Having Meat Issues

[jewlesD]

hello all,

I was hoping maybe someone can help me figure out whats going on, or has the same issue. I am having an awful time with meats...I am soooo careful about being gluten free and for the most part I am able to avoid being sick. I have replaced all my pots, tupperwear, etc..and I am very careful about cc. My days always start out great, and I mostly stick with veggies, fruits, light things for breakfast and lunch and snacks, with occasional sandwiches or cereal ( I am no longer lactose intolerant) When it comes to making dinner I try and include a meat, veggie and starch. My husband is not big on using spices to flavor meats, and if we do marinate anythings it always with gluten free marinade. I starting writing down everything I eat and when specifically I get sick and its always with meat...chicken breasts, pork chops, ground beef, steak, anything!!! almost 30 min. after dinner I am running to the bathroom and for the rest of the night I feel sick and even into the next morning sometimes. I have tried only eating meat just to see if its anything else and its most definitely the meat. Does anyone else have this issue or know a way to help with it? you all have been so helpful in the past and if anyone would know whats going I am sure it would be someone on this forum. thanks guy!

Julie

[ShayFL]

I would opt for organic free range and grass fed meats foremost. And you might try adding a HCL tab with meat meals to make sure you have enough stomach acid to digest them properly.

How are you with high fat meals?

[jewlesD]

high fat meals are rough on my stomach. I usually do buy organic meats, but even then i get bad d from them. What exactly are HCL tabs and what do they help do? at this point I am willing to try anything...just sick of getting sick and truth be told I am a carnivore and it would be hard to give up meat!

[GFqueen17]

maybe the meat you are buying is high in fat? also, what specifically are you marinating the meat in because many spices contain flour, however it is not always stated on the container (I found that out the hard way). I would recommend eating plain old meat with nothing at all on it and see how that makes you feel. If youre fine then you know it's whatever your marinating it with. If your not fine then I would say your body cannot tolerate meat.

[mirabella]

I cant even stand the smell of meat!! Maybe this just comes with nausea. My son is 17 so I coach him on dinner making sometimes. He is thrilled, thank goodness. I tried the free range thing, but it smells like meat reallllly bad and I cant stand it. I try to eat alot of soup beans.

Maybe I should wear a cloth pin on my nose which my dr. suggested. I do use cashews in my stir fry.

[ShayFL]

Hydrochloric Acid tablets. You need a HIGHLY acidic environment in your stomach to digest meat. If you eat A LOT of carbs with a meat meal (say more than 25 grams) those carbs will make the stomach too alkaline to digest the meat.

[Welda Johnson]

Julie,

I know how you feel! You are the first person (besides myself) that I have heard has problems with meat. A year ago I stopped all meats because I was having asthma attacks each time I ate them. I had already eliminated all grains, all milk & dairy, egg whites, and yeast, so that led into a vegan diet. For a year that has worked, since I replaced meat with soy protein powder, but recently a neighbor gave me a book that stressed that soy is not all that good for people either, regardless of what advertising tells us, so I am consciously thinking seriously about what I am eating each day. Anyway, I wish I had an answer, but I wanted to let you know that you're not alone in facing this dilemma. Maybe we can solve this together. Welda welda@att.net

[jewlesD]

[Welda,

thanks so much for the encouragement. It kinda stinks having such an issue with meat.I am going to try the HCL tabs and see if that helps at all. I know this sounds really dumb, but i feel like if I have to give up meat I really will be "sick" or not normal. going gluten free is one thing...its actually not that bad, but I feel like the more I have to give up to not be sick the more sick I look to others...and I know its stupid, but its tough sometimes.

[samcarter]

[Welda,

thanks so much for the encouragement. It kinda stinks having such an issue with meat.I am going to try the HCL tabs and see if that helps at all. I know this sounds really dumb, but i feel like if I have to give up meat I really will be "sick" or not normal. going gluten free is one thing...its actually not that bad, but I feel like the more I have to give up to not be sick the more sick I look to others...and I know its stupid, but its tough sometimes.

i have read that some celiacs have issues with grain-fed meats. Cows, for instance, weren't mean to eat grains, but grass, since they are ruminants. Maybe check and see what the farmer is feeding the animals before they're sent off to market.

[RiceGuy]

i have read that some celiacs have issues with grain-fed meats. Cows, for instance, weren't mean to eat grains, but grass, since they are ruminants. Maybe check and see what the farmer is feeding the animals before they're sent off to market.

That's a very good point. Since we know gluten can get into the milk, then it stands to reason that the meat could also end up with trace amounts. As the saying goes;'You are what you eat'

But, if giving up meat is what turns out to be necessary, you shouldn't feel abnormal about it. Even before going gluten-free, I found that meat made me look and feel awful, and it actually made my skin stink. It does in fact have a known effect on body odor, so it wasn't "just me". Maybe this is how wild animals can smell us approaching? I suppose the smell identifies the person as a predator. That might explain why I can get closer to animals than most people I know. I acknowledge that meat wasn't the centerpiece at the dinner table when I was growing up, so it was probably easier for me to give up than for others. I only used it occasionally, and just a bit for added flavor anyway.

I would agree though, that having to say to someone, that you cannot eat gluten or meat would probably sound strange to them. I can only suggest that you listen to your body more than the people you socialize with. If HCL, probiotics, or some other thing solves the problem, then I guess you won't have to deal with the social part of it.

[Rya]

I would be ecstatic if someone could give me links to info on gluten getting into milk. My curiosity is piqued.

Jewles - how long have you been gluten free? If it hasn't been long and/or you had a very extensive amount of damage you may just not tolerate hard to digest things yet. I have read it can take up to 6 months, some on this board have posted it took them even longer.

Probiotics for now should certainly help. If you are into supplements, look into L-glutamine for intestinal integrity and fish oil tablets (they don't taste like fish I promise) to help with inflammation.

[Gemini]

hello all,

I was hoping maybe someone can help me figure out whats going on, or has the same issue. I am having an awful time with meats...I am soooo careful about being gluten free and for the most part I am able to avoid being sick. I have replaced all my pots, tupperwear, etc..and I am very careful about cc. My days always start out great, and I mostly stick with veggies, fruits, light things for breakfast and lunch and snacks, with occasional sandwiches or cereal ( I am no longer lactose intolerant) When it comes to making dinner I try and include a meat, veggie and starch. My husband is not big on using spices to flavor meats, and if we do marinate anythings it always with gluten free marinade. I starting writing down everything I eat and when specifically I get sick and its always with meat...chicken breasts, pork chops, ground beef, steak, anything!!! almost 30 min. after dinner I am running to the bathroom and for the rest of the night I feel sick and even into the next morning sometimes. I have tried only eating meat just to see if its anything else and its most definitely the meat. Does anyone else have this issue or know a way to help with it? you all have been so helpful in the past and if anyone would know whats going I am sure it would be someone on this forum. thanks guy!

Julie

jewles.....what may be happening is Celiacs have a tendency to have insufficient pancreatic function, which will make it very hard for you to completely digest meat. I know because I have this problem. I cannot eat lamb or large amounts of red meat because it just doesn't digest and I end throwing it back up hours later and feeling terrible for a few days. It's very common in people with celiac disease, especially if you are new to the diet. A good doctor can prescribe Pancrease or other digestive enzymes which will help the problem. Please do not just take the advice of what you read on forums and see a doctor about it. Maybe the one who diagnosed you? You also do not want to take more hydrochloric acid without knowing if that's the problem or not. If you do not have sufficient pancreatic function, taking extra acid will only make your stomach more acidic and that could cause problems in itself, like reflux. The gut has a very delicate balance and it doesn't take much to throw it off. This is important so you should see a doctor about it so he can make sure that is what the problem is. They can do blood work to check enzyme levels.

What a cow eats before it is slaughtered for human food does not matter a bit......you cannot be glutened because the cow ate wheat! I would recommend organic meats anyway, for different reasons that have nothing to do with celiac disease. I would bet dollars to gluten-free donuts that you just are not producing enough pancreatic enzyme to digest meat properly because that would cause the symptoms you are having, if you have made 100% sure that all your marinades are gluten-free. Pancreatic enzymes work extremely well until your gut has sufficiently healed. However, sometimes you don't completely recover and I still have trouble digesting meat, unless I take something. I eat smaller amounts and stay away from certain types of meat altogether. It is an important component to the diet but a harder one to break down.

[ShayFL]

Seeing a good doctor is always sound advice.

But taking HCL is not dangerous in anyway (unless you go crazy with it taking tons of it). Take 1 tab with a protein meal. If you feel fine or better...no worries. If you get "some" improvement but not enough, the next meal try 2 tabs. If you get a burning in your stomach simply take a little water with baking soda (1/2 tsp) to neutralize the acid. This works quickly. (The burning indicates that you DO NOT need the extra acid), but a few trial times will not cause problems at all. If you get the mild burning after a few goes...you dont need the supplement.

After a month or so....try removing 1 tab (if you take 2) and see how it goes...cut tab in 1/2 (if you take 1). Ween off it it and see if it was the kick start your system needed to get right back on track.

I only needed to take HCL for a few months when my own body kicked back in.

[VioletBlue]

If you're new to the gluten-free diet, fat may be an issue for you for awhile. I had that problem. Fat is one of the things that the small intestine has trouble digesting as a result of gluten damage. It take a while to heal the damage and begin to digest things like fats lactose vitamins and minerals again. Black pepper for me was originally an issue as well. Most people salt and pepper everything without even thinking. I can handle black pepper now, but for a while there is caused some minior upset.

And no, gluten can't get into milk if the cow digests wheat rye or barley. It's not possible anymore than the meat from said cow chicken or pig being contaiminated by gluten in the foods they ate. Gluten CAN BE ADDED TO MILK and milk products in the processing, but that's rare, and I've only heard of one instance of a company in Hawaii I believe doing that.

hello all,

I was hoping maybe someone can help me figure out whats going on, or has the same issue. I am having an awful time with meats...I am soooo careful about being gluten free and for the most part I am able to avoid being sick. I have replaced all my pots, tupperwear, etc..and I am very careful about cc. My days always start out great, and I mostly stick with veggies, fruits, light things for breakfast and lunch and snacks, with occasional sandwiches or cereal ( I am no longer lactose intolerant) When it comes to making dinner I try and include a meat, veggie and starch. My husband is not big on using spices to flavor meats, and if we do marinate anythings it always with gluten free marinade. I starting writing down everything I eat and when specifically I get sick and its always with meat...chicken breasts, pork chops, ground beef, steak, anything!!! almost 30 min. after dinner I am running to the bathroom and for the rest of the night I feel sick and even into the next morning sometimes. I have tried only eating meat just to see if its anything else and its most definitely the meat. Does anyone else have this issue or know a way to help with it? you all have been so helpful in the past and if anyone would know whats going I am sure it would be someone on this forum. thanks guy!

Julie

[Welda Johnson]

Julie, hi again,

I neglected to tell you that I started eating fresh pineapple only for breakfast about a year ago, and have found it to be a great digesting agent for whatever I ate the day before. I never mix anything with it, and it works wonders, probably because it is so high in Hydrochloric Acid, which is what someone suggested you take in tablet form. Later I move on to vegetables, starchy foods and legumes, never mixing these with fruits or proteins. This has helped my digestion greatly, so thought you might appreciate the suggestion. Welda

[ShayFL]

I have experimented with the food combining principles myself. But find that if I just eat fruit or just carbs without protein/fat my blood sugar skyrockets. So I do mix....but I go light on the carbs with a protein meal. I am pretty low carb anyway.

[jewlesD]

Thank you all so much for the advice and input. I have no clue how celiacs get by with out a great forum like this! Anyways, I have only been gluten free for 2 months, and I never thought about the fact that my insides might be damaged enough to not tolerate meat...I guess I am still understanding and coming to terms with how much damage was done to my intestines after 26 years of eating gluten.I am going to see the doctor next week, as he is a top notch guy! for now I might try the HCL tabs ( in moderation of course!) and see if it helps at all. I never had such a hard time with meat before going gluten free, but I guess this is all still a learning process. Thank you all for the encouragement and support. Its nice to hear of others dealing with the same issues...makes me feel like less of a nut!

[ive]

But taking HCL is not dangerous in anyway (unless you go crazy with it taking tons of it). Take 1 tab with a protein meal. If you feel fine or better...no worries. If you get "some" improvement but not enough, the next meal try 2 tabs. If you get a burning in your stomach simply take a little water with baking soda (1/2 tsp) to neutralize the acid. This works quickly. (The burning indicates that you DO NOT need the extra acid), but a few trial times will not cause problems at all. If you get the mild burning after a few goes...you dont need the supplement.

I just wanted to warn people. My stomach "crisis" which led to my gluten intolerance diagnosis actually started from me taking 1 tab of Betaine HCl before dinner (once a day) on the advise of my naturopath. It was in October 2007. I did not have any burning sensations in my stomach after taking Betaine HCl. Actually in the first 2 days everything was great, I though it was working. I also did not have any stomach pain at all before this "treatment". After 4 days of taking it I developed sharp stomach pain after eating pretty much any food and for 3 months I could eat only rice, potatoes, buckwheat and cooked carrots and zucchini without having stomach issues. Eventually in December 2007 I discovered that when I eat bread my stomach pain is worse and that lead me to this site and to my gluten intolerance diagnosis. I was gluten intolerant my whole life, I am sure of it, but for some reason it took 4 days of Betaine HCl ingestion to bring stomach issues on the surface and eventually led to my diagnosis. Unfortunately even now, more than 1/2 year later I still have issues with my stomach. Even now I can not eat almost all raw vegetables or hard to digest items. I still can not comprehend how just 4 days of HCL screwed up my stomach.

I know that a lot of people take Betaine HCL without any problem or issues, but please think twice about it if you have sensitive stomach. I do not want to scare anybody, I realize that probably my experience is unique and the vast majority of people would not have any problems with it. I just wanted to write my negative experience so that you would have 2 sides. Better safe than sorry.

As for issues with meat, I too have them. I have to follow low-protein diet. One of the reasons is that I react to amines in meat. Amines are the result of protein breaking down and so any cured / processed meat will give me a reaction (not GI issues though, more allergic-like reaction). Also any meat that is older than 2-3 days will give me reactions as well. These reactions are the reason why I acutally started to take Betaine HCL, I knew I had reactions after eating meat, I just didn't know why and my naturopath thought that Betaine HCL would help. If you want to research this info about amines further, you can read more about it here: Open Original Shared Link

Also FAILSAFE diet eliminates salicylates and most amines and glutamates. There are more than 4 FAILSAFE helpful Yahoo groups if you are interested. And it looks like amine intolerance can cause gastrointestinal upset as well. You can read more about FAILSAFe here: Open Original Shared Link

Hope that helps.

[ShayFL]

Oh dear...why did she tell you to take BEFORE your meal???? The packages I have say "during" or "after". I can see how this irritated your stomach (especially if you did not eat within seconds of taking that pill). No food in there and a hefty dose of acid right in. If you even waited a few minutes with that pill in there, it would cause irritation.

It might also be that your stomach was damaged to begin with. For that there is a product called PepZin GI. It heals the stomach. One could take that for a month with a lower protein diet to allow the stomach lining to heal. Then if there is still a problem, try the HCL.

**As always please do your own research and/or consult your Dr. before taking any supplements.

[aorona]

When I first started the gluten-free diet, I could not tolerate anything fatty including meats. I just ate low fat the first year ( I know, that sounds like a long time, but I went 28 years with undiagnosed celiac). Now, 4 years later meat doesn't bother me, but I still can't handle fried foods very well, like french fries. Hopefully, with time it will get better like mine did. Good luck.

[ive]

Oh dear...why did she tell you to take BEFORE your meal???? The packages I have say "during" or "after". I can see how this irritated your stomach (especially if you did not eat within seconds of taking that pill). No food in there and a hefty dose of acid right in. If you even waited a few minutes with that pill in there, it would cause irritation.

It might also be that your stomach was damaged to begin with. For that there is a product called PepZin GI. It heals the stomach. One could take that for a month with a lower protein diet to allow the stomach lining to heal. Then if there is still a problem, try the HCL.

**As always please do your own research and/or consult your Dr. before taking any supplements.

Thanks, ShayFL. I am sure my stomach was damaged / irritated before HCL, probably from gluten consumption, but I didn't have any symptoms of digestive issues before I started taking HCL. I did have (I still have some of them) a bunch of weird and unexplained symptoms which I realized were connected to digestion only in the summer of 2007 and that's why I went to naturopath. I suspect that HCL burned my stomach lining and it's still not back to normal.

Thank you for the suggestion of PepZin GI. I will look into it further.

[ShayFL]

To the PepZin GI you can add 8 - 10 mg of Biotin to speed healing.

[LuvMoosic4life]

jewles.....what may be happening is Celiacs have a tendency to have insufficient pancreatic function, which will make it very hard for you to completely digest meat.

Would this be why I get a nawing, aching pain just to the right of my stomach after I eat too much or too much of something high in fat???? I'm not diagnosed celiac, but I am convinced I have it....