or rice milk.

1 day ago
Has anyone tried thickening nut milks or rice milk with somthng to use as a base for dressings?

1 day ago
GreenGhost:
No one has "convinced" me of anything. All the pieces have fit together with my own symptoms. I started having hives and suspected a soy allergy, as it was the ONLY thing different that I had added to my diet recently. When I tested this theory by consuming a large quantity of soy, to see if my hive would worsen, I got a huge lump in my throat that scared the hell out of me because I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to breathe. So, I cut out major sources of soy (burgers, milk, etc.), but my hives didn't go away. The other day I splurged and had tacos made with soy and guess what? I got the lump in my throat again. So I spent hours researching and you know what I found?

...

1 day ago
The thyroid is exactly in the spot I have been having swelling.

Chronic hives can be an indication of thyroid problems.

Soy can aggravate thyroid problems.

I don't think I'm really reaching here. It would be awfully coincidental that shortly after GREATLY increasing my soy intake I suddenly get non-allergy hives which can be linked to thyroid issues and my thyroid starts swelling.
As I mentioned in the anti-soy question you referenced, I don't know if soy caused the issue or not. I doubt it. But, I am convinced (from my OWN experience) that it aggravated it. I think there is such a thing as too much soy and I'm not taking a chance. I'll make my own dressings and make bean burgers instead of soy, thanks. I'm going with common sense here.

My blood test results came back this afternoon and show a high number for TSH. I've been referred to an endocrinologist.

Believing everything the soy industry says seems just as silly as believing everything Weston Price says.

1 day ago
As for iodine, I picked up some kelp supplements because I, too, thought maybe there was an iodine deficiency at work here. But I live in America. Everything has iodized salt in it. The chance that I'm iodine deficient is pretty slim. I took two doses and then decided to wait and see what the doctor advised since I read that dosing yourself with iodine supplements could exacerbate the problem.

17 minutes ago
Greenghost: Thank you for the info. I had indeed assumed that processed foods were supplying me with iodine. I tried an iodine patch test. I don't know how reliable it could possible be, but the iodine stain was gone from my body within an hour. At this point I don't know what to think. Maybe whatever issue I'm having is there by hereditary, made worse by lack of iodine and went into full effect because of going from soy sometimes to soy several time a day every day. I realize there's been studies done that support your pro-soy stance, but I know what happened to ME when I ate large quanties of soy recently. The swelling of my thyroid is directly related to when I've eaten a lot of soy. I only got these symptoms (swelling and hives) when I started eating way more soy. I believe my own body's reaction more than I do any test at this moment. I do thank you though and I will be more critical and look for bias when reading anti-soy lit in the future.

Hi, sweetie. I had a hunch you would be dealing with this! I avoid soy in all forms. For vegetable shortning, I use Spectrum organics palm oil (super expensive, but worth it) For creaminess, I use a tahini paste alot (I just buy sesame seeds in bulk and whirl them up in the blender with a little sesame oil) You can add creaminess to alot of things with the tahini. I also make my own rice and nut milks, and usuallly add some sesame and flax to that for a bit more richness. For dressings, I use sunflower oil and the nutmilks, but I thicken it with tahini or nutritional yeast. Soy is SO hard to avoid, because its in everything-including many cosmetics, shampoos, cleansers, etc. You can also make a paste or butter from sunflower seeds or flax seeds for adding a creamy texture to things. I had to rethink my stance on milk because of so many other dietary restrictions-now, I use raw, organic milk, fresh from my happy, well pampered cow. I churn the cream into butter and make cheese with it-I sometimes add cream to different dressings. Perhaps you could find a local source? I hope this helps a bit. Consider yourself lucky, though, my dear. I have to avoid wheat, eggs, and many other foods too. It sucks! Also keep in mind that most vegetable oils are soy based. edit: you can thicken rice or nut milk with a little tapioca starch or corn starch-just preheat the milk, disolve the starch in a little cold milk, then stir the cold into the hot-stir for about a minute over medium heat-the only problem with this is that is does seperate when you refrigerate, so it has to be used right away