4 replies to this topic

[granolagal]

So in 2010 I became a vegetarian by choice. I should state up front that I have no intentions of going back on this.

In January 2012 I went gluten-free after being diagnosed with Celiac disease. So I was a gluten-free vegetarian....okay...it was tough but I managed.

After having tummy troubles for the past 2 months, my doctor sent me to have a food intolerance test (IgG). It showed that I had an elevated response to 13 foods, and I'm borderline with 6 others. The elevated results were for:
-yeast (baker's and brewer's)
-oats
-cranberries
-cow's milk
-sheep's milk
-goat's milk
-kidney beans
and various categories of wheat.

I was flagged as borderline for:
-corn
-oranges
-peas....

I could go on and on but I'll spare you. So now I'm a dairy-free, yeast-free, oat-free, peanut-free, gluten-free vegetarian. This seems like an uphill battle. I'm going to eliminate all of the elevated foods for 2 months and then try slowly reintroducing. I guess my question is - how successful has everyone been when reintroducing foods from these kinds of tests? As a vegetarian - I really relied on dairy/oats/etc for protein... I <3 cheese!!!!! Please tell me that people out there have been successful!?!?

[foam]

Sorry but I was vegetarian for 20 years and got sicker and sicker with more and more food problems. A couple of months ago lack of calories and a general downhill slide forced me much to my disappointment and everything I believe it to eat meat again. It hasn't cured me I'll make that clear but it's improving me slightly and at least not sliding downhill any more.

Most long term Celiac prone vegetarians seem to to end in the can health wise like I did, pity about that . I did survive for many many years on less than 20 grams of protein a day near the end but it wasn't doing me any favours. I see you can still do nuts but the problem is the more you depend on something the sooner it'll go too. At this point based on my experience I'd highly recommend you nip this in the bud while you still have a chance, swap your grains and dairy for meat and hopefully live a long life.

[granolagal]

Thanks for the reply foam. Not exactly what I wanted to hear ( ) but I definitely appreciate and will consider all advice. The problem now is that I don't even like the look of meat. It makes me gag. I can't imagine having to go back on my principles especially when to do so means that I'm going to have to force myself to eat something that repulses me. Ahhhh!!!!

Still hoping there will be a knight in shining armour who may reply to my post saying they were successful at reintroducing dairy!

[foam]

Believe me, I was the hardest of hardcore vegans for a long time so the idea of meat didn't sound like fun to me either. But I was inbetween a rock and a hard place with things I could eat that didn't hurt (I still am). I'm still not well to be honest, might never be.. but I hope I will be. I just think you need to eat as much variation of highly digestible foods as possible. I know in vegetarian culture it's all about red meat doesn't digest, trust me when it comes to bad digestion red meat dissolves very well indeed

[janpell]

I am another who works very well with red meat. I found a local farmer who offers tours of his facility. It is a small family farm and they put a lot of effort into the care of the animals and ecosytem. They also have an organic garden which they grow produce for markets (owned and operated by his daugther and her family). I feel good buying from him. I won't buy cheap, mass produced meat anymore - or eggs. I don't like it.
I can't tolerate other proteins very well - many legumes, many fish, chicken and pork. Weird, because they say red meat will ruin you. Hm, I'm doing pretty good with it although I still keep it restricted to about two times/week.
I have a lot of foods that I alco can't tolerate. It's always a struggle to keep on top of it. An example would be, having say, chicken will cause red, burning flush in my face (telling me right away no) but then after being very strict on my diet, I can reintroduce and be okay. Still not sure what this means. My life is pretty much eating very strict, letting it slide (but always keeping out gluten, dairy, peanuts, soy, lower sugar and lower carb) but then then letting too many carbs, too much sugar, and my iffy foods such as chicken and nightshades. And then I start all over. I should know better, but I don't, lol. I still like the fact my family eats better than the conventional way we used to eat.