Gluten Isn't The Culprit

[ElenaDragon]

The results from my celiac panel blood test came back negative, but I decided to try the gluten free diet anyway. I went completely gluten free for 2 months, and I did feel better. However, at the end of those two months (a week ago), I started eating gluten again to test whether or not it was the lack of gluten that was helping me. I have been eating cream of wheat, wheat crackers, whole wheat english muffins, and french bread... at least 2 items per day.

For the first two days I felt fine, no changes. Then I ate a small sub sandwich with only turkey, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a little vinegar, followed by a slice of boysenberry pie a little later. A short while after eating the pie, the gas symptoms began (gurgling in my intestines, and later gas and mucus instead of stool coming out). I don't think it was the gluten that started this... is there usually dairy in fresh bread or in pie crusts? I have been dairy free for many months, but I wonder if maybe I was being more diligent about it when I was avoiding gluten as well (since I had to read all the labels anyway). I am also mostly off of soy and haven't had any in the past week. I had some symptoms that day and the next, and then for the past few days I've been fine again (still eating wheat). So it seems that gluten is not giving me problems.

I know before I started the gluten free diet, I would react after eating foods that did not have dairy in them. Maybe my intestines were just irritated in general? Also, just before starting the gluten free diet I also started taking some probiotics. I suspect that they may have something to do with feeling better.

One thing I would like to do is test whether it is the lactose or casein that may be causing me problems. I have been avoiding both. From what I understand, hard cheeses like cheddar have little or no lactose in them? Also, yogurt is generally easier to digest than some other dairy sources like milk? Can anyone suggest a plan for testing lactose/casein intolerance?

[hathor]

Well, you can have some lactose-free milk or regular milk and a Lactaid pill. If you have problems, it is probably from casein. If you are fine, then try regular milk by itself. A reaction would then mean it is the lactose.

Yes, a lot of bread does have some dairy in it. Pie crust often has butter.

If you have only had problems following this one meal, definitely investigate further. You could have had a touch of a 24 hour stomach bug or food poisoning and not be intolerant to anything. Indeed, it could have been that the probiotics cured whatever was wrong with you before.

No way of telling anything for sure without additional data. Sorry to say you are the experimental subject

[gfpaperdoll]

Have fun & enjoy your gluten while you can. Please keep us posted periodically on how you are doing!!!!!

[bethb]

After I went gluten-free, I started keeping a food journal. I noticed that I would have intestinal symptoms after eating dairy, so I cut it down, but not out. I determined I must be lactose-intolerant and since I LOVE cheese I got some lactase enzyme (the lactase) that breaks down lactose. Taking those seemed to help but not solve my reactions...

I just got my IgG food allergy tests back and it said I was allergic to casein and eggs. So that explains why the lactase pills weren't totally working.

Unfortunately, even soy cheese and almond/nut-based cheeses seem to all have casein. Does anyone know of a "cheese" that doesn't have casein?

Dairy (casein, lactose, etc) can show up in food products, under other names, such as whey. So be sure to read the labels if you want to do the food trial and errors. Now that I'm shopping casein-free, I'm surprised at some of the products that have casein (some marinara sauces, for example).

Good Luck!

[ElenaDragon]

Well I'm still doing okay on gluten. However, I'm also still having reactions to something, and dairy is my top suspect. On Friday I ate a few small pieces of milk chocolate, and had the same gas reactions a few hours later (it feels like extra gas is getting produced in my intestines, which causes mucus to be produced as well, probably as a protective measure). But on Sunday night I had three slices of cheese pizza and only had a small reaction, which could have been from all the fat. So maybe it is lactose after all. I think I'm going to skip the lactose/whey/casein for a week or so, and then try some cheese again. If that goes well, I'll move on from there.

Oh, and I did find a soy cheese at Whole Foods which doesn't have casein. I think it's called Vegan Gourmet? I haven't tried it yet since I'm still wary of soy.