enterolab testing question re dairy and gluten

wmonique2 · Post by **wmonique2** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 4:30 pm

This is probably for Tex or Polly (or anyone who knows the answer, actually)

I am planning on taking the enterolab test. I have been GF and DF for like 8 months.

I saw a response by Tex that says that gluten is our system for like a year so I'll probably test positive for it.

How about dairy? Do I have to eat some so that I see if I am sensitive to it? (I'll kill for a chunk of cheese :-)

Thanks a million

Regards,

Monique

Post by **tex** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:23 pm

Hi Monique,

The maximum length of time that will still yield a positive test result after an allergen is removed from the diet depends on the rate of antibody decay and on the antibody level at the time the food is removed from the diet. The higher the level, the longer that antibodies to that food can still be detected. You are correct that gluten antibodies are very persistent (because of a 120-day half-life). The half-life of casein and most other antigens (other than gluten) is only about one-twentieth as long as gluten, so their antibody level declines much more rapidly after they are removed from the diet. It's possible for them to be detected as long as a couple of months after they are removed from the diet, but beyond that, the test will probably yield unreliable results.

Unless your diet has been cross-contaminated by casein (which is certainly not impossible. because it only takes trace amounts to maintain antibody production), you would almost surely receive a false negative result after 8 months of avoiding all dairy products.

Eating dairy products for test purposes is not nearly as risky as eating items that contain gluten, because anti-casein antibody production decays so rapidly after dairy is removed from the diet that any intestinal damage heals much more rapidly. None of this is chiseled in stone, though, because we are all different.

You're very welcome,
Tex

wmonique2 · Post by **wmonique2** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:59 pm

Hi Tex,

Thank you for your wonderful response. I am awed by your knowledge (seems like you graduated the colitis school of hard knocks) and blessed that you are part of all our lives.

We'll need to hang a star (like a sheriff's star) on that lapel of yours, you already got the hat to complete the look :-)

Or provide you with a set of wings, because you're definitely an angel :-)

Regards,

Monique

ant · Post by **ant** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:43 pm

Dear Monique,

I'll kill for a chunk of cheese :-)

I faced a similar dilemma before doing the Enterolab test. I went back on diary for 5 days and remember well eating a wonderful ice cream and saying to myself this will probably be the last time I ever eat ice cream......

(I have since discovered substitutes like frozen banana or pure frozen whipped up mango (no emulsion or egg added)

)

Good luck with the test,

Ant

wmonique2 · Post by **wmonique2** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 6:02 am

Hey Ant,

Yes, I'll eat some cheese and ice cream (good suggestion, I hadn't thought about adding that one) and like you, probably kiss it good bye, with nostalgia, and tears and go on and take the darn test hoping that maybe, maybe through some celestine intervention I don't test positive on that test

Frozen bananas? you mean you just freeze them and voila, you have a dessert?
Whipped mango? you make it or buy?

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

Regards,
Monique

Post by **tex** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 8:05 am

Monique,

Just peel ripe bananas and place them individually into ziploc bags and freeze them. You can eat them like a banana popsicle, or use a food processor to turn them into a substitute for soft-serve ice cream. Hopefully Ant or someone else can describe how to process the mangos, because I'm not familiar with that treat.

Thanks for the kind words, but now I'll have to buy a bigger hat. LOL.

Tex

Sheila · Post by **Sheila** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 12:25 pm

Hello Monique,
I've found a wonderful way to make my own soft serve "ice cream" using frozen bananas, frozen mango, frozen peaches, frozen raspberries and about 2 T. of raspberry sorbet. Put all of that into your Bullet or blender, add apple juice (or your favorite juice or almond milk) and blend until it is smooth. It tastes like a wonderful, rich soft serve ice cream. Of course you can substitute lots of different frozen fruits and berries depending upon your tolerances.

I tested positive for dairy at Entero Lab and haven't eaten it for over a year. However, I allow myself to eat ice cream about twice a year and don't have any reaction at all to it. Sometimes you just HAVE to have ice cream and it is nice to know I can have it a few times a year. I don't mess around with gluten or soy because my reaction to those two are severe.

Sometimes you get a bad reaction and just can't figure out where it comes from. It helps to keep a food diary. After a while you begin to see patterns and learn what to avoid.

Sheila W

wmonique2 · Post by **wmonique2** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 12:40 pm

Sheila,

THANK YOU so much for that wonderful idea! I'll try it today. I have everything I need. I have diabetes as well (one misery on top of another) so you know I do feel deprived!

And I am keeping a food diary so that I can identify the culprits. The whole thing is a long and tedious process but as Donna Summers said (or was it Gloria Gaynor?), I will survive!

Regards,

Monique

ant · Post by **ant** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 3:24 am

Sheila said

frozen bananas, frozen mango, frozen peaches, frozen raspberries and about 2 T. of raspberry sorbet. Put all of that into your Bullet or blender, add apple juice (or your favorite juice or almond milk) and blend until it is smooth.

I cannot suggest better than that!

Best ant

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 2:46 pm

As an ice cream addict I couldn't face life without it. I bought a cuisinart ice cream machine (very inexpensive) and have never looked back! It has been going at Costco for $30. Online (for some reason) $40.

I broke the plastic cover of mine on a bad day where everything was going wrong, but fixed it by gorilla gluing it. It's a very simple machine.

The trick is to chill the mixture very well, to start the churning and THEN pour the mixture in. And keep the bowl frozen.

I use coconut milk in my ice creams. The gluten free goddess (Karina - http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/) clued me into adding some oil to the milk.
This is because the milk is more watery than cream and the ice cream will therefore be thinner, more icey and less creamy.
I use TJs milk for light and inexpensive, and Golden Star for a full fat version. Both are totally pure and both are the cheapest available.

I make a variety of different fruit flavored ice creams - raspberry,blueberry, strawberry, mango, peach, nectarine - chocolate (using Dagoba sugarless), coconut (using shredded coconut for added coconut flavor), and Karina's roasted banana ice cream with maple syrup. I add 2 tbsp OLIVE oil to this one(you don't taste it) in place of the coconut oil, and chopped walnuts for added flavor and protein.
Oh, and right now summer fruits are cheap and great. I make puree and freeze it in ice cube trays. The cubes are great for smoothies and ice cream.

Proportions are - for the fruit ice creams:
1 1/2 cups pureed fruit
I can of coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla (paste or extract)
1/2 cup agave syrup (more or less depending on the sweetness of the fruit and your taste)
1/2 a tsp lemon or orange zest to taste (I tend to use lemon with mango, orange with strawberry)
2 tbsp oil (coconut, olive, grapeseed according to taste and tolerance)
1/4 teasp xanthan gum if you tolerate it.

You can chop up fruit and fold it in. I am not crazy about it because the fruit freezes solid and is basically tasteless when you eat it. I like the pureed fruit much better.

Chocolate - melt 1/2 - 3/4 cup of chocolate with 2 cans coconut milk, vanilla, agave syrup, oil, xanthan gum. Chill well! and churn. Add chopped hazel nuts for pure luxury.

Coconut. Blend 2 cans coconut milk with agave, oil, vanilla, xanthan gum and add 1/2 cup of shredded coconut. You can add lime zest and juice for lime/coconut ice cream.

The only ice cream I miss is real vanilla. The coconut taste plays second fiddle in the fruit ice creams, but overcomes the vanilla, even when I infused the milk with a vanilla pod. So I haven't managed to recreate my favorite of all - real vanilla ice cream

cjbndtsn · Post by **cjbndtsn** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 4:37 pm

Love strawberry ice cream so I am definitely going to try this. You guys and gals rock with all these tips!!!!!

maestraz · Post by **maestraz** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 4:44 pm

FYI, this week I found So Delicious brand Almond milk ice cream in chocolate and mocha almond fudge flavors, and it is, as we say in New England, "wicked good." Even my husband thought so. For those in the region, I found it at Stop & Shop. The brand also makes coconut and soy-based ice creams. And I thought I would only be able to eat sorbet for the rest of my life...

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 6:51 pm

My local Dominicks (Safeway) store has the almond milk ice cream. Here are the ingredients:

ALMOND MILK (WATER, ALMONDS), ORGANIC TAPIOCA SYRUP, ORGANIC DRIED CANE SYRUP, CHICORY ROOT EXTRACT, ORGANIC COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), ERYTHRITOL, PEA PROTEIN, CAROB BEAN GUM, GUAR GUM, NATURAL FLAVOR, MONK FRUIT.

There are too many suspect ingredients for me so I'll be sticking with my Ciao Bella mango sorbet for now.

Gloria

carolm · Post by **carolm** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 7:42 pm

Lesley thanks for posting your ice cream recipe. I'd say you have it down to a science. I can't wait to try some.

thanks
Carol