Anyone Gluten, Soy And Casein Free?

[gfwarrior]

I need some advice! I've been gluten free since September 2008 but still wasn't feeling completely better. I suspected that soy was maybe a problem and had more tests done. I reacted very high to soy and also to casein, but casein's reaction was a bit above normal. Under 10 was the normal range and I tested at 10. I was told I should also eat soy and casein free. I find this very difficult to do. I enjoy cheese and yogurt and never thought milk was giving me a problem. My nutritionist suggested definitately cutting out soy (along with the gluten) and try to keep casein in the diet so I can get my dairy. Osteoporosis is a big problem in my family so I feel like I need to have either some type of dairy. Does anyone think it would be crazy for me to keep eating milk products?? Does anyone have experience with soy and gluten free or soy, casein and gluten free??

Also, those who are soy free, do you also cut out soy lecithin? That tends to be in everything!!

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

[MaryJones2]

Hi gfwarrior, I have been gfdfsf for several years now. I can tell you dairy was, and continues to be, the hardest thing to remove from my diet. Most restaurant menus and prepared gluten-free foods have dairy and if they don't have dairy they have soy so it can be a challenge but certainly doable and after a while won't be an issue.

Here are a few dairy replacement items to explore: So Delicious Coconut Yogurt, Living Harvest Hemp Milk, Galaxy Naturals Vegan Rice Cheese, Road's End Organics Chreese.

Namaste and Enjoy Life products are dairy and soy free. Most Chebe is also dairy and soy free.

[frec]

I am also gfsfdf. I agree with Janet that replacing dairy, especially CHEESE, is more difficult than replacing gluten. There are good ways to get calcium without dairy, however--salmon, peanuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, kale, broccoli, chard, collard greens, dried beans, and fortified orange juice. You can also take supplements. You could try giving up soy and dairy and then do a dairy challenge and see what happens. It usually takes me a couple of challenges to be sure.

I read on this forum that soy lecithin is OK. I know it doesn't bother me.

I really like Almond Breeze milk. The chocolate one makes the best cocoa.

[Mango04]

I am dairy, gluten and soy-free.

You're actually better off getting calcium from greens than you are from dairy. All of the foods mentioned above are great calcium sources (many of them better than dairy, actually). There's a lot of information out there supporting the notion that dairy is not actually a good source of calcium, as we're led to believe by the dairy industry.

I find dairy the easiest thing to give up, but that's probably because I've been doing it for so long. Try coconut milk, coconut oil (in place of butter) cashews in a blender to make a creamy dip, raw vegan recipes, Parma cheese substitute, So Delicious coconut ice creams and yogurts....

I do eat soy lecithin occasionally in dark chocolate.

[AliB]

I, amongst quite a few others who also have problems with foods other than gluten, follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which is a healing diet. It removes the long-chain carbohydrates from the diet that feed rogue and/or out-of-control bacteria in the gut that contributes to the gut damage.

Dairy is also removed because most of us have little or no enzyme production to cope with the dairy due to the damage. Pasteurised milk products, due to the heat treatment have no enzymes within themselves to aid in the digestive process either.

At a later stage in the diet, once healing is well on the way, certain dairy products, like some cheeses, can be re-introduced. 24-hour home made yogurt, is however, a very vital and important part of the diet to get good bacteria back into the gut. The long fermentation process not only means that the level of bacteria is much higher than commercial yogurt, but the longer fermentation time also means that most if not all of the lactose is pre-digested by the bacteria and the casein is rendered into a more digestible form.

If you would like to know more please check out the SCD thread on this section or have a look at 'breaking the vicious cycle' or 'Pecanbread' websites.

[gfwarrior]

Thank you! So you all can tolerate soy lecithin?? I wanted to try the almond milk but it contains soy lecithing, like everything else I looked at. That's why I was going to keep trying dairy and eliminating all soy because I know that gives me a problem. But many of you say that soy lecithin is okay (which makes me happy because there is more food I can eat!)

Also, I reacted to casein. I know that is the protein in dairy so if something says dairy free, it should also be casein free?? I'm a bit confused because some things say "dairy free and casein free" and others say just "dairy free". Is there a difference?

thanks!

[MaryJones2]

I feel best when I don't have any soy so it might be something to experiment with. Open Original Shared Link and Open Original Shared Link have good info on dairy.

[jnclelland]

Thank you! So you all can tolerate soy lecithin?? I wanted to try the almond milk but it contains soy lecithing, like everything else I looked at. That's why I was going to keep trying dairy and eliminating all soy because I know that gives me a problem. But many of you say that soy lecithin is okay (which makes me happy because there is more food I can eat!)

Also, I reacted to casein. I know that is the protein in dairy so if something says dairy free, it should also be casein free?? I'm a bit confused because some things say "dairy free and casein free" and others say just "dairy free". Is there a difference?

thanks!

Just to be the stick in the mud, I'm one who CAN'T tolerate soy lecithin - it gives me a rash every time I try it. But Pacific brand almond and hazelnut milks don't contain soy lecithin, so that's one option. (Read labels carefully: the Pacific almond milk contained soy lecithin for awhile, but I just picked up a box and read the ingredients today, and it's GONE - yay!) And I second the recommendation for Living Harvest Hemp milk; the vanilla flavor makes a FABULOUS latte.

Jeanne

[RollingAlong]

We're trying to avoid all of those foods. We're pretty new at this and I think he's reacted to soy (a gluten-free cookie, not a terrible reaction) and casein (caramel color) but I'm not sure.

An item can be dairy free, but then they can add something to it that contains casein (caramel color) or sodium caseinate or something like that. The best source of info on the gluten-free/CF diet that I've found so far is the autism sites (they often avoid soy too), but www.godairyfree.org is also good.

Here's a link to a site with more details about how milk consumption does not necessarily correspond to bone health in adults. Open Original Shared Link Here are the relevant bits:

"African women in the United States eat at least four times more calcium than African women in Africa, and have nine times more osteoporosis. Asian women in the United States eat at least 60% more calcium than Asian women in Asia, and have three times more osteoporosis. Calcium consumption in Hong Kong and Greece doubled in the last 30 years, and the rate of osteoporosis tripled in Hong Kong, and more than doubled in Greece.

Post-menopausal women in America who consume calcium rich dairy products have over three times more osteoporosis than those who do not. The Harvard Nurses Study, and a similar study done by the dairy industry found that the more dairy products we consume, the more bone we lose.

Another study concluded that women who drank two or more glasses of milk per day increased their risk of fractures compared with women who drank less than one glass per week, and that consumption of yogurt, cheese and other dairy products also increased the risk of fractures."

----

If you eat dark leafy green veggies, you'll be fine!

[gfwarrior]

Thanks for all the info on dairy. I just love cheese and yogurt so if I can find a nice replacement (if any exist minus the casein and soy!) then I would be happy!

Jeanne, I will probably be the one who reacts to soy lecithin as well. I get a constant rash on my hands when I eat something I'm sensitive too. It's the worst! I'm cutting the soy lecithin out now, but will try to reintroduce at some point. I'm dying without my chocolate so I live on Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. And thanks for the brand of Almond Milk. I have to find a good store near me that sells all that stuff. Maybe Wegmans or Whole Foods?? Both are a bit of a commute but who cares at this point!

[jnclelland]

Jeanne, I will probably be the one who reacts to soy lecithin as well. I get a constant rash on my hands when I eat something I'm sensitive too. It's the worst! I'm cutting the soy lecithin out now, but will try to reintroduce at some point. I'm dying without my chocolate so I live on Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. And thanks for the brand of Almond Milk. I have to find a good store near me that sells all that stuff. Maybe Wegmans or Whole Foods?? Both are a bit of a commute but who cares at this point!

Yup, that's me - itchy rash on my hands whenever I eat soy or dairy. It can take 36 hours or so to show up, so no wonder it took me so long to figure out what caused it! It is hard having to avoid the lecithin, but it's sooooo worth it not to itch and have cracked skin all over my fingers all the time.

Enjoy Life is a wonderful brand! I also get a decent chocolate fix from Clif nectar bars - the chocolate raspberry ones are really yummy. I don't know about Wegman's, but Whole Foods should definitely have the Pacific nut milks and the hemp milk, and lots of other great stuff besides. Good luck!

Jeanne

[gfwarrior]

Jeanne, I'm so happy to hear that there is someone else out there with who gets an itchy rash on their fingers. Not that I wish that on you but its good to hear that its really a symptom of eating dairy and soy (and not in my head!). It started for me a couple of year ago. I went to my doctor and then my dermatologist who both prescribed ointment after ointment which did nothing. My fingers would keep me up all night because they itched so bad... and then they would crack and bleed and were so gross to look at! Then I figured it was a symptom of gluten. But now I'm noticing it had to do with the soy I was eating.

So I will stay away from the soy lecithin for now. I just ordered some Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate candy bars. They are actually pretty good (taste like the chocolate chips).

Well I hope you stay itch-free! Thanks so much for the support!

Tracy

[kjbrown92]

I am soy, gluten and dairy free (as are two of my kids, along with more foods). I make coconut milk yogurt (use it to make sweet dips for fruit, savory dips for veggies, and also in baking). We also get calcium from foods (such as salmon and bone broths). It does mean we have to make almost everything from scratch, but it's worth it for our health. We use coconut milk for most of our milk replacements in cooking. I haven't found any other milk alternative for my son (my daughter drinks Enriched Rice Dream with no problems).

Side note: my son was able to tolerate water buffalo milk mozzarella (I couldn't and neither could my daughter). We all react to soy lecithin as well as every other part of the soy.