Difference Btwn Casein Int & Milk Allergy

[Jenn2005]

Can anyone explain to me the difference between casein intolerance and milk allergy? I understand the difference between gluten intolerance and wheat allergy and I have been researching this today and I'm more confused than when I started. Going gluten free limits food options severely and now I'm trying to figure out all this casein stuff (for my husband). I just don't want to take away more than we need to. Any help from casein intolerant people would be greatly appreciated.

Just FYI the casein intolerant dx came from Enterolabs. It was a 13 with 10 & less being normal, but again if it its anything like the gluten any increase is to much and should be avoided.

Thanks,

Jennifer

[tarnalberry]

It's much the same issue, albeit for different biochemical reasons, as a wheat allergy versus a wheat intolerance (which may be different from celiac itself). An allergy is an immune response mediated by the IgE antibodies, an intolerance is mediated by the IgG (primarily) antibodies. That holds true for all allergies/intolerances. Celiac disease specifically (where the immune system attacks the intestines) extends the IgG reaction so that the body also attacks the villi in the immue system.

As you learn the diet, and expand the types of food you eat, you'll find the diet less restrictive. There are more "substitutes" for gluten than for casein, however, and there are some things that you can't get good substitutes for. (A casein-free cheese is very difficult to find and not the same thing as real cheese, or even soy cheese. (Soy cheeses almost always have casein.))

[Guest BellyTimber]

Jennifer,

I had a test for opioids from a university laboratory in the UK - over a year before I went gluten-free-WF - and not through the medical system (this is not the leaky gut test per se but will tend to parallel it). My graph line for gluten went off the top of the paper but my casein line was only slightly positive.

We don't have Enterolabs in the UK but it crops up a lot on the board, put it in the search facility and read what everyone has been saying about the status of this test. You & your husband will need perspective on it to decide how to prioritise his/your moves.

The various theories reflect different groups of people's bodies' reactions to foods so it is not compulsory to conform to any particular theory.

Dairy foods contain lactose, a sugar, and I have posted a method in "Rachel -- 24"'s thread on casein, at 03:03 PM today, to test for tolerance to lactose. On going gluten-free many of us find we have lost the ability to absorb the lactose well which gradually comes back for most of us who have been thus affected. This issue should not be confused with casein which may be a more theoretical problem (arising from scientific study of molecule structures) than actual, for some of us.

I have gone back on dairy fairly freely nowadays and am not having a repeat of the dairy problems I had a couple of years back.

I know of some children whose parents took them CF as well as GFWF because of very strong CNS symptoms afflicting them from a young age, their doctors didn't all approve but they benefitted. They show extremely strong reactions when they intake casein.