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Hi everyone, I just got part 2 of my tests from Enterolab (Egg, Yeast, and Soy Sensitivity)
Anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA 13 units (normal range <10 units)
Anti-sacchromyces cerevisiae (dietary yeast) 17 units (normal range <10)
Anti-soy IgA 30 units (Normal range <10 units)
I'm beginning to think I'm sensitive to everything I put in my mouth!
The egg one doesn't look as bad as the others. Do I need to avoid all eggs and all products with egg in it? I've really got to work on my diet now that I know all these sensitivities and maybe more. I've stayed away from soy because of thyroid problems, so that one doesn't bother me. Anyway, help and advice appreciated. JoAnn
My understanding of this is that if you're sensitive, you're sensitive, and the relative level doesn't make much practical difference.
It's good that you're already used to avoiding soy, bc that will make it easier. I'm waiting for my Enterolab results right now, so I don't know all my intolerances yet, but I know how you feel with thinking you're sensitive to everything you put in your mouth. I feel the same way!
Unfortunately, I don't have much other advice to offer you, other than to tell you to go ahead and kick and scream a little bit if you want to. Sometimes that's the best way to release frustration!
Silly me. I meant to put this in my last post and forgot. Have you tried Namaste Foods? I enjoy their products, and they are free of most common allergens. Some of their mixes are formulated for eggs, but if you go to the FAQs page on their site, they give examples of substitutions.
Bummer! I don't have much to add - Courtney pretty well covered the egg issue. I do have some insight on the yeast results, however. I don't recall where I read this, and I've lost track of the link, but there is evidence to suggest that the only time that we test positive to yeast intolerance, is when we have a yeast overgrowth. IOW, presumably, at some point in the future, after you have your symptoms under control, you may no longer be yeast intolerant. So far, at least, that theory seems to be valid for those members of this board, who have tested positive to a yeast intolerance. After they have achieved remission, they have not had any further problems with yeast, and have not had to specifically avoid it.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Thanks Tex and Courtney, It's nice to know that maybe the yeast intolerance will one day go away. I'll look into the Namaste foods that you mentioned Courtney. JoAnn
I sympathize with you because I had identical intolerance test results, though my numbers were quite a bit larger. I too hoped that the lower numbers meant less of an intolerance, but I don't think that's quite true.
Although my egg test registered the second lowest number, I have found that I'm more intolerant to them than I am to milk and gluten, which had much higher numbers. I completely avoid eggs. It's difficult, but it can be done. I've posted a few recipes that are egg-free, including mock mayonnaise, in Dee's Kitchen. When I want to bake something egg-free, I search the vegan boards and substitute GF flour.
I completely avoided yeast for several months after my results arrived. I didn't want to give up bread, so I bought GF bread made by Ener-G, I believe, which didn't have any yeast or eggs. It tasted like dehydrated cooked rice, ie., not very tasty, but it did allow me to continue to eat sandwiches. After several months, I decided to try eating Food for Life's Rice Almond bread, which doesn't have eggs, but is made with yeast. I haven't had any problems eating yeast; in fact I seem to do better after eating a sandwich for lunch than I do after eating other meals. I have subsequently removed yeast from my list of intolerances. I don't know if it helped to avoid yeast for several months, thereby starving the yeast overgrowth. Hotrod also had a yeast intolerance; perhaps he can share his experience. Luce and Polly are intolerant to yeast and continue to avoid it, to my knowledge.
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
I am in the same boat as you - multiple intolerances. I was the first with M.I.s around here, and it was mighty lonely for a while. I was so envious of people who had only a gluten or gluten/dairy intolerance. How are you feeling about all of this? Are you depressed, sad, etc.? It is normal to grieve for the old way of eating, but I have to tell you it does get better.
I felt the same way that you do about "being sensitive to everything you put in your mouth". The reality is that we have the hunter-gatherer genes (most of us have ancestry from the British Isles and other European countries) where there was little to no grains or dairy in their diets. I find that I can eat almost everything on that diet, except for eggs (which the caveman ate only sparingly, during the brief nesting season).
With multiple intolerances you may find it easier to jump right to the hunter-gatherer/ caveman diet. It is so much easier than trying to read and decipher labels. The best book to read, I think, is "The Paleo Diet" by Loren Cordain. There's a cool website too for caveman recipes:
I also have a yeast intolerance and have not eaten any yeast knowingly for about 8 years. I avoid bread and instead, for sandwiches, use romaine leaves or rice tortillas. I agree that Namaste foods are good for those of us with M.I.s.
I also agree with those who say that the lab test value is no indication of the degree of intolerance. It's similar to being a little bit pregnant - it's impossible.....it's all or nothing. Sigh. Like Gloria, I have found that my egg intolernace is one of the major ones in terms of severity of symptoms.
Please ask any questions you may have. There are only a handful of us who have so many intolerances. Perhaps we should have a little corner somewhere here on this website for folks like us?
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Hi Polly and Gloria, Thanks for the support and advice and asking how I feel about all this. It's quite over-whelming. But in the long run it's better to know and deal with it. I'm grateful for all the pointers on where to turn for help. I'm certainly going to go to Dee's and find that mayonnaise recipe. I thought that was totally out, and the vegan site sounds like a good place to check. I also think that I'd better start the Paleo diet. I'm sure you'll be hearing more from me as this settles over me and I deal with reality. It's just so nice to have you there and not feel alone. JoAnn
Count me in as one who tested positive to all those tests at Enterolab.
I'm an HDL DQ2/HDL DQ1, by the way.
I don't have any problems with corn. How about you? Polly mentioned rice cakes -- she has a corn "allergy" as you may have noticed to the left side of her posts, so she and others of you may find that to be a problem, but of course, there's no test for that as yet that's sold (IgA stool test), but once all that other stuff is removed, it should be fairly easy to see if it bothers you, particularly when your stools are pretty much normal when you don't eat it.
Point of above paragraph is to tell you that if you are like so many of us multies, you can include things like Mission brand corn tortillas (gf), and other things made from corn. Unfortunately, not all CORN tortillas are free of wheat. Isn't THAT a bummer?!! However, at least down here in the border states, there are other companies that also deliver these fresh everyday to most grocery stores, which makes it easier for them to leave the wheat out, apparently as wheat is often added to improve shelf-life, or so people have told me. They are also very inexpensive.
Most CORN tortillas served in Tex-Mex places these days are made from mixes that include wheat, rather than being made from scratch. I hate to disillusion you about their "purity." Ha! There is nothing better than a hot CORN tortilla right off the griddle, made the old fashioned way like my friends used to make me when I was growing up -- not wheat in those, and their families didn't have to worry about the shelf life of the dry corn products because their families ate them up so fast. Yum! Those were the days!
Anyway, I sure hope this will be a possibility for you in addition to the rice cake idea. I wouldn't over do it on those, however, until your gut is calmed down fairly well, as it's still corn, after all.
Just "go simple" with what you eat for a while -- gf,sf meats, fish, fowl for a while with soft vegetables as tolerated, with mostly rice and potatoes if you need something to sort of give you a little more full feeling til you get used to "not" eating as many things. You will be amazed at how much better a better product from your local meat market will taste, and there are a zillion combinations of seasoning mixes (lots gf, etc.) that you can find in lots of stores these days. You can even have the leftovers for breakfast the next morning til you figure out other things you can eat for breakfast. I felt so much better when I did that.
One thing that doesn't sound quite as healthy that I did when I just wanted to feel like I'd had a more "traditional" breakfast was to fix some gf bacon I got from Whole Foods and drink it with a glass of calcium and Vit D fortified orange juice. Those two flavors just say breakfast to me, for some reason!
This keeps me from feeling sorry for myself! I don't have time to do it very often, though, which is probably a good thing! Ha!
I now mostly just have one of those Enjoy Life breakfast type bars in the caramel (non-dairy) flavor. (My sister likes the same, only in the Coco Loco flavor. Enjoy Life has lots of things that are free of most common allergens, including nuts, which don't seem to be a problem that's related to our problems anyway, but...
To drink, I generally have very diluted Folger's instant caffeinated coffee with some Saigon Cinnamon that McCormick's makes sprinkled in it as it's supposed to level out the sugar in the blood (from my breakfast bar, I guess, as I don't sugar my coffee.) Anyway, I've heard that cinnamon is good for this, and it's another little taste treat.
We need LOTS of taste treats! The more variety, the less self pity, is what I've noticed, and it keeps the mind busy on "how can I fix this to make it even better."
One of the things I enjoy eating is mixed Asian type vegetables (they come frozen in all varieties nowadays, mostly with no additives. -- I pick the ones without mushrooms, mostly). I throw in some raw (healthier) cashews from Whole Foods while they are heating, but you might like the roasted ones better, and then, toward the end, add some roasted sesame oil that you can easily find in the Asian section or where other cooking oils are sold. Start out with just a little to make sure you like it if you aren't familiar with the taste. Also. Frontier makes a good salt-free Oriental Seasoning that's good for lots of things. I will often throw in some of that along with some salt to taste.
I also deliberately spoon up the liquid from the vegetables fixed this way to use as a gravey with my Asian pork chops.
The sky's the limit on all the combinations you will eventually find to change things around that are still basically just meat and vegetables. How easy is that?!
Oh, and don't forget the baked potato with rosemary and olive oil and salt and pepper. I just nuke the potatoes in the interest of time, but then, I'm not a purist. Ha!
Also, Glen Muir's organic tomato products I find particular tasty. I get their Fire Roasted Tomato pasta sauce all the time for my meat sauce. First, I cook some garlic slices and onions just a little bit in the olive oil until it's translucent, and remove it to a bowl. Then, I throw in the ground beef (about 91 percent is what I like), and brown it in the pan from which I removed the onions and garlic. I use Adam's Italian seasoning that is found in lots of regular stores, but there are others you can try. The Muir Glen pasta sauce has seasonings included, but I just like to add a bit more. Oh, and don't forget to throw the onions and garlic back into the mix after the meat has browned in the skillet a bit. Frequently, I'll also throw in a can of artichoke hearts without the fluid inside the can. That way it doesn't make it too bitter, and it gives you another easy option for variety's sake.
Tonight, I tried Dee's tip about pouring the pasta back into the hot pot as soon as it's rinsed with cold water. It did keep it warm and nice that way, by the way! I, like Dee, love the Tinkada brand organic brown rice pasta, SPAGETTI STYLE. Follow the directions on the package exactly and they are pretty sure to come out just right. I always set the timer alarm!
Also, don't forget that citrus, and also pears make excellent flavor enhancers. It's a good idea to pick up at least one lemon and maybe one lime at least once a week, so you always have one on hand.
If you have a crock pot, throw in a cheap roast, a bag of those little sweet carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, a cup of beef Kitchen Basics brand "Natural Beef Flavor Cooking Stock that comes in a red cartoon (it's less wasteful to use the little I cup size if you can find it anywhere, but the 32 oz size is fine.)
Whatever other seasonings you wish. In season, throw in some fresh parsnips for a more root vegetable taste. I always find a recipe that comes in the little booklet that usually will come in the box with the crockpot, and sort of figure out the amount of total fluid that's needed in that particular pot. Also, it tells you about how much meat and vegetables for that pot and that amount of fluid and ingredients. Sometimes they'll have other suggestions for flavors that are things we can have.
I hope these little hints help. Not everything we cook has to be difficult.
Yours, Luce
Great post! You never cease to amaze me at how cheerful and enthusiastic you usually sound, even in the wee hours of the morning, and your post, as usual, is chock full of good suggestions. You must be eating the right stuff, to be able to think straight, and write so well, that time of the morning.
I thought that I should mention, though, that while citric acid is certainly a popular flavor enhancer, some of us react to it, at least until we finish healing. The amount in a glass of orange juice, or lemonade, for example, was enough to do me in, every time, so I had to avoid all that stuff. Now, though, I can handle it just fine.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Let me add my 2 cents worth here. Even though I do not have multiple intolerances, I think I have a couple of things you might check out.
First, I'm sorry you had to get this news, but happy it came so early and you didn't have to go through a trial and error type thing - I well remember Polly doing that and I felt so bad for her!
On the topic of bread, without soy, yeast or gluten - have any of you with MI tried Chebe? When I first found it I had to mail order it. Since that time, my local health food store has begun carrying it. However, I had already begun purchasing it in large quantity from the web site and get it at a good price, so I haven't changed. It is made solely from manioc. The recipe calls for eggs as well as cheese, but alternatives are provided for those who can't do either. If you go to their website, you can find more info about it, along with tons of recipes for using the mix. I make "flour" tortillas with it for myself and for my DIL's mom, who is gluten AND corn intolerant and is also Hispanic and the thing she misses the most is tortillas! She does not cook and will not even try to make them, but loves when I make them for both of us. I also make garlic/cheese bread sticks for my Italian meals, and I make wonderful gooey cinnamon rolls! I'd check out the website if I were all of you and see what you think - look at www.chebe.com. I know some people who object to the texture of these. It is a bit different than other breads, but it doesn't bother me and I am so used to it that I think if I went back to previous breads and tortillas I'd wonder what was wrong with them!
Also, a note on the Namaste foods. I haven't tried very many of them, but I do remember one time when I mentioned a craving for mac & cheese to a co-worker of mine who added she wished she could have some also, but is lactose intolerant. Well, the very next day I was at our local health food store and found a package of Namaste GF, DF (can't remember what else free) mac & cheese. I bought it, took it home and prepared it and carried it for lunch the next day, surprising my friend at work. We both thought it was good - somewhat pricey, but good!
I also have a friend who took a course offered through a church group (can't remember, but I believe it was Seventh Day Adventists) who are all vegan. She shared lots of her recipes with me, and almost all are GF and, of course ALL are egg and dairy free, as well as meat free. I need to look some of those up. Somewhere in there was a recipe for a DF cheese sauce that I remember was very tasty on GF mac, but somewhat thin (read "runny"). It also was much cheaper and not much more work than the Namaste. I'll look for some of the recipes I got from her and post what I can find. In the meantime, some of you may want to look for a course like this - my friend was very impressed.
Hope some of this is helpful.
G'ma Mary
Those who are not part of the solution, are part of the problem.
Funny that Tex mentioned the problem with citrus. Would you believe that that thought popped into my head the minute I'd gotten back into bed? Don't know why I didn't think of that then. Let's just hope that that small an amount won't bother you. The larger amount in the breakfast juice might, so start out slowly if and when you want to try that.
Also, I should've mentioned that beef stew is another easier choice, and you don't have to wait as long til it's ready to eat. You can brown the onions and garlic in olive oil, then brown the meat in that oil, adding the onions and garlic back in later. I also like the little sweet carrots and red potatoes in the stew, and the beef stock I mentioned above. I throw in a whole 28 oz can with liquid of Muir Glen's Organic Whole Peeled Tomatoes (assuming you tolerate tomatoes!) toward the end of the cooking time. The whole tomatoes aren't as processed, so they seem to taste even better than the diced ones. They're going to pretty much fall apart in the stew anyway.
Also, there's the occasional family member who doesn't want to eat pieces of tomato, so it's easier to fish the whole tomatoes out for those who do wish to eat them, and leave just the juice to color the rest of the stew for the weirdos who don't eat them. Ha!
OK, enough of this cheerfulness. I'm going to bed as soon as I reposition Mother.
By the way, thanks Wayne! You're not bad yourself!
Does anyone here subscribe to the magazine Living Without? I wanted a subscription for Christmas and didn't get it, so will probably subscribe to it soon.
Anyway, even without a subscription, there is a place on their website where you can register to receive free recipes via e-mail. I am on that mailing list and just received my newest recipe - GF, DF and EGG free carrot cake. I skimmed through the ingredients and didn't find soy, either. I'm going to post the recipe in Dee's Kitchen even though I haven't tried it. The carrot cake I make is GF and the cake is DF, but I use a cream cheese frosting. It is also soy free, but does contain eggs. I'll check and if that one is not in Dee's Kitchen I'll post it later (I'm at work and don't have access to it here). I know the one I make is really loved by everyone - even those who are not GF!
Anyway, look for the one from Living Without and see if it looks good to anyone.
G'ma Mary
Those who are not part of the solution, are part of the problem.
Hi Luce and G'ma Mary, for some reason I didn't receive an email that you had replied to my post. I noticed it had popped up again on the general message board. I'm getting ready to go to work, but look forward to reading the great information you have sent. Thanks for all your care, concern, and help. I'll get back later after work. JoAnn
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