Dairy/Soy Sensitivity and Breastfeeding
I have never written about this before but my son is dairy and soy sensitive. This means that I have had to eliminate all dairy and soy from my diet as I breastfeed. My son was especially sensitive to soy, and I was shocked to discover all the things that I could not eat. Some say soy oil and soy lecithin should not trigger a reaction, but I can say with confidence that it did, in fact, affect my son. I also found out that my calcium supplements and prenatal vitamins had soy as he would react each time I took them. This greatly impacted my feelings about breastfeeding but in the end I am so glad that we persevered. That’s a post for another time though. I recently put together a list of dairy and soy free foods for another mom going through this and then I realized I should post it here. The following is pretty much what I lived on until just recently when baby boy finally began to outgrow these sensitivities. All foods are dairy and soy free, including soy oil and soy lecithin. This list is meant as a starting point, recipes change all the time, please check the labels for yourself.
Food for Life Ezekiel 7 sprouted grains bread (refrigerator section, most other varieties of their bread have sprouted soybeans)
Earth balance dairy/soy free butter–it honestly tastes like the real thing
Earth balance peanut butter. I’m not a fan of the kind of PB you have to stir. This has palm fruit oil and is sweetened with agave.
Enjoy Life foods: my faves: rice milk chocolate bar, and their cookies. Not a fan of the bagels, granola bars are ok but at least there ate options.
Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream–most flavors are soy free and clearly marked when they are. Delish.
Crispy Wheat Back to Nature crackers
Hellmans canola oil mayo
Panko bread crumbs do not have soy
Pacifica broth
Applegate farms sausages
Kraft Italian extra virgin olive oil dressing
Solgar vegetarian vitamins are soy,dairy, and wheat free