Casien? Is This Even More Trouble?

[utahlaura]

I've been gluten free for three months after my biopsy diagnosis, but still can't touch milk, soy or corn products. Any of them. I read that casien may be the culprit with me. Geeze! How bad can this get, anyway? I thought celiac was bad enough. Anyone know about the casien thing??? Help!!!

[jerseyangel]

You poor thing! At the beginning of the gluten-free diet, it's a very good idea to cut out dairy products completely for a least a few months. The tips of the villi that are responsible for actually digesting dairy are either gone or injured--in essense leaving us lactose intolerant in some cases. This may very well be temporary.

I would start with checking everything again for hidden gluten--including your personal care products, suppliments and meds. Go completely dairy free, stick to a more whole diet (meats, fruits, veggies, eggs, rice, potatoes, etc) and wait on the packaged and baked goods for a while until you feel better.

Soy can give us trouble, too. I would start slowly, get back to basics and then later try reintroducing foods one by one.

[Mother of Jibril]

My eight-month-old son is really sensitive to casein... and since I'm still breastfeeding him that means no milk, no cheese, no yogurt, no ice cream, etc... for either one of us. I'm a bit amazed that I've been able to pull this off... I grew up in Wisconsin!! It's totally worth it to keep him healthy and happy.

What helped me is finding substitutes... coconut milk (for ice cream and yogurt), almond milk (very tasty on cereal and good for baking), goat cheese (a different protein from cow's milk, so you might be able to tolerate it... my son does), sorbet or Italian ice instead of ice cream... the only thing I really, really miss is a nice cheese sandwich Oh well. I found out the DQ7 gene is associated with cow's milk intolerance, so even when I'm done breastfeeding I'm planning to stay off dairy.

The one big downside I can see... being off gluten, dairy, and corn... is that it makes it really difficult to eat at restaurants. SO many foods have cheese on them! I'm doing a lot more cooking at home. I found it helpful to make a list of foods/meals that I CAN have... it makes grocery shopping a lot easier.