Going gluten free was easy, but casein free?...UGH!

[IDreamInColor]

I did the gluten free for a while and it wasn't too tough at all with all the substitutes available, I did fine on gluten free. As per Polly and Tex's recommendation I need to go back to gluten free, and as per enterolab results I need to also go casein and yeast free. My question is, what in the world am I suppose to eat? LOL

I'm having a problem with going dairy free because I have graves disease and my endo doc says I NEED to be taking calcium because of the ill effects that graves disease has on the bones. I've tried 3 different times to take a calcium supplement, and all 3 times it caused major nausea, I'm talking 'laying on the bathroom floor for 3 hours.' So I nixed the calcium supplements and was hoping to just get enough thru diet, and that means dairy. But now that I can't have dairy, is there anything I should do? And with all the tummy problems I was relying on drinking those "Ensure" drinks for some nutrition, but of course those contain casein.

What would a typical day of gluten/dairy/yeast free diet look like? There is so much info on the net for gluten free, but not so much for casein. I'm kinda lost with it and need some help.

[tex]

Here are some meal suggestions:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=53

There are also several hundred GF, CF, SF recipes in Dee's Kitchen at:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=7

There are a lot of good food sources for calcium, other than dairy products:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... oodsources

As far as calcium supplements go, have you tried Caltrate 600+D? Quite a few members have had success with it.

Tex

[IDreamInColor]

Thanks for the links Tex, I'll check them out. Yes, I've tried caltrate and that is the worst one with the nausea for me.

[Polly]

Hi Dream!

I found dairy more difficult to give up than gluten. Dairy intolerance means none at all - no ice cream, butter, yogurt, milk, cheese. Sigh. Some here have embraced the paleo diet - the best book to learn about this is Cordain's book, "The Paleo Diet". Basically, it is the hunter-gatherer diet - no grains or dairy but most else is OK, like meat/fowl/seafood, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds. The problem is that initially, before the gut heals, it may not tolerate fiber well, and the paleo diet has lots of fiber.

I have never been a believer that dairy is a good source for calcium. Dairy has too much protein, which makes the body acidic, which forces calcium to come out of the bones in order to neutralize the acid. I think if the diet is balanced well in terms of acid/base then it is possible to get all of the calcium you need from veggies or calcium-fortified drinks. I am going to post some more on this topic soon - will probably title the post "More on Bone Health". Stay tuned..........

Love,

Polly

[IDreamInColor]

Thank you Polly, I totally agree, dairy is going to be so much harder to give up than gluten. I LOVE cheese, and butter, sour cream, etc.

As for meats, I am suppose to avoid all seafood because of the iodine and the graves disease. Chicken does a number on my belly, so that really only leaves beef and pork.

Thank you also for the info about the calcium, maybe I should get some calcium fortified orange juice, are their any other calcium sources that would be better besides dairy?

[JLH]

I've been mostly dairy free for decades, gluten and soy free for almost 2 and a half years (as soon as I found the PP). I think soy is by far the worst intolerance for me.

[starfire]

I think soy is the worst for me too, Joan, but I do OK with dairy (one of the fortunate ones.. at least in my mind).

Love, Shirley

[Joefnh]

When I talk to people about what this disease means, I often will say that going gluten free is a breeze, going gluten, soy and dairy free is really hard.

As I had probably been slowly dealing with MC for over 10 years before a diagnosis, I had already excluded dairy and without knowing it some soy. I had liked to have tofu with my salads, I found that I would not like tofu any more, then soy sauce with sushi... Then it was the salads that caused problems.... 5 months later I was diagnosed with CC and Crohns

Thanks to some kind advice from a member on this site, I have shifted my diet over to a modified paleo diet which really works great. I do miss the treats from time to time... but then remember what happens if I partake.

At this point I have about 15 ingredients in my diet (not including a GF Tim Tam) the main components I cook myself (no prepared foods at all)

Meats:

-Chicken (HF free range)
-Fish (salmon, haddock, tilapia)
-Lamb
-Beef (grass fed HF only)

Grains:

-Rice (white only)

Legumes:

-White or sweet potato

Vegetables (well cooked)

-Peas
-Carrots
-Lima beans

Fruits

-Lemons (for cooking only small quantities)
-Bananas




Anyway IDream that's my basic list, I do have white wine and recently some red Shiraz wine from time to time and only cook with either rice bran or olive oil. I do use some basic spices in limited amounts.

The hardest part was giving up the convenience foods including any fast foods, anything in a wrapper or from a source I don't trust. This includes friends and relatives. The trust issue is only on being able to properly control the ingredients.

Idream, while trying at first, this really does get easy once you get into a routine of shopping and have adjusted your cooking style to suit. After a while it really just becomes what is normal

Best Wishes

--Joe

[Rosie]

IDream, the "attitude adjustment" is the hardest part. But I read somewhere, and found it to be true, that it takes about 3 weeks to establish a new habit. For example, when I learned that I had to cut out gluten it took time to get used to the substitutes. For several weeks whenever I ate Udi's bread, or made muffins with gluten-free flour, I would be thinking that it didn't taste nearly as good as the "real" bread or baked goods. But then I noticed that these substitutes tasted just fine, and I didn't miss the old food. I'm also dairy and soy intolerant, so there were lots of substitutes to work out.

Oddly enough, my initial reaction when finding out about my food sensitivities was a feeling of great relief that there was a way out of the nightmare of constant D. I was actually thrilled that I could do something to get my health back. Of course the realities of a drastic diet change meant that there was a lot of work ahead of me, but now I was motivated! I also found solace in the "It could be worse" philosophy. Even though I had to avoid gluten, dairy and soy (and yeast for about 6 months), I was thrilled that I didn't have an egg allergy. And now each time I'm successful in adding back a food item, I feel so much satisfaction!


At about 14 months into the diet, I'm feeling fine and have made peace with my diet. I enjoy my food, and get many compliments about my cooking. And most importantly I've reached the point where it no longer bothers me to see other people enjoying food that I can't have. I can't really explain how I've achieved this, but it must be an adjustment that comes with time.

Rosie

[Bifcus16]

Hi Idream,

I only have to avoid gluten and dairy. Here is some of the things I eat that might work for you. Someone will point out if any of these are a yeast problem.

Breakfast: Eggs - I just scramble with a little water and microwave. Today I added silverbeet to that. If I have more time, then poached with cooked spinach and tomato.

Lunch: Piece of cold grilled beef, lamb or chicken from last nights dinner. Salad for me now (not good while you are recovering). In winter I would have lots and lots of soups. Take one vegetable eg: broccoli or pumpkin, cook with seasoning and water until soft and blend to a puree. Or put number of different cubed vegies and meat into a pot to make a thick soup. Make a big batch and just heat up when needed. Corn thins (like rice cakes) with dairy free margarine.

Dinner: Grilled (broiled) steak with vegies. GF pasta with tomato sauce (fry onion, gf bacon, add tin tomatoes and simmer while the pasta cooks.) Meat and vegies stir fried with GF tamari (like soy sauce) and white rice.

Snacks: Pureed apple, banana, rice crackers, junk food.

I'm pretty sure the tamari is a problem as far as yeast is concerned. I have a range of spicy sauces I also use for stir fries, but you might not be able to cope with that sort of thing yet.

As far as the calcium goes, is that a long term thing? So a short period without calcium supplementation may not be too drastic? You might find going dairy free for a while gets your gut under control and that later on you may be able tolerate things like the calcium supplements more easily. I also can't help but note that vegans can have a perfectly healthy diet, with no dairy and the only vitamin they absolutely have to supplement is B12 as it is only in animal sources.

Lyn

[Gloria]

Hi I Dream,

I'm DF, GF, SF and EF. I use calcium supplements from Freeda vitamins and haven't noticed any problems with them. They are free of most common allergens.

Gloria