Trying To Identify The Cause Of My Diarrhea

[rjp0503]

I've found that I consistently get diarrhea within about 6 hours after eating the Whole Foods gluten free sandwich bread. I noticed I was experiencing the problem only after eating sandwiches I had made, and I ruled out other things by throwing out the mayonnaise and using different deli meats and the only common thing that was left was the bread. It only has a few basic ingredients: Nonfat milk, rice flour, tapioca starch, eggs, sugar, canola oil, yeast, salt, xanthan gum, lemon juice.

I've eaten all of these things either alone or in other products and haven't noticed a problem. I did have a slight case of diarrhea Saturday night and I remembered I had tried some of the Whole Foods banana bread that morning which has the following: Banana, rice flour, sugar, butter, eggs, pecans, brown sugar, soy flour, sweet rice flour, cream, baking soda, natural vanilla flavor, salt, xanthan gum, lemon juice.

It comes on quickly when it happens, with cramps. I have to say if I slip and have a bit of regular gluten containing food, such as birthday cake on someone's birthday, I don't get this type of problem. I don't generally have a diarrhea problem even if I eat gluten.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem with Whole Foods gluten free baked goods? Is it possible I'm just intolerant of the type of yeast they use, for example, but other types of yeast are ok? What about xanthum gum? Can that cause it? I'm just guessing at this point. Thank you in advance for your ideas.

[bluejeangirl]

Nonfat milk, rice flour, tapioca starch, eggs, sugar, canola oil, yeast, salt, xanthan gum, lemon juice.

Banana, rice flour, sugar, butter, eggs, pecans, brown sugar, soy flour, sweet rice flour, cream, baking soda, natural vanilla flavor, salt, xanthan gum, lemon juice.

Common ingredients are rice, and xanthan gum. I suppose what I would do is bake a banana bread myself using all the ingredients they used except the xanthan gum and see if that bothers you. It wouldn't suprize me if that was it. It's used to keep the bread from falling apart easily giving it a better texture. Its slimey/sticky ish. You really don't need it in the banana bread recipe so you wouldn't miss it.

It would be worth it to find out if this is it. Its not worth it to suffer like that!!!

Gail

[jewi0008]

I've found that I consistently get diarrhea within about 6 hours after eating the Whole Foods gluten free sandwich bread. I noticed I was experiencing the problem only after eating sandwiches I had made, and I ruled out other things by throwing out the mayonnaise and using different deli meats and the only common thing that was left was the bread. It only has a few basic ingredients: Nonfat milk, rice flour, tapioca starch, eggs, sugar, canola oil, yeast, salt, xanthan gum, lemon juice.

I've eaten all of these things either alone or in other products and haven't noticed a problem. I did have a slight case of diarrhea Saturday night and I remembered I had tried some of the Whole Foods banana bread that morning which has the following: Banana, rice flour, sugar, butter, eggs, pecans, brown sugar, soy flour, sweet rice flour, cream, baking soda, natural vanilla flavor, salt, xanthan gum, lemon juice.

It comes on quickly when it happens, with cramps. I have to say if I slip and have a bit of regular gluten containing food, such as birthday cake on someone's birthday, I don't get this type of problem. I don't generally have a diarrhea problem even if I eat gluten.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem with Whole Foods gluten free baked goods? Is it possible I'm just intolerant of the type of yeast they use, for example, but other types of yeast are ok? What about xanthum gum? Can that cause it? I'm just guessing at this point. Thank you in advance for your ideas.

I would guess that it's the xanthan gum, too! However, your body may not be able to handle the eggs or the soy? Those are very common intolerances, too.

I'm curious...do you shop at Whole Foods a lot? I love whole foods and am looking for other great items there!

[ravenwoodglass]

Are these breads baked in store? Perhaps with other non gluten free breads? If they are I would just switch to a different bread.

[jerseyangel]

Whole Foods Bakehouse items are made in a dedicated gluten-free facility and shipped out to the individual stores.

I can't eat them, however because I'm intolerant to soy flour and tapioca starch--those are in most of their things. I agree that if you don't have a problem with those, it could be the xanthan gum--also, are you ok with dairy? I know they use dairy in their breads.

[confusedks]

I agree with Patti, I think it sounds like dairy. You may want to try to get rid of all dairy sources and see if that helps.

Good luck!

Kassandra

[mftnchn]

On this thread a couple of people have referred to intolerances of food combos....so that could be an issue if all the individual ingredients have been fine.

[ravenwoodglass]

Whole Foods Bakehouse items are made in a dedicated gluten-free facility and shipped out to the individual stores.

Thanks for the info. We don't have one here but my DS is moving to a city with one soon. I wish Wegmans would start to do that, 'fresh' baked is so much nicer than frozen.

[rjp0503]

Thanks for your replies. One additional item is I conducted a test. I own some xanthan gum because I had bought it in the past to try making my own bread. So I ate some of it straight, probably more than one would consume in a piece of bread, along with a couple gluten free ginger snaps from Trader Joes. I didn't notice any cramps or diarrhea after that. And checking now, I see the ginger snaps has xanthan too, and tapioca. I think dairy is ok because I drink milk and eat cereal and ice cream with no adverse effects. I guess soy could be a problem, but it's not in the sandwich bread recipe.

I'm wondering if, like mftnchn mentioned, that it's the combination of items, and maybe how they are prepared and cooked, that is the problem. Are there any posts you can point me to about food combination intolerances?

Regarding Whole Foods, it along with Trader Joes are my favorite stores. Both carry a good amount of gluten free items. Trader Joes is inexpensive so I do most of my shopping there and then go to Whole Foods when I can't find something at TJs.

[cyberprof]

Thanks for your replies. One additional item is I conducted a test. I own some xanthan gum because I had bought it in the past to try making my own bread. So I ate some of it straight, probably more than one would consume in a piece of bread, along with a couple gluten free ginger snaps from Trader Joes. I didn't notice any cramps or diarrhea after that. And checking now, I see the ginger snaps has xanthan too, and tapioca. I think dairy is ok because I drink milk and eat cereal and ice cream with no adverse effects. I guess soy could be a problem, but it's not in the sandwich bread recipe.

I'm wondering if, like mftnchn mentioned, that it's the combination of items, and maybe how they are prepared and cooked, that is the problem. Are there any posts you can point me to about food combination intolerances?

Regarding Whole Foods, it along with Trader Joes are my favorite stores. Both carry a good amount of gluten free items. Trader Joes is inexpensive so I do most of my shopping there and then go to Whole Foods when I can't find something at TJs.

Are you newly diagnosed? When I was newly diagnosed, I would have D and try to find out what it was. Some of it was CC, like crumbs on the counter etc. Later I realized that it was either 1) just too much food at once (which if you're eating a big sandwich, that could be it) or 2) eating too much fat. As my husband said, not every stomach ache is caused by celiac. As I've healed I get both of these problems less but I've learned to eat a bit less and eat more slowly.

Good luck to you.

[rjp0503]

I believe I've figured out the problem. Here's what happened. I began experimenting with baking some of my own bread. I baked two loaves, using recipes from the Gluten Free Gourmet bakes bread cookbook. Those I tolerated fine. Then the third recipe I used was the pizza dough recipe. About 4 hours after eating it, I developed the same diarrhea I had had from the Whole Foods gluten free items I had mentioned. I then examined what was common between the pizza recipe and the Whole Foods recipe. The answer was "nonfat milk"! It turns out that I must be intolerant of large amounts of lactose found in the nonfat milk powder. I've heard it contains a lot. And since it's the first ingredient in many of the Whole Foods recipes, it is the largest quantity ingredient, thus providing a lot of lactose. I've always known I'm slightly lactose intolerant (it seems to come and go, sometimes I might have a little heart burn), but I've always been able to even eat a large sundae and not have any major complaints...usually some gas. But I believe there is something about that nonfat milk powder that is extra potent and does me in. I'm experimenting with lactaid tablets to see if they will help so I can still choose to have certain things with nonfat milk powder. I've also sent an email to Whole Foods asking if they could think about the lactose intolerant people too and substitute the nonfat milk with something else, maybe almond meal, as suggested in the Gluten Free Gourment bread cookbook. In the meantime I'll continue to learn to bake my own bread...without nonfat milk powder.

Thanks for your ideas. I wanted to post this follow-up to hopefully help any others who might experience the same problem.

[ShayFL]

Great that you figured it out!!

[ksymonds84]

I was just about to post that for me it was the nonfat milk powder but I see you figured it out! Your right, one glass of 2% milk has about 11 grams of lactose and the nonfat milk powder about 70! I'm glad that you contacted whole foods because I am sure they can substitute a nondairy powder such as almond meal etc. It would be nice because their stuff does taste great!

[ShayFL]

I wonder if they could break down the lactose in milk and then make it into a powder? I dont see why not.

I dont do dairy at all. So switch to almond meal would get my vote!!

[momof3]

I believe I've figured out the problem. [...] But I believe there is something about that nonfat milk powder that is extra potent and does me in. I'm experimenting with lactaid tablets to see if they will help so I can still choose to have certain things with nonfat milk powder. I've also sent an email to Whole Foods asking if they could think about the lactose intolerant people too and substitute the nonfat milk with something else, maybe almond meal, as suggested in the Gluten Free Gourment bread cookbook. In the meantime I'll continue to learn to bake my own bread...without nonfat milk powder.

Thanks for your ideas. I wanted to post this follow-up to hopefully help any others who might experience the same problem.

Oh, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

After his first (and only) two gluten-free meals, my husband had the EXACT same reaction to the Whole Foods bread and to another gluten-free rice pasta dish that has nonfat milk as a large ingredient. So he has been scared of eating anything with rice flour, and so has been hesitant to go gluten-free...but YAY, now it all makes sense! He is the same way with lactose, sometimes it causes problems and sometimes not, so I'm sure we wouldn't have thought that was the culprit.

We figured out that our 6yo son is gluten intolerant just three weeks ago; it has a major effect on his behavior and impulse control. We also believe my husband is intolerant (or maybe celiac?), and I'm eager for him to go gluten-free and see what improves (hopefully a lot!), so your post means a great deal to us!

Many (more) thanks and best wishes!!

Carole

[Wendy Cohan, RN]

Hi,

I wrote an article on xanthan gum sensitivity for celiac.com last year. It's fairly common, and unfortnately mimics many of the gastrointestinal symptoms of celiac disease - i.e. gas, diarrhea, and bloating. I have a mild form of it, but some of my cooking class students have severe symptoms from even very minor amounts. It sounds like xanthan gum could be the culprit. Unfortunately, it is very common in gluten free products, and even non g.f. products like ice cream and creamy salad dressings. Guar gum is a very good and also less expensive substitute. Also be aware that whole foods recently recalled some of their gluten free products because they were tested and found to not be gluten free. I just saw this notice on a bulletin board in Boise Idaho, but it was a copy of a newspaper article, so you might be able to track it down.

Good luck.

Wendy Cohan, RN

I've found that I consistently get diarrhea within about 6 hours after eating the Whole Foods gluten free sandwich bread. I noticed I was experiencing the problem only after eating sandwiches I had made, and I ruled out other things by throwing out the mayonnaise and using different deli meats and the only common thing that was left was the bread. It only has a few basic ingredients: Nonfat milk, rice flour, tapioca starch, eggs, sugar, canola oil, yeast, salt, xanthan gum, lemon juice.

I've eaten all of these things either alone or in other products and haven't noticed a problem. I did have a slight case of diarrhea Saturday night and I remembered I had tried some of the Whole Foods banana bread that morning which has the following: Banana, rice flour, sugar, butter, eggs, pecans, brown sugar, soy flour, sweet rice flour, cream, baking soda, natural vanilla flavor, salt, xanthan gum, lemon juice.

It comes on quickly when it happens, with cramps. I have to say if I slip and have a bit of regular gluten containing food, such as birthday cake on someone's birthday, I don't get this type of problem. I don't generally have a diarrhea problem even if I eat gluten.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem with Whole Foods gluten free baked goods? Is it possible I'm just intolerant of the type of yeast they use, for example, but other types of yeast are ok? What about xanthum gum? Can that cause it? I'm just guessing at this point. Thank you in advance for your ideas.