cornbread

I had not really done anything about her diet since her test results came back because it was such a LOW number that it hardly seemed worth the headache of making everyone aware that they should not feed her gluten--not to mention how hard it would be in our house of seven to keep from having CC issues.

Hi Chewymom,

I'm presuming this is the same daughter who you tested with Enterolab? If so, did they make you aware that a positive is a positive via their test, it's not a case of low positive being less serious than high positive. They have a note about this in the results, or at least they used to. Think of it like a pregnancy test - you can't be a little bit pregnant, it's yes or no. If your daughter scored an 11 and the cut-off for gluten intolerance is 10, then she is most definitely and forever gluten intolerant and every morsel of gluten she ingests is damaging her. I'm sure Enterolab would be happy to back this up if you called or emailed them. Please for your daughter's sake take her positive result as seriously as if it were a 300.

I get the impression we are having a complete lack of connection or understanding between us. From my point of view you keep interchanging ZERO CARB and LOW CARB when they can not be interchanged and trying to makes your post make no sense. Even the "Paleolithic " has carbs in it, yet you site it as an example. Odviously somthing your saying is getting lost in transaltion to the web forums.

Hi Vydor,

I think perhaps the lengths of my posts meant you didn't read them properly (not an attack just a theory - I know I typed a lot...) I just wanted to give a very thorough and articulate reply because you sounded like you needed some advice, and I like to explain WHY stuff works, not just give people rules to follow. Also, had I found such a detailed post on this stuff when I was first struggling with hypoglycemia I would have been delighted, so I wanted to make sure the next person who is looking has as much info as possible on this particular approach.

Anyway, if you have 5 mins, please re-read my original post. I am DEFINITELY not recommending a zero carb diet (third paragraph of first reply: "We're not talking zero carb..."). I eat vegetables, nuts and berries and have never advised anyone against doing so. What I actually said was we do not NEED any carbs to live; we can actually survive on zero. That is a fact, and one I only mentioned in direct response to you saying "I HAVE to have carbs", because that rang alarm bells for me, and because I take every opportunity to debunk that myth.

Of COURSE it's advisable to eat sources of food (veggies, nuts, fruit) that happen to contain some carbs - I never said otherwise - but the fact is humans CAN survive without them, unlike protein and fat. I know that once I was aware of this fact it was a lot easier to make smart food choices and no longer be afraid of fats or convinced for some reason I should have x grams of carbs per day for 'energy'.

Ok, glad that's cleared up. I genuinely wish you good luck with whatever route you take. Hypoglycemia is hell, and I posted to help, not fight (quite obviously - what a long-winded way it would've been to start a fight! )

I think Nancy and I are talking about reactive hypoglycemia. But what I'm saying holds true for all blood sugar disturbances, whether you're too high or too low, or all over the map, the solution is to stablise your levels, and the best way to do that is to remove all forms of sugar, and anything that has a big effect on your blood sugar levels (ie: caffeine, smoking, food intolerances, medications).

Like I said, it's the TYPE of carbs you're consuming that you need to look at, not the total number particularly. You could eat 100g carbs a day of non-starchy vegetables and still have stable blood sugar. Or you could eat a 10g carb rice cake and have a hypoglycemic episode. A 'low-carb diet' in this context is about eating only low-carb foods, not necessarily obsessing over a low carb gram count at the end of each day. Do you see the difference? (The easiest and healthiest way to achieve this is to follow a Paleolithic style diet).

Eliminate grains and sugar and yes of course you will feel rotten initially, if you've been used to eating them (however few). Your body will throw a tantrum - sugar is the easiest fuel to utilise (after alcohol). But just try and ride it out for a few days. I dare you! Take your blood glucose levels too, so even if you don't feel like it's working you will see that it is.

Clearly eating the way you are isn't working for you, so why not try another way? I mean really try it, ride out past the sugar jones of 'it's not working!' and come out the other side, running on the fuel your body was designed to use (protein and fat), with incredible energy and blood sugar stable as a rock. If hypoglycemia is already making you feel bad, what have you got to lose except your pride?

If you need to hear it from more official sources, just google 'treating hypoglycemia low carb' and get your reading head on...

I have spent the last few months getting to grips with hypoglycemia (am also gluten/casein/soy intolerant, so I know how hard this can be on top of everything else!) I've read a LOT of books and done a LOT of research. The end result is I now have an eating plan that has removed all of my symptoms. If you want to feel better, please read on.

To start with, I have to agree with Nancy - treating hypoglycemia, much like diabetes, requires eating fewer overall carbs,in particular, restricting your friends starch, sugar and grains. Your carbs should come mainly from non-starchy vegetables. Low GI fruit (berries, kiwis, etc.) should be ok too in moderation, but you may have better results cutting them out also for a week until your levels have stabalised. If you don't want to, at least try and consume them with a protein/fat source (ie: 1 T almond butter to 1 oz berries) to lessen the impact they have.

We're not talking zero carb, and maybe not even counting carbs - simply making better carb choices (ie: replacing most starches and grains with vegetables) will automatically lower your over all carbs and restrict the amount of sugar in your blood stream. And if there's less sugar there, there's less need for your body to over-react to it and lower your blood sugar.

Your comment on having to have carbs terrified me. First of all, it's a fact that human beings need protein, they need fat, but they do not need any carbs. Zero. Nada. Carbs are an easy, fast source of fuel precisely because the body sees them as sugar. Even complex carbs are sugar, they're just sugars that break down more slowly. Giving a hypoglycemic sugar (of any kind - a sugar cube, a banana or a bowl of rice) just perpetuates the problem. The sugar raises your blood glucose (giving temporary relief from hypoglycemia), but that signals your body to pump out insulin to bring it back down and, as a hypoglycemic, the issue is that your body over-corrects - pumps out too much insulin. So eating sugar just leads to another low blood sugar episode. And each time you do this you are stressing your body and are one step close to becoming totally insulin resistant. Next stop, Type 2 Diabetes. No thank you.

However, if you eat those sugars properly combined with protein or fat you lower the glycemic load of that meal, which lessens the insulin response, and keeps the blood sugar more stable. The stabler you keep it, the better you feel. So it makes sense that getting your carbs from non-starchy veggies, nuts, etc. is a more sensible plan.

It's also VERY important to eat every 2-3 hours. This keeps a steady stream of fuel and keeps you in your healthy blood sugar range. It's better to have 6 small meals/snacks throughout the day than 3 bigger ones. I haven't just read this as a theory, I am living it right now, and eating this way has stopped all of my hypoglycemic symptoms. If I miss a snack or eat too many carbs in one go, they return.

Ok, but what to eat?

Usually I have a 2-egg omelette (with spinach, tomato, red pepper, onion) for breakfast, with a few slices of bacon. Green tea. Coffee is a no-no for those with blood sugar issues - it spikes the blood sugar (adrenalin). Sure green tea has a little caffeine, but not enough to affect blood sugar for me.

If I don't have time to cook bacon or make an omelette/scramble some eggs, I throw a couple of turkey breakfast patties on the grill (or sausages, whatever your quick breakfast protein of choice is) and chop an avocado in half - I just eat it with a spoon, scooping straight from the skin. Very satiating and excellent source of good fats.

For my snacks I either have some berries with almond butter or nuts, maybe some sliced turkey or some canned tuna. Sometimes a hard-boiled egg. Jerky! If I'm travelling I take a bag of baby spinach, a pack of baby tomatoes and cans of tuna in olive oil. It makes a really delicious, quick, nutritious, balanced and blood sugar friendly meal.

Dinner is usually a portion of meat or fish with non-starchy veggies or a salad. Remember I'm talking 5 or 6 meals a day, so it's breakfast [2 hrs] snack [2 hrs] lunch [2 hrs] snack [2 hrs] snack [2 hrs] dinner [2 hrs] snack... Make sure you have a small protein snack right before bedtime too. Most of us find a lower carb breakfast is best, and then spread your carbs evenly throughout the day (limit for pre-bed snack).

Eating this way gives me stable blood sugar levels throughout the day and night.

To start with, just try making the smart carb choices and remember your body sees all carbs as sugar, and your body sees all sugar as something it needs to counteract with insulin - in your case as a hypoglycemic, too much insulin, which gives you low blood sugar.

Hope that helped!

It's sometimes made from corn - maybe that's the culprit.

Me too.... I know it's not a life-time intolerance like gluten as I have tested negative with Enterolab twice (for IgA antibodies to egg), but I do have an IgG 'sensitivity'. I will keep retrying them every couple of months. I'm hoping I can reintroduce them to my diet one day, as I don't eat any grains, potatoes or legumes, they are a useful source of food. And they make baking a lot easier!

I can't have corn. I get my pain killers and antihistamines compounded. Corn is in a LOT of stuff!

I believe thats only the IgE alergy test, which is different, and I already got that from my local doc for a $20 copay.

Nope, it's for an IgA intolerance test (the life-time kind). Trust me - I did it. They do IgA tests for gluten, casein, soy, yeast and eggs.

heres the frosting recipe. its really really good lol

gluten-free and dairy free if you want

3 tea gluten-free/Dairy free butter

1/3 C cocoa

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

1/8 c milk [i use rice milk]

1/2 tea vanilla

cream butter, mix sugar and cocoa together add milk slowly to desired consistencey, add vanilla

Enjoy

Thank you!!

Open Original Shared Link

Anytime I eat the smallest amount of something that my body doesn't like, I blow up like a balloon and stay that way for a while. It's soooooooooooooooo f'in annoying. (Sorry, but it really is). I'm sick of feeling like I'm not in my own body when I look in the mirror. It's very depressing.

Dani, I know exactly how you feel. I hate being bloated. I'm a size 2. Looks so ridiculous to wear my regular size clothes but have this pot belly sticking out!

Go to their web site and read read read - lots of great info there.

Open Original Shared Link

the problem is there is no test for casein intolerance,

Yes there is: Open Original Shared Link

Click on 'test for cow's milk protein sensitivity'. Cow's milk protein = casein.

It's $99. Well worth it to know for sure.

forgot to add, i make a quick choc. frosting for the brownies

Can you tell us how please?

Off the top of my head, hearing about Enterolab, Breads From Anna and The Specific Carbohydrate Diet. More generally, having a place to visit to feel like I'm not dealing with this all on my own. The outside world (including ones own friends and family!) is a harsh place to be when you're gluten-free - the antidote is this forum.

I think in general there's a grave misconception amoung the gluten-eating public (including doctors) that a gluten-free diet must be somehow unbalanced, or at least unhealthily restrictive. I honestly don't think anything could be further from the truth! I've had people suggest nutritionists to me, and I find it quite insulting because my diet (Paleolithic - just fresh organic meat, fish, fruit, veggies and nuts) is WAY healthier than their typical modern diets. Bar special occasions, I eat zero junk food and provided I don't get cross-contaminated I am way healthier than they are too with more energy. Maybe they're just jealous because they're addicted to gluten and sugar?

Anyway, I think you are giving your baby a great start in life and you're right, doctors really don't like it when we diagnose or fix ourselves! A good doctor would tell you to just keep doing what you're doing.

Chrissy, have you thought about her trying the Specific Carbohydrate Diet? A lot of us with Celiac who don't heal find out we are intolerant to all complex carbs (ie: all grains, starchy veg, sucrose). Take us just off gluten and we simply don't get better. In fact Celiac used to be considered a (complex) carbohydrate intolerance rather than merely a gluten intolerance!

In addition, depression is a sympton of Celiac (I get it if I don't eat right, and that includes staying away from all grains, dairy and soy, not just gluten).

If you want more info PM me, or search the board for 'specific carbohydrate diet'.

That's interesting Mike. I wonder if you would react to cow dairy? I'm Enterolab certified gluten/casein intolerant (plus soy/yeast) and I get awful and immediate symptoms from all of them. I've heard of Gluten-free Casein-free people being able to tolerate goat milk much better than cow milk. I've never liked milk anyway, but there's certainly room in my heart (and fridge) for a cheese alternative. If I could tolerate goat dairy that would be awesome.

Megan, for $99 you can get tested by Enterolab. Open Original Shared Link. The stool test they do is way more sensitive than a blood test that a doctor would do, so, based on your symptoms, it's highly likely you'd get a positive test result.

I finally found the name of those raw food vegan, gluten-free cheesecakes I was talking about earlier in this thread. They're made by a company called Earth Cafe.

www.earthcafeonline.com

It looks like you can order them online but I've seen them for sale by the slice at many different health food stores and vegan restaruants in a few different cities. They're kinda pricey but it's impossible to eat an entire slice - and they're good

Anyway - something to try if you're gluten, dairy, egg and soy free!

Thanks Mango! I AM gluten, dairy, egg and soy free, and I LOVE cheesecake (and miss it), so this is an awesome find. I actually also saw that my local Whole Foods (ok, it's the flagship store!) has a raw food counter, and they had loads of delicious looking foods, including desserts. All availble to go. The best part about it is that I read all the labels and there was virtually no item I couldn't have! It was like being pre-gluten-free! I I didn't buy anything though because I'm doing the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, but I'm going to introduce as much raw food as possible as soon as I'm able to.

I get a gluten-speed reaction for casein (within a minute the "I feel like I'm dreaming" brain fog kicks in). Soy gives me stomach issues within about 10 mins. Yeast gives me slight brain fog within minutes, but that turns to gluten-esque brain fog the following day. I highly expect these reactions to change (speed up) with each exposure. The body certainly seems to get more sensitive the more problem foods you unmask.

i'm curious why you require something soy free?

Presumably because they are soy intolerant too. I am in exactly the same boat - casein AND soy intolerant (IgA mediated, so it's a keeper... )

I second the raw food advice - you would not believe how awesome some of the raw food recipes taste.

Also, when my yogurt maker and dairy-free yogurt starter culture arrive on Wednesday, I will be making coconut milk yogurt and coconut milk cheese. I'll let you know how it tastes!

Thanks Tiffany! That was really helpful. Even with the slightly frustrating classes I went to, I got enough of a feeling of mental well-being from it to appreciate that regular yoga would benefit me emmensly.

A zero IgA, a 0 IgE...

Vincent, have you done a Total Serum IgA to test for IgA deficiency? A high percentage of celiacs are actuallly IgA deficient, which I presume would mean there tests would come back as zero, just like yours did.

Keep us posted how your gluten challenge goes!

I react instantly too Elonwy - it's really quite handy in terms of damage limitation!

What country are you in? Cadbury's web site (UK) has a list of which products are gluten-free.