Cross Reacting Diet?

[hannisa]

Hi,

 

I'm having a bad time, having been stable for quite a while. I'm not sure what glutened me, but I suspect it was some processed soup (supposed to be gluten-free, but.....)

 

Since then I haven't recovered. Normally it takes 4 days or a week, but it's 2 weeks on and I'm still struggling. I'm already extremely thin, and I'm losing weight because of the reaction.

 

I've found a website that says you can cross-react to a long list of other foods:

 

 

• Amaranth
• Buckwheat
• Chocolate
• Coffee
• Corn
• Dairy ie Milk and Cheese (Alpha-Casein, Beta-Casein, Casomorphin, Butyrophilin, Whey Protein)
• Egg
• Hemp
• Millet
• Oats
• Polish wheat
• Potato
• Rice
• Sesame
• Sorghum
• Soy
• Tapioca
• Teff
• Yeast

So I'm tempted to go on an extreme diet, but I'm also worried about losing more weight. Can anyone suggest foods that I can definitely eat safely to help my gut recover?

 

Thank you!!!

[cyclinglady]

Rotation, rotation, rotation!  If you suspect allergies (or already know of some), you'll need to rotate your foods to 1) calm down the "fire" inflammation and 2) prevent other allergies from developing.  There are plenty of websites that discuss four day or seven day rotational food diets.  

 

Good luck!

 

 

[kareng]

There is no real scientific evidence for this " cross- reactive" foods to gluten.

[GFinDC]

Hi Hannisa,

 

If you spend a little while reading the signatures of people on the forum, you will see that many of us have food intolerances beyond just gluten.  But they are not all the same.  Some people react to soy, to nightshades, some to corn, some to eggs, some to dairy, etc.  It varies by the person.  So one diet that fits all is not possible.  As far as your own individual food reactions go, you may want to try and elimination diet.  That is a pretty good way to figure them out.

[hannisa]

OK, thanks guys. I've always felt pretty positive about having celiacs - you just gotta avoid the gluten and you're fine - but it's obviously not that simple.

 

I've also remembered that I've been taking high strength Vit C the last few days to avoid catching a bug that my family has. I know Vit C can upset the stomach if you take too much, so maybe that hasn't helped either.

[1desperateladysaved]

Have you tried coconut milk?  It has many nutrients and energizing fat.

 

Nuts can add nutrients and energy if you tolerate them.

 

Avocados help load me with energy; they aren't my favorite taste.

 

Diana

[dilettantesteph]

I had problems with a lot of foods too and people suggested other food intolerances and that cross reacting stuff.  What I found was that a certain food item from one source would make me sick, and then if I got it somewhere else, it wouldn't.  I figured out that I was reacting to low levels of gluten contamination.  My GI told me how some celiacs react to lower levels of gluten than others.  Some can't tolerate the tiny amounts allowed in gluten-free foods.  Learning that made all the difference and I was able to take steps to get healthy again.  

 

Whether it be low level sensitivity, or other food intolerances, the food/symptom journal along with challenge/elimination diets is the way to find safe food to eat.  Keep track of sources of food as well as what they are.  It is easier if you keep it more simple with fewer ingredients and fewer sources of possible cc.  Produce and unprocessed meats accomplish this.  Be patient and confident that you will be able to solve this problem.  It will just take some time.

[hannisa]

Thank you both. It's good to get advice from some real experts because I have a feeling my doctor would just be sympathetic but quite useless.

 

I like avocados and nuts, so I'll try having more of them. I'm in the UK and coconut milk, as far as I know, comes in tins with additives and sometimes thickened. Not sure if this is what you have in mind, but I will have a closer look when I'm in the shops.

 

Part of the problem is that I have been fine since I started the gluten-free diet a couple of years ago. I have got glutened a few times by processed food but it goes in a few days. So this is something new and I have to adapt to it. Perhaps I need to get more organised, as you say, and keep a track of what I'm eating, and also do an elimination diet.