Posted by Elizabeth on February 14, 2002, at 2:28:36
In reply to Any experiences with soy products and MAOI?, posted by curious on February 13, 2002, at 15:28:02
Never tried tofu, but I used soy sauce regularly when taking MAOIs and didn't have any problems (I checked my blood pressure the first few times to make sure). Protein-containing foods are variably susceptible to degradation leading to production of tyramine (from the tyrosine in the proteins). With some, it depends quite a lot on the freshness, as IsoM points out. Liver is one food that is theoretically safe when fresh, but in practice it appears to become unsafe (via contamination) very easily -- lots of people seem to have reactions to liver.
I put soy products in the "exercise caution" category. If I were in your position, I would try eating a bit of tofu and checking my blood pressure, then increasing the amount of tofu gradually (continuing to check BP). Remember that one trial isn't enough; even with "dangerous" foods, you sometimes won't have a reaction, but that doesn't mean that you can count on being able to eat them any time.
Reactions to miso soup have been reported.
HTH
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:94014
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020208/msgs/94096.html