Other Things Upset Me

[surfer]

hello,

i have cut gluten out of my diet for the last 9 months.. I have noticed i still get sick with corn, niteshades etc...so i have cut them out....Now i noticed after eating gluten free bread im sick...so i looked at whats in it...Tapioca starch. so i did some research on Tapioca and noticed people can get sick from that too!! So, im so lost now... I have been so careful with my diet...Can anyone please let me know if i have created other allegies and what to do about this....Also, has anyone had the same problems?

Thanks so much....i look forward to hearing all your answers.

[captaincrab55]

Try eliminating dairy....

[surfer]

Try eliminating dairy....

hi i have stopped dairy products i think...Would gluten free crackers have dairy?

[captaincrab55]

hi i have stopped dairy products i think...Would gluten free crackers have dairy?

Many processed foods contain dairy...

[T.H.]

hello,

i have cut gluten out of my diet for the last 9 months.. I have noticed i still get sick with corn, niteshades etc...so i have cut them out....Now i noticed after eating gluten free bread im sick. So, im so lost now... I have been so careful with my diet...Can anyone please let me know if i have created other allegies and what to do about this....Also, has anyone had the same problems?

First, I would very much doubt that you have created any allergies. If you are eating the same food every single day and your body is prone to having food issues, perhaps that could be a problem, but avoiding those foods for a few months and then eating that food only periodically will often take care of that issue.

However, I also reacted to corn, and to gluten free bread, and so did my daughter. And for me? It turned out to be gluten contamination of the corn and of the gluten free bread that we reacted to, not the corn or the bread itself (although I may have a corn issue too. We're testing that out).

Sadly, gluten free does not equal zero gluten. Most processed food contains some level of gluten, just a level below 20ppm concentration. However, some celiacs, like myself and my daughter, react to lower amounts of gluten than the norm. Studies have found evidence of this in others, too. The '20ppm' standard for gluten free food seems to be chosen more on the basis of 'ease of testing' and 'ease of compliance by the food industry' rather than 'what is safe for all celiacs.'

Also, if you live in the USA, there is no law currently in place that is regulating gluten free products. So gluten free products are not all equally 'gluten free.' Here, a company that tests its food for gluten levels and makes it on a gluten free line and in a gluten free facility can use the term 'gluten free.' But so can a company that never tests its products and uses a shared line and a shared facility.

For the latter, getting a contaminated batch would be much more of a potential risk, obviously.

Now, I do have a few allergies too, myself, but gluten cc has been my biggest issue. IF you suspect this might be the case for yourself, the easiest way to test it that I've seen is to get pure, unprocessed versions of the food in question, as best you can. Like find some cassava root (and look up how to process it - if it's not made right it can make you sick) and cook and eat it, see if it really is an issue. Same with corn.

Or even grow it yourself, if you start to suspect that a pesticide or coating or other chemical could be contaminating your produce and causing problems.

We've had to learn through painful trial and error that there way too many substances touching our food before we even get it. Usually, we assume the food itself is the issue, at first. But if you are reacting to lots of your foods, then it might be worth your while to start doing some research to see if a contaminant or chemical of some kind might actually be the issue.

[lucia]

After going off of gluten, I felt immediate relief. However, then I began reacting to many foods including dairy, soy, corn, and then, it seemed everything. I would drink a glass of water and feel digestive cramps.

I still don't understand what was going on, but my gut was a mess. I went on an SCD diet (look it up online, but no grains for 6 months) and it worked for me. Now, I can eat everything except gluten without issues.

[rosetapper23]

You may be experiencing what is called cross-reactivity. This occurs when a person goes gluten free, but his/her body immune system is still in overdrive. It begins mistaking other foods for gluten (oftentimes other grains), and the body responds with the same symptoms as though you had actually eaten gluten. This is discussed in the book "The Gluten Effect." The authors recommend that you eliminate all grains and other suspected foods for three months and then reintroduce them one by one. Oftentimes, the body's immune system has quieted down by then and will no longer react negatively to non-gluten grains. However, the authors also say that it can take up to a year for your body to stop reacting to some foods.

[YoloGx]

I have had similar problems. I went off all grains for a year and still had problems with itchy ears and eczema. Turns out I am salicylate sensitive and have had to cut out most fruit and quite a few vegetables as well as a few grains. Thus definitely corn for me is out, as are tomatoes and peppers. I can eat pealed white potatoes amazingly enough. But no other type.... Seems a little nuts but there it is. (And yes no nuts either...also high in salicylates).

Both severe gluten sensitivity and salicylate sensitivity mess with the gut, creating leaky gut syndrome each on their own. I have both so go figure. No wonder I am allergic to so many different things. Eventually I hope to be less reactive as the lining of my intestines heal. Nattokinase helps, as does L-glutamine and enterically coated probiotics. But the main thing is to stay off all stray gluten and medium to high salicylates.

I am trying out alternative therapies just so I can eat a little more normally. The one good thing is that I can eat a few things now I couldn't before, like brown rice. And sometimes now I can tolerate banana or an old peeled golden delicious apple if its baked into a rice goody. Yes home made. Honey is out but maple syrup is in. I thought I had candida overgrowth given my often white tongue, but again it was the salicylate sensitivity all along. Definitely beet sugar is out, but a little cane sugar now and then is tolerable.

The world is a funny place sometimes. One has to do what one can to get on. I am trying to, and have come up with some answers this last year. It hasn't finished yet. I will let you know if the anti allergy laser therapy works and/or any homeopathics... since herbs (ironically) no longer agree with me except for parsley, and garlic and some onion.

[lucia]

I went to the Celiac Center which is supposed to be the best in the world with this, and my doctor couldn't help me with this. She gave me all kinds of tests to decipher what was going on with me after months off of gluten. She couldn't find any answers. As I said, I was having digestive cramps in reaction to *everything*, as well as seemingly-inexplicable exhaustion. It makes me wonder how little M.D.s understand this.

It's been a year with the SCD diet and weekly acupuncture sessions, and I know I'm still not 100% healthy. What's up with that? It seems so many of us struggle like this. Attaining health is not just a matter of going off of gluten. Our condition - often, but not always - seems so much more complex than that.

[shadowicewolf]

Unfortenently science isn't perfect at all, in some cases such as this, sometimes it is wishful to think that it could figure out why you react the way you do.

My own example, i no longer tolerate string beans and sweet potatos but have fallen in love with prunes