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What Happens If You Eat Dairy Even Though The Villi Can't Absorb It?


Mike212

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Mike212 Rookie

I've been gluten free for bout a month now and I am eating dairy. Ive seen that lots of people starting out on the gluten-free diet also cut dairy from their diet as well as gluten because the villi can't absorb the dairy in the damaged state they are in. So if I continue to eat dairy does it hurt my villi or what other harmful effects could it cause? The only thing I think I have from it is a little gas.


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shadowicewolf Proficient

I've been gluten free for bout a month now and I am eating dairy. Ive seen that lots of people starting out on the gluten-free diet also cut dairy from their diet as well as gluten because the villi can't absorb the dairy in the damaged state they are in. So if I continue to eat dairy does it hurt my villi or what other harmful effects could it cause? The only thing I think I have from it is a little gas.

Nah, i don't think it does. It just leaves ya with some unwanted symptoms.

cahill Collaborator

The following is a list of causes of flattened villi which was published in a book titled Coeliac Disease by W. T. Cooke and G. K. Holmes, published by Churchill Livingstone, Medical Division of Longman Group Limited (1984). Celiacs on a gluten-free diet (for a prolonged period) who continue to have flatten villi may be want to look for other causes to their problem. Keep in mind that some of the items listed rarely cause flatened villi, and are usually found in conjunction with Celiac Disease or immuno-deficiencies.

  • Coeliac Disease
  • Cows Milk Protein Intolerance
  • Soy Protein Intolerance
  • refractory Sprue

https://www.celiac.com/articles/50/1/Main-Causes-of-Flattened-Villi/Page1.html

kareng Grand Master

Lots of people cut dairy but its not because nutrients aren't absorbed. It's because the substance that " digests " or breaks down lactose ( in milk) is produced int the villi. If the villi are damaged, they can't produce this substance. Some dairy products have more lactose than others. Some of your villi are not damaged. It would be rare for all of them to be completely damaged. You may be digesting fine and not need to cut out all dairy. Or just cut back for a few months on the dairy.

If dairy doesn't seem to bother you, enjoy! I never cut it out but I don't drink glasses of milk which have a lot of lactose. I eat cheeses and yogurts. They don't appear to have as much lactose.

IrishHeart Veteran

Some docs suggest removing dairy for the first few months after Dx because --as Karen mentioned-- lactase, which digests

lactose is produced in the tips of the villi. Once the tips of the villi grow back, your ability to digest lactose returns.(in the vast majority of celiacs--some continue to have lactose intolerance)

 

The only way you would know you have a dairy problem is if you have GI issues (indigestion, bloating and likely, diarrhea.)

 

I cut it out for 9 months and then tried yogurt first, then cheese. I never resumed drinking big old glasses of milk (I use coconut milk)

but I do enjoy ice cream without any problems now. And I was told a long time ago I had IBS and lactose intolerance and that I would have it the rest of my life. This is simply not the case at all. It's all good.

 

if you are okay with "a little gas", then it's your call. :) .

Mike212 Rookie

Thanks everyone, i understand.

ENF Enthusiast

I've found that goats milk is much easier to digest than cows, and it's a fact that the casein is much less in goats milk.   I buy canned powdered goat milk as well as ice cream, cheese and yogurt that are also made from goats milk, and they're all delicious.    


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Mike212 Rookie

I've found that goats milk is much easier to digest than cows, and it's a fact that the casein is much less in goats milk.   I buy canned powdered goat milk as well as ice cream, cheese and yogurt that are also made from goats milk, and they're all delicious.    

maybe ill try it some time

psawyer Proficient

if you are okay with "a little gas", then it's your call. :) .

People downwind might have an alternative view on that.  :ph34r:

 

JK  ;)

IrishHeart Veteran

People downwind might have an alternative view on that.  :ph34r:

 

JK  ;)

 

true dat  :blink:  :D

Salax Contributor

I've found that goats milk is much easier to digest than cows, and it's a fact that the casein is much less in goats milk.   I buy canned powdered goat milk as well as ice cream, cheese and yogurt that are also made from goats milk, and they're all delicious.    

 

I am an avid fan of goat and sheeps milk products. My natural doc explain it something like this, the protiens found in cows milk are larger than we would find in our mothers natural milk. Whereas the protiens found in sheeps and goats milk are more like our own mothers milk in size, so our human bodies have an easier time processing it. And since cow milk products make me ill (more than a lactose issue by far) I tried the goats milk stuff and wow, no issue at all. Just becareful of the feta, most in the USA are made from cows milk, not the traditional goats milk. Gotta read the label. Learned that the hard way.

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