I had removed all soy from daughters diet and did not see a difference in her constipation that will not go away. Actually she is going everyday now, which is an improvement from before she went gluten-free/CF, but they are still really big, hard and float?????? Well I put soy back in her diet and now the tummy aches and bad moods have definitely returned. So my question is, I am not sure what actual soy ingredients to remove. Soybean oil, soy lecithin, soy flour, vegetable oil, soybeans, all of it??? It is so frustrating because it REALLY limits her. She loves the envirokidz stuff, all has soy. She loves the Vans waffles....soy. Get the message? Also why is she still haveing the hard big poops even when I took soy away too? Or does it take more than 3 weeks?

Thanks for any info!!! And I will do whatever is needed for her to feel better, it is just so darn hard sometimes....

try removing corn from her diet. corn constipates both my kids and myself. Sorry, to make it harder on you.

well how long has she been gluten-free? I do not think that soy is good for anyone - all forms of soy.
I would definitely take away all soy. Well the thing with corn is that it acts like a grain for some of us & can cause problems. Corn is insidious & hard to get out of your diet. I have been gluten-free almost 4 years & can tolerate some corn meal, occasionally. But I have been mostly corn syrup free for almost two years. This entails making my own ketchup etc. About the only corn syrup that I have is in some chocolate candies & mayo - have not replaced my mayo yet. there is also some soy in mayo...

I react to some things that are made out of corn worse than others. I am really allergic to mannitol - it gives me an immediate headache. I can eat fresh corn on the cob with no problems. But before I was gluten-free I could not eat corn at all. I still cannot eat canned corn. So I think that not all corn products are the same. I think the things manufactured out of corn are really not good for us, especially high fructose corn syrup. Just try buying anything processed without high fructose corn syrup, it is in everything.

Also, I would advise no processed foods for a bit, which would include gluten free cereals & the like. This might be only a temporary situation, hence why I asked how long she has been gluten-free.

My guess is that the bowel problems are from grains. I think that if you eliminate grains (including corn for a while), soy, & dairy that she will improve very quickly.

I think it is better to "strive" to eat whole foods & more the Paleo way...

Soy is a tricky thing to remove. And I have found that there seems to be varying levels of reactions to soy products between my dd and myself. For example, we both seem to do fine with soy lecithin. We both react strongly to soybean oil, gluten-free soy sauce, and many of the items that contain soy flour or larger amounts of soy protein isolate. The Envirokidz products....neither of us can cope with most of those. But then again, I also strongly suspect they have major milk contamination, especially on their cereal bars. Dd and I can tolerate their gluten-free cereals though such as Gorilla Munch, Koala Krispies, and Panda Puffs. We also seem to do okay with Glutino pretzels...which contain soy flour. Yet if we go to another product with soy flour, there's a noticable reaction. I don't know why that is.

The only thing I can suggest is to try pulling it all out for a couple of weeks and then introduce one soy ingredient at a time (this is how I did it). I'd add the lecithin in back first as usually, it's the most benign.

It's funny but, one of our allergists told us that soybean oil should be okay. Neither of us can tolerate a single drop! lol! I really believe that everyone is unique in how they react. And I also think that there can be a difference in reaction when it comes down to overall quantity of the food consumed as well as how often it is consumed. For example, we can use the Earth Balance Buttery Spread which contains soy protein. Optimally I use a little bit every 2-3 days. If I were to use it two or three times per day, every day, I notice slight GI symptoms in both my dd and myself. It's nothing compared to our reaction to other soy products, but it's enough to make me limit our exposure as much as I can.

I'm sure you'll find the same to be true for your dd. Just bear in mind that it may take several weeks for the GI symptoms to completely disappear once you remove all soy. Once you have a "clean slate", you will be able to see the pattern more easily and refine your dd's diet.

OMG talk about overwhelming! Thanks for the help and suggestions, guys. Okay so the gluten-free/CF part of her diet has been since the end of Nov 2007, saw immediate diet response then. GI symptoms, behavior, sleep and dark circles all improved very quickly. A couple months later the symptoms started to return, although I think she only really got a break from the hard big, floaty poops for a couple weeks. Thats when we began to use milk of mag. And let me just say that I am VERY careful but my house is not gluten-free. She has her own pots, pans, shelves for food, dog and cat food is changed, art stuff ect ect. There has been a few CC mishaps when hubby has prepared her food.... Oh and one more thing, since Nov she has gained 2 pounds and half an inch after not growing for a year!

So end of Jan I took out soy, did not notice a difference and her poops still hard, big, and floaty(although she goes every day whereas before she went every 3 days). So 3 weeks later soy back in but now I notice tummy aches and behavior are back, they were gone with soy gone. But the hard, big, poos just do not seem to go, unless she takes Mirilax(dr said to use). Can this be good to keep using? So I am seeing that I may also need to remove corn? OMG it is in everything too!!! Yikes. I guess the snack foods and cereal box foods are the biggest issues, especially for a 4yr old. I will try anything at this point because the poops cause her to bleed too........

Thanks guys!!!

You should read the book "Omnivores Dilema" you will have second thoughts about corn & processed foods...

Often floating poop means there's a lot of fat in the poop, which signifies malabsorption. This can happen with intestinal damage. If your daughter's intestines were damaged to the point of causing malabsorption (which it must have been since you said she wasn't growing properly), then it will take quite some time for the intestines to heal, a few weeks is not long enough for that, but it shoudlnt' take too too long with a 4 year old is my guess. Just be careful of all processed foods, and also hard to digest real food like beans and nuts which can be harsh on a damaged intestinal tract. Also be careful of food additives/dyes and MSG as these molecules pass through damaged gut and go through the blood brain barrier and can cause behavior issues etc.

The reason you have to also avoid soy is because the body can't tell the difference between the proteins of gluten, casein, and soy..they are only different by a couple amino acid sequences. Alot of people report that after thier body heals, they can sometimes add soy and dairy back in, but not gluten. Personally, i'll never add dairy back to my diet, too many other problems with dairy products for me.

I've been GFCF now for 3 months, and i'm feeling like maybe i'm also reacting to corn now...which will be hard because i've been relying on corn tortillas and corn chips with my hummus and guacomole! And to try to get my 8 yr old daughter who is also GFCF to stop corn will be really hard, but she's not improving enough so I think there is some other sensitivity and it's probalby corn.

good luck,
Liz