Trouble With Dairy

[gymnastjlf]

Hey,

I've been gluten free for just over 4 months now. At first, I was okay with dairy. But towards the end of October or so, I started getting really gassy whenever I had dairy. So for the most part, I've tried to stay away from it. I can stand eating a little bit of cheese at a time, and I've usually been okay with a little bit of milk used in cooking (mashed potatoes, etc). But yogurt, or drinking a glass of milk (even having milk on cereal) gives me awful gas. My question is, besides the obvious GI symptoms, am I harming my body by consuming dairy? i.e. am I slowing/setting back the healing process? Is my body able to absorb the nutrients from the dairy products even though its not agreeing with my system?

Every once in a while, I really just crave yogurt or a little bit of rice pudding. If no one else has to be around me, hehe, then I'll give in to temptation... but if it's harming me, I'll fight it! :-(

Thanks in advance, you guys are always full of info! I would certainly not be doing as well as I am without you guys..... my doctor said at the 3 month mark that he rarely sees anyone's blood work level out as much as mine did! And a lot of that is because of this board!!!!

[tarnalberry]

  gymnastjlf said:

I've been gluten free for just over 4 months now. At first, I was okay with dairy. But towards the end of October or so, I started getting really gassy whenever I had dairy. So for the most part, I've tried to stay away from it. I can stand eating a little bit of cheese at a time, and I've usually been okay with a little bit of milk used in cooking (mashed potatoes, etc). But yogurt, or drinking a glass of milk (even having milk on cereal) gives me awful gas. My question is, besides the obvious GI symptoms, am I harming my body by consuming dairy? i.e. am I slowing/setting back the healing process? Is my body able to absorb the nutrients from the dairy products even though its not agreeing with my system?

The primary symptoms being gas (and with it not happening on smaller amounts), then you may simply have lactose intolerance, not casein intolerance. (This would mean that your body doesn't produce enough lactase enzyme to break apart the lactose milk sugar, so the bacteria in the intestines do it instead, giving off gas as a byproduct.) If that's the case, then you can purchase lactase over the counter at any drug store or reasonably sized grocery store. You take it just before eating the dairy, and it does the work for you. If it's a casein intolerance, then you are not likely to be setting back the healing of the gut, but you may be setting off a different immune reaction you don't want.

[Nancym]

I've got issues with dairy. I'm hoping that staying off dairy for 6 months or so, in addition to gluten, might make that go away. I don't think there's much research about the long term effects of dairy intolerance. I figure I've got 20 years of autoimmune stress from the wheat, I shouldn't rock the boat too much more.

[julie5914]

I'm with you - I cut out dairy 2 months ago and felt much better. But yesterday I had a addple cider and forgot to tell them to hold the whipped cream. I drank it will no real ill effects. But then I worry - am I damaging my intestine or delaying healing because my body is mistaking casein for gluten? But then wouldn't I have a strong reaction? Maybe it was just a temporary lactose thing, or maybe it is still casein but I can get by with just a little bit. I wish I knew if it were causing long term damage.

[Lovinglife]

Hi! I'm no experiment, but I do believe that you should avoid dairy for while longer. There are so many ways that the bodies reaction to Celiac Disease and having been glutened can lead to possibly temporary non-gluten food intolerances. So, I would think that that is what's happening with you. As that is what seemed to happen to many and many other Celiacs. With that said, if you give yourself some time away from dairy, you might be able to come back to it full force. I hope this helps!

Florence

[loraleena]

  gymnastjlf said:

Hey,

I've been gluten free for just over 4 months now. At first, I was okay with dairy. But towards the end of October or so, I started getting really gassy whenever I had dairy. So for the most part, I've tried to stay away from it. I can stand eating a little bit of cheese at a time, and I've usually been okay with a little bit of milk used in cooking (mashed potatoes, etc). But yogurt, or drinking a glass of milk (even having milk on cereal) gives me awful gas. My question is, besides the obvious GI symptoms, am I harming my body by consuming dairy? i.e. am I slowing/setting back the healing process? Is my body able to absorb the nutrients from the dairy products even though its not agreeing with my system?

Every once in a while, I really just crave yogurt or a little bit of rice pudding. If no one else has to be around me, hehe, then I'll give in to temptation... but if it's harming me, I'll fight it! :-(

Thanks in advance, you guys are always full of info! I would certainly not be doing as well as I am without you guys..... my doctor said at the 3 month mark that he rarely sees anyone's blood work level out as much as mine did! And a lot of that is because of this board!!!!

I can eat raw cheese (unpasterized) without a problem. You can buy it at Whole foods. Don't worry it won't hurt you. Get online and read about the health benefits of raw dairy. The pasterization process is bad bad bad. It kills the enzymes that help us process dairy. RAw still has these enzymes. Also try Water Buffalo yogurt by Woodstock Farms in Vermont. It is easy to digest and yummy. Try the maple flavor. This is also at whole foods. You can check out their website by typing in Woodstock farms buffalo yogurt.

[Mango04]

  loraleena said:

I can eat raw cheese (unpasterized) without a problem. You can buy it at Whole foods. Don't worry it won't hurt you. Get online and read about the health benefits of raw dairy. The pasterization process is bad bad bad. It kills the enzymes that help us process dairy. RAw still has these enzymes. Also try Water Buffalo yogurt by Woodstock Farms in Vermont. It is easy to digest and yummy. Try the maple flavor. This is also at whole foods. You can check out their website by typing in Woodstock farms buffalo yogurt.

Me too! I could never in my life tolerate even the slightest amount of dairy - but I'm realizing that raw diary does not make me sick. It's really interesting to read about the differences between raw and pasterized dairy, and what happens to dairy when it is pasterized and processed (yikes!!!!). I like www.westonaprice.org for information on these types of things.

[RiceGuy]

I'm surprized nobody has yet mentioned dairy free alternatives. You can get non-dairy cheeses, and bunches of other things. That's what I'd suggest until your body has more fully recovered. So you don't have to risk hindering the recovery process, and you don't have to give up as many foods.

[CMCM]

I've had dairy issues my whole life....I always figured it was lactose intolerance and I took lactaid frequently when I had dairy...it never seemed to completely help, though. After Enterolab diagnosed me with casein sensitivity, I asked about it and whether you could still eat it, and they told me eating dairy, and thus the casein, could do the same kind of damage to the intestines that gluten does. Their advice was to cut it entirely from the diet. Raw or pasturized....the casein is still in it.

[danikali]

are there any gluten free and dairy free chocolate bars out there? I looked at DOVE dark chocolate, but they still add dairy. I'm craving it, I haven't had it since the gluten challenge, but I don't want to feel like crap if I have some!

[Mango04]

  danikali said:

are there any gluten free and dairy free chocolate bars out there? I looked at DOVE dark chocolate, but they still add dairy. I'm craving it, I haven't had it since the gluten challenge, but I don't want to feel like crap if I have some!

I like the natural organic dark chocolate bars you find at Whole Foods and other health food stores.

[dlp252]

  danikali said:

are there any gluten free and dairy free chocolate bars out there? I looked at DOVE dark chocolate, but they still add dairy. I'm craving it, I haven't had it since the gluten challenge, but I don't want to feel like crap if I have some!

Tropical Source makes one. I found them at my local Whole Foods market. They have some very yummy flavors. My current favorite is rice crisp, but they have an almond, a hazelnut and a raspberry in my store.

[jerseyangel]

My sister, who is dairy and soy free, snacks on Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips--right from the bag.

[dlp252]

Here is the link online which explains them:

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