How To Do My First Challenge?

[kimann79]

I've been gluten free for about two months and was wondering if now would be a good time to do a challenge and how to go about doing one.

I've been VERY careful with my diet. Making nearly everything from scratch except those items I know are gluten free.

I've only eaten out at Chipotle and made them change gloves and be VERY careful. I've brought all my own food to friends houses and parties.

I changed out my beauty care products after having a nasty reaction to my hairspray which unbeknown to me contained wheat protein.

I can't really say I feel any different. I'm still constipated- though not as bad as before. I still get stomach aches- but now it is only when I eat grains and starches rather than all the time.

I'm not sure if I'm still anemic and vitamin deficient. I haven't gotten retested for it.

I was hoping, if I do have a problem with gluten, that if I challenged myself now, despite the fact that I still have digestive complaints, my experience will be definite. I've heard that if you have a problem with it and do a challenge you will know it.

Should I first eat a non-wheat gluten containing grain like barley? If I don't have a problem with that go onto wheat. If I have a problem with wheat and not barley I'll know it's wheat and not gluten, right?

Or should I just go crazy and have a piece of chocolate cake or pizza?

Will I know right away if I have a serious problem with it or should I eat wheat for a few days (or more) before making that decision?

Thanks for the advice.

[ravenwoodglass]

Please don't challenge with pizza or cake. Go with something like cream of wheat or triscuits and eat some 3 times a day for a week or until you react. Personally I would do wheat first and then if you haven't had an increase in problems add barley later. My doctor wouldn't let me challenge until I had been symptom free for 2 weeks. Have you cut out dairy as well as gluten? If you haven't you may want to cut out dairy first and then if you are feeling better challenge a couple weeks later. The same areas that are damaged by gluten are areas that form the enzymes we need to digest dairy. It is a good idea to delete dairy as well as gluten at first.

Did you get a celiac panel done before you decided to try the diet? That should be the first step before we go gluten free. If that was positive then I wouldn't bother with the challenge as it will simply set you back.

[kimann79]

I did have a celiac panel done and it came back negative.

I've been resistant to going dairy free because...well, because I love butter. I know I should. Would I have to cut out ALL dairy? Could I do yogurt and ghee? I wonder if it would help to just give up milk and see what happens. I have some friends that can eat cheese and other cultured dairy products but milk makes them constipated (which is my problem.) Giving up dairy seems so much harder than giving up wheat despite the fact that I was a vegan (still constipated though!) for years and didn't think twice about it during that time.

After giving up dairy, how long should I wait before knowing if it was causing problems?

Would I than challenge with wheat before adding dairy back in?

[mushroom]

While I was still lactose intolerant I could not have milk, cream, ice cream, frozen yogurt. All other dairy, including butter and yogurt, sour cream and cheeses were fine. I think if you were to give up the pure lactose products first and noticed no improvement after a few days, then try all dairy. I am pretty sure you would notice a difference somewhere along the way, maybe not all the way, but it's a start.

[ravenwoodglass]

While I was still lactose intolerant I could not have milk, cream, ice cream, frozen yogurt. All other dairy, including butter and yogurt, sour cream and cheeses were fine. I think if you were to give up the pure lactose products first and noticed no improvement after a few days, then try all dairy. I am pretty sure you would notice a difference somewhere along the way, maybe not all the way, but it's a start.

I agree for the most part. It might be good at first to stick with hard cheeses like cheddar as they are pretty much lactose free. I would pass on soft cheese like mozzarela for a bit though. If you switch to a rice milk don't get Rice Dream, if you have a Wegmans close by their rice milk is a good one. Other alternatives for cereal and such are hemp or almond milks. I like chocolate hemp milk for drinking but the others are good for cereal or cooking.

Glad to hear you had the panel done, as you no doubt know false negatives are not uncommon. I was just fearful you were doing the challenge for testing purposes, in which case it means at least 2 months of illness for us.

[kimann79]

Okay. That makes me feel a bit better. I can go without milk, but it would be hard to give up ALL dairy products. I used to make almond milk and I love coconut milk so those are two good alternatives for me. I see what happens in a few days. Would you suggest, if I notice an improvement in a a few days, waiting a couple weeks then before doing a challenge?

[mushroom]

Okay. That makes me feel a bit better. I can go without milk, but it would be hard to give up ALL dairy products. I used to make almond milk and I love coconut milk so those are two good alternatives for me. I see what happens in a few days. Would you suggest, if I notice an improvement in a a few days, waiting a couple weeks then before doing a challenge?

I would suggest, if you a notice an improvement without lactose, that you stop thinking about lactose for quite a while Like I waited over two years before I challenged ice cream. Probably didn't need to wait that long, but I didn't want to be disappointed. I had had a little milk in capucchinos in the meantime

[Lexxieepooh]

It's a great idea to cut out the dairy stuff if you're not seeing results from cutting out Gluten.

I understand that it's a very difficult thing to do. I'm with ya! When I first tried to solve my digestive issues (on my own because I had no health insurance) I cut out dairy first. It was a sad day, and those thereafter, but I did it. It helped...but not enough. I was still experiencing severe constipation, bloating and gas. So I had a random idea to not eat bread (not knowing that I couldn't properly test myself after being on a gluten free diet)

I went gluten free for 2 years and the symptoms were gone! I discovered what was said above, that I became EXTREMELY sensetive to glutenous foods...stay away from Ricola cough drops by the way! After 2 years I decided that maybe it was all okay now, and that I should start to try eating gluten again. I started with soy sauce, then a bite of my friends food here and there. Then a breaded chicken cutlet, then toast, crackers, pizza, pasta etc! I was so happy that after a couple of weeks of reintroducing that I could eat wheat again! JOY! No more gluten free mixes and I could try my old favorite restaurants again! No more spending a ton of money at Whole Foods on rice crackers at $6 per box of 40 wafers.

But, alas...after 4 months of eating gluten like a "normal" person, the symptoms slowely started to return. This time I knew what was coming...so I cut it waaay back. But it still wasn't good enough. I needed to cut out the wheat and now here I am...up on this forum.

Anyway...long story short. Personally I think that you should just go for it! If you're doing a challenge, you may be defeating the purpose by only cutting out certain types of dairy products and prolonging a painful process. Cow's milk isn't good for us. If you were vegan you know all of the reasons why. My suggestion would be to really go to it. Gluten and Dairy free until you've gotten over your constipation.

Hope it helps! Digestive problems are no fun...

[kimann79]

It's a great idea to cut out the dairy stuff if you're not seeing results from cutting out Gluten.

I understand that it's a very difficult thing to do. I'm with ya! When I first tried to solve my digestive issues (on my own because I had no health insurance) I cut out dairy first. It was a sad day, and those thereafter, but I did it. It helped...but not enough. I was still experiencing severe constipation, bloating and gas. So I had a random idea to not eat bread (not knowing that I couldn't properly test myself after being on a gluten free diet)

I went gluten free for 2 years and the symptoms were gone! I discovered what was said above, that I became EXTREMELY sensetive to glutenous foods...stay away from Ricola cough drops by the way! After 2 years I decided that maybe it was all okay now, and that I should start to try eating gluten again. I started with soy sauce, then a bite of my friends food here and there. Then a breaded chicken cutlet, then toast, crackers, pizza, pasta etc! I was so happy that after a couple of weeks of reintroducing that I could eat wheat again! JOY! No more gluten free mixes and I could try my old favorite restaurants again! No more spending a ton of money at Whole Foods on rice crackers at $6 per box of 40 wafers.

But, alas...after 4 months of eating gluten like a "normal" person, the symptoms slowely started to return. This time I knew what was coming...so I cut it waaay back. But it still wasn't good enough. I needed to cut out the wheat and now here I am...up on this forum.

Anyway...long story short. Personally I think that you should just go for it! If you're doing a challenge, you may be defeating the purpose by only cutting out certain types of dairy products and prolonging a painful process. Cow's milk isn't good for us. If you were vegan you know all of the reasons why. My suggestion would be to really go to it. Gluten and Dairy free until you've gotten over your constipation.

Hope it helps! Digestive problems are no fun...

I no longer subscribe to the whole "dairy isn't good for us" theory. Two years as a vegan (and 15 as a vegetarian) nearly destroyed my mental and physical health. I now believed pasteurized dairy isn't good for us, but raw milk is perfectly healthy- as long as you don't have food issues like I do! I think I'll cut out the unfermented milk products, and see what happens. If I still don't feel better I will cut dairy out completely. I've decided recently to cut out most grains. I've noticed I feel sluggish after eating a high-starch/grain meal and better when I focus on high quality proteins, fats and produce. I'm planning on doing the GAPS diet in a few months anyway, in which case I'll be cutting nearly everything out!

Thanks for all the support and tips!