Food, Travel...fat Annoying Boss

[jasonD2]

I'm really lost. A few months ago i felt great after finally figuring out what I need to do to get better...i cut out all the foods i was allergic to and was doing great. now i am almost 3 months into a sales job with 80% travel and i feel like crap. I'm bloated again and get constipated very easily when i have little control over the food i ingest.

i try to bring my own food and stock up at healthfood stores in other cities, but i still need to go out to restaurants with people. i do my best to get bland simple food but something always slips thru the cracks. i try to eat at whole foods as much as possible cause their hot bars have all the ingredients listed. a lot of gluten-free/DF options but garlic seems to be in everything and it makes me feel like crap if i eat it...so i eat it anyway. I try to go to chinese restaurants a lot where i can just get steamed chicken and vegetables, but again when im with people im kinda at their mercy. i've been traveling with my boss a lot lately and the man is incapable of eating anything healthy. im suggesting places like whole foods and whenever lunch rolls around the first thing he says is Dennys and Waffle House. Eating with him is beyond annoying - he has blatant disregard for the crap he puts into his body, which probly explains why he's 300 lbs and cant walk up a flight of stairs w/o huffing and puffing for breath. Even more annoying is that ive told him countless times i cant eat dairy and like to eat healthy and he still suggests these low quality chain restaurants. On my interview he took me to this italian restaurant which made me violently ill cause they had nuthin on the menu i could eat. on my first day on the job him and his colleague took me there again and when i suggested an alternative they both started laughing, ignored me and proceeded to walk into the restaurant.

But thats beside the point. im just really frustrated cause i love the job but am having difficulty keeping on track with my diet and am worried I am gonna develop a serious disease like lupus, cancer or MS.

any suggestions? I dont have Celiacs, but tested positive for a lot of foods including Gluten, Dairy, Soy and Egg.

[YoloGx]

Oh wow. I feel for you. However up until new products to help with CC come around you will likely continue to suffer. I find however meanwhile for me that taking Glutenzyme or some such similar product helps etc. Enzymes in general help (like bromelain/papain and pancreatin) plus pro-biotics etc. Plus Marshmallow Root caps and Slippery Elm help heal the lining of the intestines. Nattokinase or serrapeptidase or serrapeptase on an empty stomach will act against scar tissue in the intestines as well as elsewhere plus helps against inflammation.

You could also develop and find restaurants that will go along with your non gluten contaminated needs. They do exist; it is a bother finding them but they are out there. There are people who make lists and put them up on the web. Just ask and enquire.

Ditto with Whole Foods. I bet if you and enough others talk with them they would have a non gluten section of foods and have some foods without garlic or where it can be added separately. We just have to take the time to talk with the managers about this. (For me it's worse since I am also allergic to carrots and sesame seed, milk, soy, nuts and cheese etc.)

Meanwhile I suggest you invest in a small cooler pack you can carry your food with you in your briefcase and try to always get a motel room with cooking facilities. If its just your boss you have to eat with, don't worry about being different. Just explain to him how eating gluten etc. gets in the way of your productivity. And/or you might also want to eat at your room where you cook you own food ahead of time (or out of your cooler) and just pretend to eat at the diner or whatever. Say you are on a special diet, whatever. You don't have to get into the gory details if you don't want to.

Hope some of this helps! I deal with my own set of confusing matters, like trying to date someone and deciding what to do about that without pushing him away by my set of peculiarities right off the bat.

Bea

[Rachel--24]

I take AFP Peptizyde to aid in the digestion of gluten and casein. I dont have Celiac and the enzyme has helped me quite a bit. There are other enzymes to help with other foods you might have problems with.

You might try something like this if you're constantly getting symptoms because you cant avoid exposure.

[jasonD2]

Does the enzyme cause any side effects? right now i take Biogest which has HCL and pepsin in it and tolerate it well, but i tried other enzymes in the past and they causes either nausea or stomach upset

[home-based-mom]

Does the enzyme cause any side effects? right now i take Biogest which has HCL and pepsin in it and tolerate it well, but i tried other enzymes in the past and they causes either nausea or stomach upset

Check the label on the enzymes that did not work for you. I had problems with one brand because they were encapsulated with a rice bran filler which I guess is not a problem for most people but doesn't work for me.

[gymnastjlf]

Restaurants like Denny's and Waffle House may not be the healthiest places around, but they might be easier to navigate than some other restaurants (Italian restaurants that can't/won't accomodate). Denny's has allergen info listed at: Open Original Shared Link. I've successfully had many of their breakfasts (omlettes and hashbrowns) as well as their tilapia dinner. Waffle House you can usually see the food as they're cooking it, so unless your boss is doing the ordering for you, just stick with eggs, fruit, and maybe some potatoes or grits:-)

I was an athlete in college and did quite a bit of traveling because of it (most times eating in a restaurant with a group of 10-20 people!). My coach was not always very helpful and accomodating, until he realized how much of a difference it made (once I started eating gluten-free I had energy again, I stopped losing weight, etc.), so I can relate to your frustrations! There were times when I went to a restaurant and there was absolutely nothing I could eat. I very politely said that I am allergic to wheat, and the last thing I want it to get sick. Usually the restaurant appreciated my honesty (they see lawsuits and dollar signs when they hear allergy!), and then I would eat something later on.

Good luck! It sounds as though you know the type of restaurants your boss frequents. Even when you travel, if you could call ahead to a few restaurants and ask ahead of time it might help you out.

I'm really lost. A few months ago i felt great after finally figuring out what I need to do to get better...i cut out all the foods i was allergic to and was doing great. now i am almost 3 months into a sales job with 80% travel and i feel like crap. I'm bloated again and get constipated very easily when i have little control over the food i ingest.

i try to bring my own food and stock up at healthfood stores in other cities, but i still need to go out to restaurants with people. i do my best to get bland simple food but something always slips thru the cracks. i try to eat at whole foods as much as possible cause their hot bars have all the ingredients listed. a lot of gluten-free/DF options but garlic seems to be in everything and it makes me feel like crap if i eat it...so i eat it anyway. I try to go to chinese restaurants a lot where i can just get steamed chicken and vegetables, but again when im with people im kinda at their mercy. i've been traveling with my boss a lot lately and the man is incapable of eating anything healthy. im suggesting places like whole foods and whenever lunch rolls around the first thing he says is Dennys and Waffle House. Eating with him is beyond annoying - he has blatant disregard for the crap he puts into his body, which probly explains why he's 300 lbs and cant walk up a flight of stairs w/o huffing and puffing for breath. Even more annoying is that ive told him countless times i cant eat dairy and like to eat healthy and he still suggests these low quality chain restaurants. On my interview he took me to this italian restaurant which made me violently ill cause they had nuthin on the menu i could eat. on my first day on the job him and his colleague took me there again and when i suggested an alternative they both started laughing, ignored me and proceeded to walk into the restaurant.

But thats beside the point. im just really frustrated cause i love the job but am having difficulty keeping on track with my diet and am worried I am gonna develop a serious disease like lupus, cancer or MS.

any suggestions? I dont have Celiacs, but tested positive for a lot of foods including Gluten, Dairy, Soy and Egg.

[Rachel--24]

Does the enzyme cause any side effects? right now i take Biogest which has HCL and pepsin in it and tolerate it well, but i tried other enzymes in the past and they causes either nausea or stomach upset

I had problems with ALL enzymes.....I hadn't tolerated any of them. I have some alternative Dr.'s that I see who do energetic testing to determine what I can tolerate (supplements and meds) and at what dose. They couldnt find a single enzyme that I tested well for...not a single one.

I finally gave up on enzymes because everytime I tried I'd end up reacting to them.

I read alot about Peptizyde before I ordered it. It was formulated for autistic children and its hypoallergenic. They have two formulas....one is original Peptizyde and the other is AFP Peptizyde....which does not include fruit derived enzymes such as Papain.

I'm sensitive to the fruit derived enzymes so I ordered AFP....as well as a couple other enzymes to aid in the digestion of other foods I'm intolerant to.

I brought them to my Dr. and she tested them for me....and I actually tested well for them.

I tested well for 2 out of 3...AFP Peptizyde being one of them. I did try the one that I didnt test well for but I ended up getting symptoms from it.

I've been on the enzymes a few months now with no problems. The other enzyme I take is No-Fenol....which is mainly for people sensitive to phenols and salicylates. It helps with the digestion of fruits and vegetables.

Peptizyde is specifically formulated to aid in the digestion of gluten and casein. It contains high amounts of DPPIV (the enzyme required for digestion of gluten/casein). I would recommend taking an enzyme with DPPIV.

[jasonD2]

So taking these enzymes prior to eating wheat will degrade the gluten/gliadin?

[Rachel--24]

So taking these enzymes prior to eating wheat will degrade the gluten/gliadin?

They arent a cure for Celiac but if you do not have Celiac and are reacting to gluten and dairy because you lack the enzyme to break them down (DPPIV) then yes...the enzymes can make a big difference.

I dont know the extent of your problems....or if you have additional food intolerances...but if you cant avoid these foods it might be worth your while to try the enzymes and see if they help.

There alot of info. available on Peptizyde. I would recommend looking into it and then you can decide if its something you want to try. The enzymes you're currently taking would not be as helpful in breaking down these proteins. Peptizyde has a high success rate in Autistic children...and in many cases they do better on the enzymes then they did on the gluten-free/cf diet. This would most likely be because the enzymes also help with digestion of other proteins such as soy and corn.

Heres some info.

Whereas orthodox digestive enzymes fail to sufficiently break up resistant dietary proteins like gluten and casein found in wheat and dairy products, Peptizyde contains a family of enzymes designed to target their digestion.

It has been championed from the work of Dr Karl Reichelt a Biochemist in the U.S. who found that certain pancreatic and stomach enzymes namely pepsin, trypsin and elastase were not only insufficient to break down gluten and casein but could actually mis-digest these problem-proteins into narcotic-like chemicals known as exorphins.

Under these conditions exorphins are readily transmitted from the gut, to the bloodstream where they trigger a cascade of immune reactions like inflammation, congestion and swelling. Ultimately they also enter the brain where they can induce anything from dysphoria (low mood) and sluggishness to the serious behavioural problems seen in conditions like Autism, Depression and even Schizophrenia

Peptizyde contains a combination of powerful enzymes designed to predigest gluten and casein while they are still in the stomach. By "pre-digesting" troublesome proteins found in wheat and dairy products prior to contact with pancreatic enzymes in the intestine, it ensures they are broken down and converted to the proper compounds needed for healthy metabolism.

Fortunately Peptizyde not only deftly deals with the principle allergy-forming foods like wheat and dairy products but it also renders all other problem-proteins harmless such as those present in soy, corn, yeast, beef and eggs. Peptizyde proteases can manage all these different foodstuffs because each has a different specificity for breaking apart proteins.

Like extra pairs of scissors cutting at different parts of a ribbon each acts independently so the process is quicker and allows different smaller lengths of "ribbon" to be produced that are not allergenic. Not only that but peptizyde contains DPP IV one of only two peptidases which specifically destroys casomorphin (an exorphin) yielded from incomplete breakdown of dairy products.

It also consists of two other peptidases leucin amino peptidase and carboxypeptidase which similarly destroy exorphins remaining from the action of the proteases.

Studies published in April last year in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry prove that peptidases as an additional line of defence are particularly effective in the enzymatic hydrolysis (breakdown) of casein, soy and gluten proteins and act synergistically to achieve an effect unobtainable with individual enzymes.

As of this writing Peptizyde has only been tested in Autistics but given that the severity of this condition is largely determined by the intake of offending allergenic foods the results speak for themselves. Over 1500 families have tried Peptizyde on their own children and nearly all have reported better focus, awareness, socialization and learning and the absence of any regressive allergic symptoms associated with forbidden foods.

Follow up studies conducted by the Enzymes and Autism Board have confirmed these findings with 92% of participants reporting significant improvements in allergic symptoms like anxiety, sleep, aggression, short term memory, problem solving, pain and headaches after 6 months and no regression in symptoms. For this reason the manufacturers claim Peptizyde can produce as good or even better results as a Gluten and Casein free diet and that, they believe, can be extended to other food allergies.

According to Dr Houston "Peptizyde helps to not only reduce or inhibit the production of exorphins from food proteins, but supports digestion, insures complete degradation of food proteins such that they are not allergenic, and increases bioavailability of food proteins"

I researched this enzyme quite a bit before I tried it. My intention was not to use it in place of the gluten-free diet. I just wanted enzymes to help with my digestion since I have multiple food intolerances. I seem to tolerate gluten with the enzymes and I've been off the diet for awhile now.

[Phyllis28]

One coping strategy is to bring and eat all your own food. This includes bringing your own food into restaurants. This way it does not matter where your boss wants to eat.

Another coping strategy is to research the restaurants for gluten free menus and restaurants that will accomadate your needs.

Another coping strategy that may or may not be possible is to have your own transportation. That way you don't have to eat at the same place as your boss.

Hope all works out for you.

[kbtoyssni]

I would probably bring all my own food, too. Your boss obviously isn't going to make any accommodations for you and it's not worth sacrificing your health just to eat the restaurant food. I would feel no embarrassment pulling out my own food at a restaurant - make your boss do any of the necessary explanation to anyone who asks.

[babysteps]

ditto everyone else - be a safe diner, that means having food with you in case a restaurant cannot accommodate you. Usually you can find something to eat. Don't forget salads, they can help! Even if topped with tuna fish

It sounds like you are ordering what you *hope* will work. That usually results in getting sick in my experience.

Once I decided to be very explicit about what I could eat (usually takes no more than 45 seconds for my speech), I got much more successful at avoiding contamination . In a large business group this is sometimes easier (surprisingly) - you can usually get the ear of the server without interrupting the flow of conversation. Just do it as soon as you can after you sit down, or you can even call ahead.

The first few times may be a little awkward, but soon you will have a method down and no-one, including your gut, will be ill-at-ease.

Also, and this may be tough, try to distance yourself emotionally from what your boss is eating. You have enough work just to keep yourself healthy & safe! Your boss is an adult, that includes being responsible for whatever food he eats. Not your job

But you can always come here to vent