Dairy Free?

[frenchiemama]

I've seen that quite a few people here are dairy free, and say that it has helped their DH.

If you have gone dairy free, can you please tell me:

1) Was there another reason that you cut dairy, or was it purely to help your DH?

2) Did your doctor suggest this, or was your decision made from personal research?

3) Are you concerned about lack of calcium and vitamin D? Do you just take a vitamin instead?

Thank you in advance,

Carolyn

[gf4life]

I was dairy free (due to a reaction to casein-milk protein) for over 15 months. It didn't make a difference with my DH. But I don't have DH too bad either. It goes away when I am gluten-free, and it comes back to a small degree (maybe a dozen bumps that last a week or so) if I get a small amount of contamination. It is worse if I get a large amount of gluten. I've been back on dairy since January and dairy doesn't make it worse for me, or better either.

God bless,

Mariann

[cdford]

We still laugh when my youngest, now eleven, reaches for the coffee to put on his cereal then realizes that he can have milk now.

We had to go through a period of absolutely no dairy for all three of them due to immune system problems and digestive tract problems that we did not know then could be related to celiac disease/DH. IO even had to go dairy free while nursing them. All three of them and me can have dairy now. It is a tough way to live but is well worth it in the long run. We were able to test each person after a year by allowing a tablespoon or so to see how they reacted. It took my youngest the longest at two and a half years without dairy before a clean test.

The good news is that doing without dairy (and any other things that trigger your particular immune system) will allow your body to heal up and your immune system to stabilize. Once that occurs, you will probably be able to add back a number of things that you currently react to.

There are a number of things you can do to ensure you get the proper amount of calcium etc. Eat lots of leafy green veggies and broccoli. Take a good calcium/magnesium/vitamin D supplement. Ensure that you do not have any caffeinated products such as tea, coffee, or colas within a couple of hours of whatever calcium source you choose. They will limit absorption of the calcium.

Hope this helps.

[tarnalberry]

I don't have DH, but did discover, during an elimination diet, that I was sensitive to casein, so I haven't had any for about a year.

As for getting enough calcium/vitamin D... I presume you bring this up for bone health. There are a number of issues at work here:

1) various studies have demonstrated that we may not need the 1200mg/day of calcium the RDA lists IF we simply properly utilize what we do get

2) most adults - particularly those in the higher latitudes - are vitamin D deficient already, because they don't get out into the sunlight so their bodies can generate vitamin D on it's own

3) dairy products do not have enough of the other minerals needed to absorb and properly use calcium for bone formation - magnesium is the biggest hitter of these, and studies have shown that magnesium supplementation is more important for celiacs than calcium supplementation

4) weight bearing exericse is crucial to good bone density formation, but not enough people get good, regular weight bearing activity

I do take a supplement, but for menstrual symptoms as much as bone health, but I make sure that the vitamin has plenty of magnesium (besides vit D), I make sure to get some sunlight (without sunblock) whenever possible (and no, you needn't burn or even really tan to do this), and get regular weight bearing exercise - including weight bearing in the upper body.