) I guess the next on will be Poland then...
Post by Mech on Jan 31, 2011 23:33:49 GMT -5
So while I was out on a quick trip to OfficeMax to pickup some stuff, I remembered I wanted to make this really awesome tofu based lasagna tomorrow night and I decided to stop by the store on my way home to pickup the stuff I was missing for the recipe, along with some other general food stuffs.
The usual lettuce, peppers, apples, tofu, a vegetable tray, Progresso Lentil Soup (mmmmm), hummus and some crackers. (I'm Vegan by the way, in case you haven't noticed.) Then I thought "You know, since I don't drink milk these days, I should pickup some soy milk. I hear that stuff actually tastes semi-decent these days."
So I pickup a carton of "Silk" soy milk "Very Vanilla" flavor. I decide to have half a glass when I get back home. Low and behold, it actually tastes really good - like a vanilla milk shake sort of. About 5 minutes pass, and then...
.. lips start getting tingly. Hmm. Oh well.
About a minute later:
.. mouth is starting to get tingly too, and my lips are really itchin' now. Strange.
Another minute goes by:
.. throat starts getting really itchy like my mouth and lips are. Well, this is just plain out uncomfortable. Could it be the soy milk?
A few minutes later:
.. well I don't have to worry about my throat tingling anymore because now it's just flat out completely numb and it's starting to get hard to swallow. Ok, panic.
"Could it have been the soy milk? Strange... I eat a lot of soy based products and never had this happen before. But wait, I remember reading that soy milk isn't 'cooked' like other soy products are when it's manufactured, so the soy-protein is still very much intact."
Ok, it's the soy milk. Think think think. My body thinks the soy protein is a raging infection, so it's mass producing histamine at an alarming rate to counter it, and that is what's causing the swelling. I need an anti-histamine.. Ah ha! Benadryl!
<Rummages through medicine cabinet throwing bottles left and right, finds Benadryl and downs 2 tablets worth while my throat still works.>
Few minutes later everything starts to ease up. I look online to find out that I was right about Soy Milk - the protein in many soy products is pretty much "dead" when you consume them because of the manufacturing process, so they can't affect people who react negatively to them. Soy milk, however, is not really "cooked" when it's being made so it's still loaded with the protein. For most people, this isn't a problem and their bodies can handle it. For many other people, however, their immune systems think that this soy-protein is an infection so it's starts trying to counter it immediately, which is what causes all of the swelling and itching - especially if you're allergic to histamine. Apparently if you don't treat the reaction quick enough, your airways can be constricted and it's lights out if you don't make it to the emergency room quick fast and in a hurry.
Lesson learned: Always have some type of anti-histamine in your medicine cabinet. If it's only a mild reaction, it can fix the problem entirely if taken quickly enough. If it's a severe reaction, it can buy you 5-10 more minutes to get medical help. Left untreated, a soy allergy can mean lights-out for you within minutes to an hour!
Moral of the story: Soy milk is evil. And Benadryl makes me really really sleepy. Time to go pass out for the night!
The usual lettuce, peppers, apples, tofu, a vegetable tray, Progresso Lentil Soup (mmmmm), hummus and some crackers. (I'm Vegan by the way, in case you haven't noticed.) Then I thought "You know, since I don't drink milk these days, I should pickup some soy milk. I hear that stuff actually tastes semi-decent these days."
So I pickup a carton of "Silk" soy milk "Very Vanilla" flavor. I decide to have half a glass when I get back home. Low and behold, it actually tastes really good - like a vanilla milk shake sort of. About 5 minutes pass, and then...
.. lips start getting tingly. Hmm. Oh well.
About a minute later:
.. mouth is starting to get tingly too, and my lips are really itchin' now. Strange.
Another minute goes by:
.. throat starts getting really itchy like my mouth and lips are. Well, this is just plain out uncomfortable. Could it be the soy milk?
A few minutes later:
.. well I don't have to worry about my throat tingling anymore because now it's just flat out completely numb and it's starting to get hard to swallow. Ok, panic.
"Could it have been the soy milk? Strange... I eat a lot of soy based products and never had this happen before. But wait, I remember reading that soy milk isn't 'cooked' like other soy products are when it's manufactured, so the soy-protein is still very much intact."
Ok, it's the soy milk. Think think think. My body thinks the soy protein is a raging infection, so it's mass producing histamine at an alarming rate to counter it, and that is what's causing the swelling. I need an anti-histamine.. Ah ha! Benadryl!
<Rummages through medicine cabinet throwing bottles left and right, finds Benadryl and downs 2 tablets worth while my throat still works.>
Few minutes later everything starts to ease up. I look online to find out that I was right about Soy Milk - the protein in many soy products is pretty much "dead" when you consume them because of the manufacturing process, so they can't affect people who react negatively to them. Soy milk, however, is not really "cooked" when it's being made so it's still loaded with the protein. For most people, this isn't a problem and their bodies can handle it. For many other people, however, their immune systems think that this soy-protein is an infection so it's starts trying to counter it immediately, which is what causes all of the swelling and itching - especially if you're allergic to histamine. Apparently if you don't treat the reaction quick enough, your airways can be constricted and it's lights out if you don't make it to the emergency room quick fast and in a hurry.
Lesson learned: Always have some type of anti-histamine in your medicine cabinet. If it's only a mild reaction, it can fix the problem entirely if taken quickly enough. If it's a severe reaction, it can buy you 5-10 more minutes to get medical help. Left untreated, a soy allergy can mean lights-out for you within minutes to an hour!
Moral of the story: Soy milk is evil. And Benadryl makes me really really sleepy. Time to go pass out for the night!
