How Many Of Us Are Df, gluten-free, Sf, Ef, Cf, Etc. ?

[marciab]

Hi there,

I am so confused.

I've noticed that I feel much better when I eat only organic fruits and vegetables. No meat, corn, soy, dairy, gluten, etc. And no prepared foods either, since they are notorious for hidden sources of the above.

Raw seems to be helping too.

Not that I am doing this all the time, I just know that I feel better.

I am confused as to why this has happened to me and am wondering how many others are out there. Is this permanent ? Is this what is called "full blown celiac" ?

I've always had problems with certain foods. Like I knew eggs caused excessive painful gas, but I was ok if I only ate them every 3 days and took gas-x. This worked for a very long time. So when does it stop being ok to eat foods that are problematic ? Chocolate causes reflux, but can I eat it on occasion ?

Help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is there an end to all this ???

Marcia

[aaascr]

Marcia,

I am one of those people with life long restrictions

as well as celiac which is for life too :

I was tested for food allergies nearly 20 years ago

and had to eliminate quite a bit from my diet, although

some of the allergen food I was able to eat a small

quantity now and then.

With the onset of celiac 2 years ago, I found that I

can no longer eat small portions of any offending food.

For example, once a year for my birthday I would eat

some shrimp (allergic to shellfish and fish). So a year

ago, I was hanging out with some friends when one

of them gave me a (one) shrimp (nothing on it). I broke

out in hives all over my whole body.

I have to eat gluten-free organic-vegan with the elimination

of nuts, beans, apples, bananas, citrus, chocolate,

corn, etc. The only thing I splurge on during the

winter holidays is organic, gluten-free, clean turkey.

What all this did for me, is made me aware of all

the nasty additives etc. that is in our food that the

industry is selling to us as "good for you". I don't

apologize for bringing my food with me where ever

I go although it can be a hassle at times.

I also found a lot of new foods that I can eat.

But the important thing is that I finally am starting

to feel better - not 100% yet - but I'd rather feel

better most of the time than not at all.

So hang in there! It gets easier along the way.

[kabowman]

I feel soooo much better - your title describes part of my diet except for the EF - luckily, eggs don't bother me.

I love how healthy we eat, and how we rarely get sick.

I never tested for celiac disease - I chose the diet over the dx and now I don't look back. My problems started after my ex sued for custody of our boys and there was a 2 year court battle from hell. The good news, nothing changed - the bad news, I was sick for years before figuring this out.

[Mango04]

I'm gluten-free, sf, df, red meat-f, I stick to organic fruits and veggies and organic eggs and white meat. I can get away with a little bit of packaged food but only the stuff with very few ingredients from the health food store. I also eat rice, beans, lentils, seeds, nuts etc etc. I was temporarily corn intolerant but after eliminating corn for a couple months that went away. I think this is the best way to eat! It's more natural and closer to how human beings are supposed to eat (with the excpetion of the red meat thing - I just don't like red meat)...and I never feel sick when I eat this way either!

[elisabet]

My son is cf sf gluten-free and red meat free.The intresting thing is he starts growing after eliminating all these protein from his diet.

[jerseyangel]

I've been working for the last 6 months trying to find out what I'm intolerant to (other than gluten). The results as of this minute , are in my signature. Where is says rice, that is all grains that I used to eat. This seems to be working well for me.

[tarnalberry]

I'm only Gluten-free Casein-free. I try to limit soy, and I limit corn (particularly chips...), and I limit sugars, but don't eliminate it completely. Mostly I just eat healthy, as it seems silly not to (and less tasty ).

[kimjoy24]

I think you are right, Marcia. When I did the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which essentially removes all grains and all processed foods, I immediately felt better. I never got the energy boost, but my digestive symptoms disappeared. Now I'm gluten-free, but even though I tested positive for casein intolerance, I still eat cheese and butter. Why? I discovered I could tolerate them just fine on the SCD.

I just received my testing kit in the mail that will test for 96 allergens and I am eager to find out the results. Since going from SCD to gluten-free, I've noticed some of my milder symptoms have returned (mainly gassiness), though overall, I still feel much, much better than before going gluten-free. My bowel movements are soooo normal now, it's such a small thing, but wonderful to me! Still, I wonder, am I allergic to corn? To soy? Or some other food that I don't even think about? So that's why I'm doing the test- I'm the kind of person that needs "scientific" proof.

[dperk]

I became gluten-free almost 2 years ago. I slowely started eliminating more and more foods that also bothered me. I went to the SCD diet about a year ago. I felt better, but I started having more and more allergic reactions to even the legal foods. I was down to some veggies, only some cooked fruits, almonds and meat (no eggs, diary, soy, rice, corn, apples, avacados, seeds, and tons of other things). Then almonds started bothering me. I became desperate and started searching for more answers. I couldn't hardly eat anything, and I was still loosing weight.

I found the website Open Original Shared Link and desided to try the liver flush (cleanse). What did I have to loose? So I did one. That's when I finely started feeling better. I think that all of the years of eating gluten, and not realizing that it was doing me harm, my liver and gallbladder took a beating.

So now, after doing 6 of the liver flushes, I have started going off the SCD diet, and can now tolerate rice, corn, nuts and seeds again. As long as I go slow, and eat the right foods, I feel almost normal again. I still have a long way to go. I still get allergic reactions from soy, eggs, apples, dairy and a severe reaction if I even ingest a tiny amount of gluten. But I am so much better now.

I would recommend the liver flushes for anyone dealing with food allergies. It has really helped me.

[Mabc]

Hi Marcia,

I'm currently only gluten-free but I'm pretty sure there are other offenders out there. I can't afford tests with alternative labs so I have to do it the elimination way I guess. I don't know if regular doctors can test for intolerances or not - can they? I know they can do allergies but I figure that's different.

My sister was able to eliminate all of her offending foods (she's not celiac - red meat, sugar and others) for about a year and then slowly add small amounts back in and now she can eat them but she has to keep it in small amounts and eat really really healthy. I don't know if this is normal for others.

I'm starting to think I'm going to have to go food-free (FF)(LOL). Not really.

Melodi

[Clark Bent as Stupor-Man]

I'm free of most common allergens now as well as a number of other foods. I've been on a modified elimination diet since January and have added and removed foods throughout. I'm still trying to pinpoint everything though.

joy - what lab did you get your testing kit from... my nutritionist recommended immuno labs in florida, which I might be ordering soon

[SofiEmiMom]

I'm gluten-free, CF, Red meat free, soy limited. No processed foods. Just curious, how do the rest of you deal with social gatherings? My husband is Italian and no matter where we go there is lots of food. A great number of these Italians get offended that I don't eat anything. It's getting terribly frustrating.

[marciab]

Hi All,

Thanks so much for the responses. I'll be reading these for a long time. I got a lot of good ideas out of your posts. I noticed that I felt better after giving up the processed grains too. I still eat whole buckwheat, amaranth, millet, quinoa, and rice with protein though. And instead of doing a liver cleanse, I added foods and herbs, like fresh cilantro, dandelion and beets to my diet. But, I will look into the site you gave.

Can you tell I am feeling overwhelmed by all this ? But, at least I am not in pain or sick all the time anymore. If this is what it takes to feel better, I'll do it, but I am sooo relieved to know others are out there doing this too. And hopefully, we will be able to add some things back in after awhile. Ice cream would be nice.

On the upside, I have discovered a lot of foods I never knew existed. Fresh herbs, chard, hemp seeds, organic figs and apricots, plain beets, etc. And I figured out that organic tastes soo much better than what you get at the grocery store.

I like what I eat, but miss I the old stuff from time to time. Or at least drool a little when I am near it.

Thanks again. And good luck to all of you. This is quiet an adventure we are on !!! Marcia

Sofie, My first husband was Lebanese and they love to feed people too. Smiling and saying no thank you worked for me. Can you say this in Italian ?

[jodilewis]

Hey Marcia and everyone,

I can definitely relate. I have gluten-free, recently diagnosed because of a compromised immune system--

plus I have leaky gut (another diagnosis that conventional doctors aren't familiar with, or are willing to admit), which gave me a bunch of unwanted allergies, that cheat me out of certain other nutritional stuff.

Allergies such as: beef, olives, bananas, beets, cashews, plus the common allergens egg, (which I TRULY miss!) corn, dairy, and I know there are others.

I have found coping with this easier by certain substitutes like goat and sheep dairy instead; they simply

don't register the same way cow dairy does. I find that eating more like a European seems to present a more exciting variety anyhow. Food is your medicine. I can't tell you how much research I am doing about TRUE healing foods and good nutrition. I've become exposed to a very justifiably angry crowd of alternative experts who are revealing to many of us, how much the FDA knows that is detrimental to us, and has DELIBERATELY decided not to stop certain items from being consumed on a grand scale.

Because of, you guessed it, the money.

For example, Splenda is made with chlorine. Not only digestion, but the thymus suffers as well from this.

(reference: Gene Ladd)--Stevia is a much better substitute!

Pasturized milk is stripped of nutrients--Gov't would have us believe that raw milk is dangerous,

whereas it's a perfect healing food that's nutritious and even cleansing. Raw milk comes from cows that are actually allowed outdoors to graze! (This may still be helpful to persons

allergic to dairy otherwise.) --(reference: Sally Fallon)

I am convinced corn is over-used in everything because it's cheap, and hidden in many things we consume--therefore producing allergies in many of us.

We're all familiar with how aspartame is a toxin, and lethal as excitotoxin to the brain,

but also sodium and/or potassium benzonate, which are added to colas, are poison as well.

I encourage many of you to attend the next Alive! Expo if it ever comes to your area--

it's an eye-opener. Sorry for being so long-winded; I just believe we can't stress this topic enough

for our own good. Knowledge is power!!

Jodi Lewis

[utdan]

I'm with you on the eating raw fruits and vegetables. It's really the only time that I feel normal. I used to be really allergic to soy, dairy, eggs, salt, but my reactions to those have calmed down a lot after getting treatments through NAET. I still feel worse after eating those foods as compared to eating just vegetables and fruits though. I know what its like to try to decide between the gluten-free prepared foods and vegetables.

[corinne]

Right now I'm on the SCD and dairy free. So DF, gluten-free, SF etc. I eat mostly well-cooked non-starchy fruits+veggies, meat, nut butter and eggs. So far (4 months) feeling great. I do plan to gradually add things back in to see what I can tolerate.