More Enterolab Results

[Rosie]

I tested positive for gluten sensitivity a month ago and already knew I was sensitive to dairy for the past several years. I have been gluten free for the past three months, and have been doing pretty good for the most part. But I've have had some occasional problems, mostly looser stools and some tiredness that I wasn't sure were due simply to irritation some foods might cause to my still-healing system or additional sensitivities. So I decided to test for the remaining 3 foods.

Fecal Anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA: 8 Units

Fecal Anti-saccharomyces cerevisiae (dietary yeast) IgA: 15 Units

Fecal Anti-soy IgA: 19 Units

It was disappointing, but not suprising, to discover that I'm soy intolerant. And yeast too, although that's not as much of a restriction compared to soy. But on the other hand, now I'm kind of excited to find out what will happen when I eliminate soy and yeast from my diet. I've felt so much better with gluten gone, that I "almost" feel good about the possibility of further progress. I hope you all don't think that this attitude is kind of pathetic....really straining to make lemonaide out of lemons....oops, citric acid might be my next no-no....

I had a question about where to find hidden yeast. Obviously bread is now out, and gluten-free beer. Does this mean wine is out, as it's fermented? Other fermented products like soy are already off my list. Also, I've read on the Forum that after your gut heals, yeast problems can somethimes go away. If that's true, how long does this usually take and how can you tell?

At any rate, now I have more work to do, and check out other parts of the Forum that deal with multiple intolerances and cooking with them.

Rosie

[tex]

Rosie,

I don't remember all the details, but somewhere, a few years ago, I read about the theory that the only time one can test positive to yeast intolerance, is when a yeast overgrowth is present, (IOW, most people won't produce yeast antibodies, unless they have a yeast overgrowth). Therefore, if that theory is correct, then once the overgrowth is corrected, dietary yeast shouldn't be a problem. I don't recall for certain, whether wine would be off limits on a yeast-free diet, but I suspect that it would be, since grapes are very prone to the problem.

I agree, being armed with actual facts, is liberating. I assumed you wouldn't mind, so I took the liberty of adding these results to your other results, in our list of test results.

Tex

[Bifcus16]

Hi Rosie,

Saccharomyces family of bacteria are the yeast used in both winemaking and bread. So, sorry, wine would be considered a problem if you are intolerant of yeast.

Vegemite is made from yeast. Of course, you will have already taken it out of your diet, since it also has gluten. Worst thing about giving up gluten is missing Vegemite.

Lyn

[Rosie]

Tex, this whole business with yeast is confusing. I did some reading and yeast sensitivity is different from the other food sensitivities in that you can't entirely control its presence by limiting dietary sources because it's present in the intestine. So I've read that you should combine not ingesting yeast with reducing foods that provide nutrients to the yeast in the digestive tract, mainly sugars and simple carbohydrates. This will reduce the numbers of yeast in the intestine and the resultant inflamatory yeast products produced there. Do you have any information as to whether simply not ingesting yeast-containing foods is sufficient for those of us with MC, or do I need to go further.

Lyn, you Brits, Aussies and Kiwi's sure love your Vegemite or Marmite! My son spent a year in New Zealand as an exchange student a number of years ago, and got hooked on it! I was hoping that wine would be OK......it's listed as one of the "may contain" as opposed to the "must always avoid", but I'll avoid it for now. It's hard, because some friends run a winery, and it's hard to avoid sampling when we visit.

Rosie

[tex]

Rosie,

You're right, candida is always present in the intestines, so the best we can do, is to keep it from getting out of hand, (overgrowth). I suspect that I had a yeast overgrowth when I was reacting, because I had to cut all but trace amounts of sugar out of my diet, (and reduce carbs, also), in order to attain remission, (along with the GF, DF, SF diet, of course). About 3 years after starting the diet, I tested negative to yeast intolerance, at Enterolab.

As Lyn pointed out, yeast is used in wine making, to turn the sugar into alcohol, (and CO2), so it's an essential component. This site discusses the process:

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wo ... Lect14.htm

Tex

[Gloria]

I just looked at the explanation for a positive test result for yeast intolerance on Enterolab. Here is what the site says:

Immune system considers Saccharomyces cerevisiae foreign causing a reaction that may damage the intestine and other tissues of the body, and/or possibly lead to the development of or indicate the presence of Crohn's Disease.

That's the first time I've read about an association between Crohn's Disease and yeast intolerance. None of the other intolerance test results associate Crohn's Disease with the results. It seems that yeast intolerance may be more serious than we've thought.

Gloria

[tex]

Hmmmmm. That's a good find - definitely something to keep in mind.

Tex

[Lucy]

I believe the naturally occurring forms of the same species of yeast as in baker's/brewer's yeast are found in nature and unavoidable if you eat fruits and vegetables, which, of course, one must. I have found that as long as I stay away from brewer's or baker's yeast, I don't have a problem with the incidental amounts that might be on fruits I eat. However, I don't wolf down a whole bunch of grapes for several days in a row -- things like that. I'm sure I normally eat more vegetables than fruit, at least on a regular basis with no problems.

I suppose I'm lucky in that when I first started gluten free, I would often have baked potato or white rice as a side in place of bread for one meal, but I was eating rather small portions back then, and had had to eliminate so much in terms of sweets due to many of the sweets I used to eat havinwheat flour in them. I think the thing that helped was that the major sources of simple carbs were gone along with major sources of yeast, so my gut got better on the yeast side as at the same time. It was several months past being off both gluten and dairy, when I tested positive for yeast antibodies, even though I was only getting yeast from gf breads which I really discontinued eating fairly quickly after trying them. Still, the antibodies were abnormally high, so after that, I made sure that none of the products I ate listed yeast of any kind in their contents, just in case.

I wouldn't worry too much about getting more than the yeast in baker's/brewer's species as an ingredient to something, but I also wouldn't recommmend over doing it on sweets, particularly the ones that yeast thrive on. Your might want to steer more toward vegetables as opposed to fruits in the beginning, particularly if you notice a problem following ingestion of a fruit, say like a bunch of grapes, for instance.

Welp, back to work.
Best wishes, Luce

[tex]

FWIW, I tested negative to yeast intolerance at Enterolab, about 4 years ago, but to this day, if I eat a significant amount of grapes, they clean me out - within a few hours, (IOW, high-volume, liquid D).

Tex

[JLH]

Sounds like a good test prep item for you. Why bother with that other terrible stuff?

[tex]

I agree, it would be the way for me to go, (pun intended ), but I doubt that I would be able to find a doctor who would OK it.

Tex

[no-more-muffins]

Here's an interesting blog that I came upon awhile ago. I know that if you are avoiding yeast you would probably have to avoid these natural yeasts as well but it was really interesting to me.

http://originalyeast.blogspot.com/

Too bad the author doesn't bake gluten free.

[Rosie]

Thanks for the link NMM, although looking at all those yummy pictures of home-made bread was hard!

Right now I'm concentrating on eliminating soy. It hasn't been too bad, but it's annoying to have to find soy-free alternatives. I shop at Whole Foods, and found a lot there. They carry the Earth Balance Soy Free Margarine, and a lot of Namaste products, flour and baking mixes that are gluten/dairy/soy/yeast free. Their Pancake and Waffle Mix is outstanding. I made waffles last Sunday and both my DH and I agree that it tastes better that the regular flour mixes----much crisper, and we both like that. I also have found suitable vitamins. But I keep discovering soy in more items. For example, last night I boiled up some shrimp and went to make cocktail sauce. However, when I checked the prepared horseradish, it was made with soy oil. And cocktail sauce without horseradish is pretty useless! So now I'm on the hunt for soy-free grated horseradish!

As for yeast, right now I'm avoiding major sources, like baked goods, beer, vinegar, etc. But I'm not stressing over what's on fruit, nuts, vegies, etc. If I develop problems, I'll get more strict, and do things like cut down on sugar and simple carbs in my diet.

Right now I've been soy free and yeast-reduced for a week, and already I've noticed a difference. I've gone from 2-3 BMs per day to only 1 Norman for the past 2 days. I can't say that I've noticed lots of other changes yet, but I suspect that my body is continuing to recover, just at a lower pace that is harder to notice. When I cut out gluten several months ago is when I really noticed dramatic changes. Right now I'm feeling pretty darn good, and I suspect that getting on an excercise program would get me feeling even better. Now that I've got my energy back, there's no excuse!

Rosie

[Lucy]

Rosie,
I envy people who get their energy back so quickly. I got over EVERYTHING in a matter of days (other than a little diarrhea after the then unknown other things) after giving up gluten, so I felt better even that week, but the fatigue got better gradually on the strict diet -- must've taken 6 months. Now, well, I'm just old!
Yours, Luce