GF Diet Question

[solisspirit]

So, last night I went to the grocery store and bought all gluten free ingredients, and Pillsbury GF cookie dough for desert! I was really proud of myself for taking the first steps in getting better. But it all went wrong later last night after dinner (I normally stay up late because I work third shift, so on my days off I just reading, etc). After about two hours after having GF everything, with a little bit of cauliflower vegetable medley (steamed-bag), my stomach gassed up really bad and I had to rush to the bathroom. I had runnier stools than usual, as well. Then I got up a few times throughout the night to use the bathroom again. Once I got up today, I went a few more times as well, and now my lower abdomen feels like I just took a diuretic, loose as ever, which I guess isn't so bad since its probably good in some ways. Is this normal for someone going on a strictly GF diet all of the sudden? I didn't think there would be any issues, but I was wrong.

[Leah]

Sorry you had such a bad reaction, but I think I speak for many of us when I say that you did what many people do when first faced with a GF diet..... you go buy and eat GF PROCESSED PRODUCTS. The problem with this strategy is that these packaged products have way too many ingredients to know for sure what you are reacting to ( xanthan gum is a common one) and they usually have too much white sugar also. Look at the labels. See how many ingredients?

The best way to go GF is to eat real food that has no gluten and not try to find replacements for the foods that contain gluten.... at least for now. I didn't touch any GF bread until I was six months into healing. When I did, I could tell that it still wasn't sitting right in my gut. Now ( 1 1/2 years later), I can finally handle some GF bread and pancake mix. Try to stick to proteins, cooked veggies ( cauliflower could cause gas. might be better off with squashes, carrots, and green beans), sweet potato, and maybe rice. REAL FOOD.

DAIRY IS ALSO A PROBLEM FOR MOST OF US AND ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WHO STILL HAVE INTESTINAL INFLAMMATION.

Hope that helps. feel better soon
Leah

[solisspirit]

Strangely enough, I seem to do "okay" with some dairy. Once or twice a week I get a frappe from Starbucks, and I deal with it pretty well. Now, generally speaking, I am lactose intolerant, but I manage to stay away from most dairy and if I do I'm usually okay. I just couldn't get over how my stomach reacted to the GF products last night. I had talapia filets with a pre-package seasoning packet (like a breading you put on it), Annie's mac and cheese (which wasn't all that great, but I ate quite a bit of), and a vegetable medley. For desert, I had this new Pillsbury cookie dough GF, which is very good, btw. Is it possible that the amount of rice based food caused it? I normally don't eat that much rice anything.

I guess I'm just at a loss for trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do. I thought what I did was right by going and getting foods that were GF, so its a little frustrating. I've never cooked GF meals before, so I don't even know where to start. Is there some good recipes that are good to start off with? I went to glutenfreegoddess.com, and although its a neat website, its also overwhelming. I think the key word here is "simple" for me. Then the other factor of trying to figure out what ingredients NOT to eat is another story altogether. *sigh* I'm hoping that this reaction is due to the newness of the amount of rice in my diet.

[Martha]

I second what Leah said about eating unprocessed foods. It's wonderful that you're committing to changing your diet, but it's true that unprocessed is better.

For dinner I'd suggest white rice, baked chicken with just salt and pepper, and well-cooked veggies like carrots or squash, or avocadoes (not cooked, of course!). You can trade off the rice with potatoes or sweet potatoes. If I were you, I'd stay completely away from all dairy as well as gluten for 3 or 4 months. Tilapia is very tasty just sauteed or baked with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. I like it with cajun seasoning, but you probably want to hold off on something like that until your D is under better control.

There are lots of recipes on this site, on the Dee's Kitchen page. Dee is a chef whose recipes are all free of gluten, dairy, and soy.

If you need dessert, you can make delicious popsicles by blending together 2 bananas, 1/4 c. almond butter, 1/4 c. water, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix it up, put it in popsicle molds, and freeze.

Hang in there; it does get better with time and effort.

Martha

[tex]

solisspirit,

The odds of too much rice being the problem are extremely low (not zero, because a few people cannot tolerate rice, but most of us can handle rice very well). Many of us cannot tolerate brown rice (because it contains too much fiber), but white rice is rarely a problem.

Leah and Martha are right on target. All the unnecessary ingredients in all those processed foods that you bought are almost surely what made you sick. I did the same thing when I started my recovery — I went out and bought a bunch of GF, DF, etc., mixes, GF bread, etc., and various processed products. I had to throw it all away, because it all made me sick.

But I could cook plain chicken or pork, potatoes or sweet potatoes, squash or green beans, for example, with nothing on them but a little salt, and I did just fine. You will do fine too, if you simplify your diet. We have to get away from processed foods, because processed foods are what made us sick in the first place. As Leah said, they contain way too many ingredients, and many of those ingredients make us sick. It's that simple.

Tex

[JFR]

solisspirit,

But I could cook plain chicken or pork, potatoes or sweet potatoes, squash or green beans, for example, with nothing on them but a little salt, and I did just fine. You will do fine too, if you simplify your diet. We have to get away from processed foods, because processed foods are what made us sick in the first place. As Leah said, they contain way too many ingredients, and many of those ingredients make us sick. It's that simple.

Tex

I agree with what everyone has said. Plain simple single ingredient foods is the way to go. You don't have to buy gf foods. There are enough naturally gf foods like meats and veggies (must be well cooked,not raw) to satisfy.

Jean

[MaggieRedwings]

Agree with all that has been said but would look especially at the steam bag of veggies you used. A good number of them have additional ingredients such as soy and spices that you could react to.

Maggie

[lorimoose]

It seems like everyone here has given you good advice. If you commit to follow the advice, you may actually feel better after a few weeks. Seasoning packets, Starbucks, GF processed foods, etc, etc, are adding to your problems.

Why not give a simple diet a try? Chicken, Rice and string beans, salt...simple.

Lori

[Leah]

I know that this advise is a hard pill to swallow, but please try to remember that you can test these foods back in later ( like dairy and cauliflower).

The more simple you make your diet now, the faster you will heal and the faster you can test some things back in. When I read your last post, I couldn't help thinking that this must be especially hard for you because you were obviously eating processed foods before the dx of MC. I run into this a lot with my own clients ( I am a personal trainer/nutrition specialist) a lot. Processed foods are bad for EVERYONE'S health !

You said that you don't know where to start. The best place to start is by committing to cooking your own fresh food. Hamburger patties, Fresh Chicken breast, pork chops or loin, ground turkey, lamb, fish....etc. Read some recipes if you don't know how to cook these meats. Then just cook a batch of rice or potato as a side, and if you feel you also need a veggie, cook some carrots, squash, or green beans. Roasting works really well and is so easy. If you google "roasted carrots" for example, lots of recipes will come up. It's a great way to learn how to do the basics. If you cook enough, you can have leftovers for the next day or freeze portions for later. When it comes to breakfast, if you are ok with eggs, you can have (bacon and) eggs. Or you can try a bowl of GF cereal ( Chex) with almond milk. It's pretty good.

I hope that helps a little. Eating like this takes some gettting use to, I know, but it will get easier and you will feel so much better.
Good luck
Leah

[coryhub]

Cauliflower Vegetable Medley sometimes has broccoli, peppers, onions, garlic and spices etc. Cauliflower and broccoli, as well as cabbage and Brussels sprouts, cause me bad, painful gas. The last time I was sick was from beets. Better start off slow until your inflamed gut is healed enough to try one new food item at a time. Keep in mind gluten is not the only culprit, just the baddest. Myself I have to keep to a low residue/fiber diet too.
Good luck and don't worry things will sort themselves out in time.
Cory

[solisspirit]

Sound advice. I actually eat chex cereals and switched to almond milk about a year ago, which I think taste just like milk. But, I have one objection. Rice. I love rice, and although it doesn't make me sick when I eat it, sometimes, whether this is due to inflamed gut or something else, after eating it I get eye pain, especially if it is under cooked. In fact, there have been times I've seen a few pieces of the rice in my stools floating around. This also happens with peas too, or the seeds in canned green beans. I haven't understood this any other way than to assume maybe it has something to do with the amount of damage to my villi, if that's what it is.

As for the GF products, I'm beginning to think maybe its the soy in the product. I used to try to gain weight with protein bars a while back, and when I ate them my throat would get really thick, like an allergic reaction. I couldn't think of it being anything else but that, but what do I know.

Thanks.

[tex]

You might be right about rice. If we listen to what our body is trying to tell us, sometimes we can learn a lot.

Undigested food in stools is a very common symptom of MC, and it's caused by our inability to completely digest food. While it can indeed be associated with villus damage, often it's just a result of severe intestinal inflammation.

The production of phlegm in the throat is definitely a symptom of an allergic reaction. Casein (the primary protein in all dairy products) is notorious for causing that symptom, but it's certainly possible for other allergens to cause that symptom also.

Tex

[Lesley]

I can't eat rice. I wish I could. One of these days I will be well enough to add a little in, but it's not yet!

[Leah]

You may be right. Many of us are very reactive to soy ( like me). If you are, just know that legumes, peanuts, and even green beans can give you issues. They are all from the same family. I can have green beans, white and black beans, but not split peas, chick peas, or peanuts. Go figure. We are all different, so you just have to experiment.

leah