Enterolab Results ... Have To Go Vegan

[HauntedEyes]

I just got my test results back today on my EnteroLab testing. I expected gluten, knew about egg, and suspected maybe corn, but I did NOT expect what I found out. Yes, I do have antibodies for all those, but I also have them for everything else they tested except to nuts and oats. I am new to suspecting gluten problems, and have been off gluten for about a month (biopsy was negative) except for some accidental cross contamination that made me very sick.

Test showed I have antibodies to:

gliadin (gluten)

casein (cow's milk)

soy

ovalbumin (chicken egg)

corn

rice

beef

tuna (so should avoid all seafood)

chicken

pork,

white potato (so should avoid all nightshades)

It sounds like I am going to have to go vegan! How do you cope with such a drastic change as having to cut out all the commonly used grains, and the commonly eaten meats, and also cut out the nightshades?! About all it leaves are some fruits and vegetables (of which from other testing elsewhere I know I am intolerant to

[MitziG]

Enterolabs is controversial at best. I would not be convinced that such a restrictive diet is necessary for you. How long have you been gluten-free? I would personally try being gluten-free and casein free for a good 6 months and then see where you are before eliminating more foods.

[Jestgar]

What were your actual test results?

[cyberprof]

I agree with Mitzi that you need time gluten-free to adjust. Enterolabs has its place (Ive used them) but theyre not fool-proof.

With your list of foods, I dont know that you could have a healthy, nutritious diet totally vegan with no protein sources like soy, nuts or dairy/eggs, no rice or corn, no beans or nightshades. If you are going to do that, you'll need the help of a registered dietician, not just an internet lab.

I know of a lot of celiac/gluten intolerants who underwent various tests and were told a long list of things that they couldn't eat. In the end, it turns out that their systems were messed up from long exposure to gluten, or else they had something else going on like lack of "good" gut bacteria (and needed to take probiotics) or had yeast overgrowth or things like that.

Gluten Free Goddess is one and Gluten Free Girl is another - these are both gluten-free/celiac food bloggers (google them) but both chronicled their experiences. You may in fact be intolerant of other things but I would suggest a basic elimination diet first.

Start with turkey (plain roasted no salt, pepper, spices or flavor), cooked green beans or zucchini, cooked pears, water. Eat this for a week or two and nothing else. Boring, I know. Then add in sweet potato only and eat a little bit for five-six days. Then add in cooked spinach. Or quinoa, millet or buckwheat (buckwheat is gluten-free). Only one at a time, only cooked veggies/fruit and follow the 5-6 day plan. At some point, add in salt and also add in oils, avacados, maybe oregano and basil. Add in beef, soy, eggs, fish, nightshades, potatoes and rice last and then only one at a time over like a month so you can be sure what reaction you are getting.

I guess it is possible that Enterolabs is correct, but I think your system is just on high-alert due to the gluten intolerance.

Let us know what happens.

[ravenwoodglass]

I agree with eliminating gluten, casein (dairy) and soy for now. When I was diagnosed my allergist did skin testing for allergies and I showed reactions to 98 out of 99 items he tested for. He later said this was a real clue for him that I was celiac. As he said my immune system was in 'hyperdrive' due to the celiac and that many of my other allergies would resolve. He was right by the time I had been on the diet for 6 months or so all but three of those allergies had disappeared and the three I was left with are very mild.

So do get on the diet strictly and avoid the big three I listed above and chances are you will be fine. After you have healed well then you could try adding dairy and soy back in at seperate times and see if you react. If you don't react after adding them back in for a week by eating them 2 or 3 times a day you will know they are safe for you to consume.

[bartfull]

Turkey doesn't work if you are corn intolerant. Almost all turkeys are injected with "stuff", and that "stuff" almost always contains corn. I found out the hard way last Thanksgiving.

Chicken, on the other hand, usually is not injected with anything.

[Skylark]

It sounds like you simply have a lot of false positive results on this sort of intolerance testing. You can't be intolerant to everything. I'd start a food diary and choose my lowest scoring foods, whatever they are. I'd see how I feel after a week, or two at the most since it will be a restrictive diet. Then I would add back other foods one at a time, eating plenty of the food and allowing a couple days for a delayed reaction. I bet you can tolerate a lot of the foods the testing identified.

[HauntedEyes]

Yes, I do understand some of these things may go away with time if I remain off gluten. Fortunately, my results on the test were at the low end of reactive. But I suspect I'm one of those folks who is in immunological and nutritional "exhaustion." I had two typed pages of symptoms pointing to celiac or gluten intolerance when I approached my doctor two months ago, and was feeling about dead when I walked in to his office to ask for a biopsy (which of course came back negative, but he admits he may not have biopsied the right place or may not have gone far enough in). I did get a diagnosis of non-specific chronic gastritis out of the biopsy, though, and a little erosive gastritis. He put me on Zantac for the gastritis, and I nearly wound up in the hospital because I was having some of those severe side effects that indicate liver damage. The only thing that kept me out of the hospital was it was a holiday weekend and I figured out it was the Zantac; stopping the Zantac immediately stopped the side effects.

I have been off of gluten for two months now and have noticed improvements, but still feel like there are other food problems. I have known for two years about my chicken egg allergy (via blood test, I'm allergic and intolerant to white and yolk), so that has been out of my diet for years now. I eat quail or duck egg when I can get hold of them. I did begin to suspect chicken because of some reflux, but wasn't sure if it was from that or from having some other food I knew I should be avoiding.

The blood test two years ago had me just shy of being allergic to corn, so I do trust the EnteroLab results saying I'm reacting.

I've been avoiding tomatoes and peppers for several months now because I do get reflux bad with them, but had thought maybe it was the acid. I recently have been getting occasional stomach problems with potatoes, so suspected it was a problem. So again, I do think the EnteroLab result on the nightshades is correct.

Sometimes I've had problems with milk, but it hasn't been a frequent food item, just sometimes a bowl of cereal or ice cream. Again, because of my "sometimes problems" the test is probably correct there.

Since going gluten-free, I'd been eating more rice, which has been giving me some GI issues. It's the rice, beef, pork, and tuna in the EnteroLab results that surprised me. I don't like tuna, so probably have had it only once or twice over the last few years, though I do eat tilapia when I cook fish. Do I need to avoid tilapia since I reacted to tuna and tuna is supposed to be one of those fish that is least likely to trigger an immune response?

From that old blood test, I did turn up mildly intolerant to several foods, which sadly are some of my favorite foods, which I have been careful with over the last two years. Those include chicken eggs, avocado, asparagus, crab, garlic, sesame, banana, blueberries, celery, and a few others. I am severely intolerant to coffee according to that test, and need to treat it as an allergy, but I've never had a cup of coffee beyond the tiny bit in a cup of milk at a tea party when I was a kid, so that one doesn't concern me.

[bartfull]

I doubt if this is it, but there was a thread here a few days or so ago about tick bites causing meat allergies. Here is one of the news articles about it:

Open Original Shared Link

[cyberprof]

Turkey doesn't work if you are corn intolerant. Almost all turkeys are injected with "stuff", and that "stuff" almost always contains corn. I found out the hard way last Thanksgiving.

Chicken, on the other hand, usually is not injected with anything.

That's too bad. I wonder if there are sources for "natural" turkey w/out injections? At the farmers market near me, you can get meat and eggs direct from the farmers and it might be a way to get something untreated.

[Skylark]

So the bloods agree with your symptoms? That's a hard situation. People claim that GAPS and SCD diets help with leaky gut and intolerances. Open Original Shared Link and Open Original Shared Link if you're curious.

Lamb is low-allergenic, and very few people are sensitized to exotic meats like bison. They're expensive but maybe a couple servings a week would help with your nutrition. I tolerate sheep and goat dairy much better than cow.

[GFweightlifter]

Don't forget about lamb, bison, and yes, even ostrich. Preferable grass fed meats if you can find it. Based on my own research I'm not a believer in vegetarian or vegan diets. I think you lose out on some very vital nutrients (especially fats from animal sources- I do not believe in the lipid hypothesis either) that can be helpful with getting your health back. I personally eat a diet high in animal protien and fats and feel a lot healthier when I do compared to when I eat too many carbs or vegetable oils.

Of course I understand that many of us have food sensitivities that make our diets restricted (I have fruit and veggie restrictions)and would totally understand if someone had tried everything possible and had no choice but to go vegan/vegetarian but at least give some grass fed lamb or bison a try first. Or if your lucky you can find someone to sell you some venison- where I live a lot if people hunt, not sure if they do where you are.

[GFweightlifter]

Oops I just re- read skylark's post about lamb and bison...obviously I'm not the first to suggest it lol. My bad. But at least I suggested deer and ostrich I guess haha

[Skylark]

Oops I just re- read skylark's post about lamb and bison...obviously I'm not the first to suggest it lol. My bad. But at least I suggested deer and ostrich I guess haha

Don't worry. I think it's great when we offer similar advice! Less confusing. I also agree with you about how difficult it is to maintain health on a vegetarian diet, particularly without animal fats.

[HauntedEyes]

I live in an area with a lot of hunting, so I periodically get venison from friends. In fact, I had a venison roast this past week, but I suspect I'm sensitive to it because I got reflux from it every time I ate it. Bison/buffalo won't be hard to find, just expensive.

But I should be able to get hold of some other game meats. A friend even gave us some squirrel once (and, yes, it is actually quite good, just not a lot of meat), and my mother-in-law said beaver is really, really good but it can only be eaten if it was trapped in a particular way (hunting rules). I'm told possum is not so good, despite the Clampetts on Beverly Hillbillies always talking about possum pie. I was teasing my husband last night that I could eat alligator, if I could get some shipped in from the south. Frog legs or rabbit might be an option, too. I occasionally see those for sale. Lamb is hard to find around here, mainly only seen around holidays.

For poultry, I can also eat quail, duck or goose. I do eat quail and duck eggs when I can get them, due to my chicken egg allergy. Does anyone know, is cornish game hen same as chicken (i.e., just a variety of small chicken), or is it a different fowl, like duck or goose, so safe to eat?

[Skylark]

My understanding is that cornish game hens are a variety of chicken, usually killed younger than broilers.

Good luck with the exotic meats and to look into some leaky gut healing diets.

[Chad Sines]

I think everyone's advice makes sense based on what many of us feel when we "realize" we have celiac. At first, your gut is often fried and you seem to be intolerant of many things. For me it is constant soy and dairy. When I have been glutened add eggs and alcohol (very light drinker) to that list. As it heals up, the eggs and alcohol go away in about 2 weeks. The others have not cleared up yet.

As the others have said, I bet if you baby your gut for a little while you will quickly see a lot of things go away. Whenever I am in that bad gut place, I do the SCD diet and it helps a lot rather quickly.

[bartfull]

Cornish game hens are their own breed. They are nasty, mean birds - I knew someone who raised them once. And they are DESIGNED not to ever "grow up". If they aren't slaughtered when they are young, they will continue to grow until their little legs break because they aren't bred to get that big, and their leg bones aren't strong enough to hold their full adult wieght.

I used to love cornish hens until I saw what they were like and how they are raised. Now I can't stomach them.

I have also heard (don't know if it's true or just an old wives tale) that rabbit is so hard to digest that if you had to live on it you would die. They say it takes more energy to digest them than you get out of eating them. Now, I know you are going to be eating other things, but if they really ARE that hard to digest, maybe they are something all of us with digestive problems should avoid?

[Skylark]

I have also heard (don't know if it's true or just an old wives tale) that rabbit is so hard to digest that if you had to live on it you would die. They say it takes more energy to digest them than you get out of eating them. Now, I know you are going to be eating other things, but if they really ARE that hard to digest, maybe they are something all of us with digestive problems should avoid?

You are thinking of "rabbit starvation". It's used to illustrate that people can't live on only lean protein. At the end of winter, it was possible for settlers to be out of fresh foods, tallow, or grain. Rabbits were easy to catch, but they are lean to begin with and very lean at the end of winter and don't have enough fat to live on. You could eat all the rabbits you could catch and you'd just get sicker.

If you're eating a normal diet, rabbit is a good lean meat that is plenty easy to digest and IMO quite tasty. (Sorry, bunnies!)

[cyberprof]

You are thinking of "rabbit starvation". It's used to illustrate that people can't live on only lean protein. At the end of winter, it was possible for settlers to be out of fresh foods, tallow, or grain. Rabbits were easy to catch, but they are lean to begin with and very lean at the end of winter and don't have enough fat to live on. You could eat all the rabbits you could catch and you'd just get sicker.

If you're eating a normal diet, rabbit is a good lean meat that is plenty easy to digest and IMO quite tasty. (Sorry, bunnies!)

I am in awe of your science knowledge, Skylark. Very useful.