BRAND NEW TO CC - Questions galore!!

[jlbattin]

I drink one cup of my K-cup coffee a day......it's dark roast and I drink it black.........but, it didn't bother me before so it's not bothering me now, either.

We make our iced tea from Lipton's gallon sized tea bags in our iced tea pot. I usually have one glass of tea in the afternoon. It also didn't bother me before and doesn't bother me now. I figured I gave up so many things. I feel like these are 2 things I can have. I just don't drink caffeine later in the day anymore as I went cold turkey for awhile and didn't have any caffeine at all, so the one evening I tried to have my iced tea for dinner, I couldn't sleep. Won't make that mistake again!

[TREESE]

Thank You, Tex! The PDF works fine! And I appreciate your hiding my e-mail address from SPAM-ers. I guess I'm kinda unfamiliar with the proper ways to participate in a forum. I won't do that again.

I went out to buy some Gluten-Free Bread to try. Found a Rice based Bread in a Fairway Store and tried it. It weighed like a ton! Are they supposed to feel so heavy?! It laid in my stomach like a ton, too. Not likin it!

Question: Is that Udi's and Rudi's Gluten Free Bread also heavy like this one was????? Is it meant to feel Light?

Black Tea is Lipton, then. I thought it was considered Orange Pecoe Tea. Boy, I have a lot to learn!

Good Night all... I appreciate everything you have already done to be of assistance to me. May I be able to one day assist others as you have, me!

TREESE

[TREESE]

I drink one cup of my K-cup coffee a day......it's dark roast and I drink it black.........but, it didn't bother me before so it's not bothering me now, either.

We make our iced tea from Lipton's gallon sized tea bags in our iced tea pot. I usually have one glass of tea in the afternoon. It also didn't bother me before and doesn't bother me now. I figured I gave up so many things. I feel like these are 2 things I can have. I just don't drink caffeine later in the day anymore as I went cold turkey for awhile and didn't have any caffeine at all, so the one evening I tried to have my iced tea for dinner, I couldn't sleep. Won't make that mistake again!

JARI... hope I'm doin this Quote thing correctly... I am sure gonna love it when I can also have a K-Cup of Coffee again and maybe a Cup of Tea. I'd be content with that and feelin pretty darn good again, myself!!

Thanks for the Encourageing!
TREESE

[tex]

Treese,

Hopefully someone who actually uses GF bread will shed some light on your questions. I have used Anna's (Breads from Anna) mix, but I've never used Udi's or Rudy's bread. I stopped using bread years ago, before they ever hit the market.

Black Tea is Lipton, then. I thought it was considered Orange Pecoe Tea. Boy, I have a lot to learn!

No, you're right. I just used the generic description. The tea industry uses the term Orange Pekoe to describe a basic, medium-grade black tea consisting of whole tea leaves of a specific size.

Tex

[Jude]

I am also newly diagnosed Treese. Thanks to finding this forum very early I believe it has changed the course of my illness. When I was at my lowest after 4 months of sitting on the loo (30 times day and night sometimes). Tex and others on the forum convinced me that I could heal through diet. I have discovered I cannot take caffeine at all....so have had to wean myself off caffeinated tea and coffee. So far I have found that as long as I stay away from gluten, soya, lactose, fructose, rice and raw foods I am ok. My doctor has recommended steroids....but I have been able to manage with the diet so far. I am sure I would still be on the loo and looking skeletal if it hadnt have been for this forum. Good luck

[TREESE]

Morning, All - Tex, thank you for clarifying about the Bread. Further Exploring Gluten Free Bread, a Brand called RUDY's says they now have 4g of fiber in their ORIGINAL Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread.
QUES: Is That Kind of Fiber SAFE for Us with CC? Or is Rudi's no longer an option?

UDI's Lists their Ingredients as follows: UDI's White Sandwich Bread - INGREDIENTS: WATER, TAPIOCA STARCH, BROWN RICE FLOUR, CANOLA OIL, EGG WHITES, POTATO STARCH, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, TAPIOCA MALTODEXTRIN, DRIED CANE SYRUP, TAPIOCA SYRUP, YEAST, GUM (XANTHAN GUM, SODIUM ALGINATE, GUAR GUM), SALT, LOCUST BEAN GUM, CULTURED CORN SYRUP SOLIDS AND CITRIC ACID (MOLD INHIBITOR), ENZYMES. CONTAINS: EGG

QUES: Are there Any Red Flags in that List I should know about before trying it?

I bought the General Mills Gluten-Free Rice Chex. Not bad at all! With bananas and almond milk I just may have a breakfast!

Yogurt - Was eating the FAGE No-Fat Plain Yogurt just fine before I read that Yogurt is a no-no for CC sufferers. For it to be off my list, I need to understand just how I would know it's making my condition worse?
QUES: Does it prolong or delay Healing, even if it doesn't appear to be causing the diarrhea to return?

I have that Same Question regarding swiss cheese and part-skim mozzarella... even cooked Oatmeal.
QUES: Do they delay Healing even if they don't cause diarrhea to return?
Understanding the reasons why really help me choose wisely.

Cream of Rice says Gluten-Free and seems very basic.
QUES: Is that a good alternative to Oatmeal?

Apple Cider Organic Vinegar - QUES: Is that Safe to try in the mornings for helping to restore balance to my absorption of minerals?

Topical Magnesium - QUES: If it's a rub-into-the-skin Product, are there ways to know how much to use and how often, for the best CC users results?

JUDE, Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences! Since I'm as new as you, I will keep you in my thoughts and remain united with your intentions to heal and become whole again!

PS Emoticons List is adorable! I will try to learn how to use them, so I can send some in my Posts.

Thank You ALL - TREESE

[tex]

Unfortunately everyone is trying to capitalize on the "healthy" food trend these days, and since the USDA mistakenly promotes increased fiber in the diet, most people consider ridiculous amounts of fiber to be an essential part of the diet (everyone except me and Doctor Michael Eades). If that's 4 grams of fiber per slice — yes, that's too much. That's more fiber than the average banana contains.

I have no idea if the recipe has changed, of if we just never analyzed the label on that bread before, but there are way too many red flags for most of us, on Udi's label. Many of us react adversely to these ingredients, especially while we are in recovery: tapioca, brown rice, egg whites, xanthan gum, guar gum, locust bean gum and citric acid. Modified food starch can even be made from wheat, but it probably isn't in this case, since the product is promoted as GF.

But ingredients such as eggs, xanthan gum, guar gum, and locust bean gum can be a permanent problem for many of us. Guar and locust bean trees are legumes, so anyone sensitive to soy will usually also react to legumes and their derivatives. Xanthan Gum is made by fermenting corn sugar with a bacteria, Xanthomonas campestris. The slimy goo left by the bacteria after they decompose the corn sugar is dried and ground into a fine white powder. These are the same bacteria that create black spots on broccoli and cauliflower.

The main problem with Udi's bread (IMO) is that their ingredient list is way too long. The longer the ingredient list, the greater risk of a reaction. I suppose all those reasons are why I stopped eating bread years ago, after stumbling around for a long time, trying to find a decent option. It just wasn't worth it. I no longer miss bread.

Yogurt - Was eating the FAGE No-Fat Plain Yogurt just fine before I read that Yogurt is a no-no for CC sufferers. For it to be off my list, I need to understand just how I would know it's making my condition worse?
QUES: Does it prolong or delay Healing, even if it doesn't appear to be causing the diarrhea to return?

If you are sensitive to the casein in all dairy products (as most of us are), then it will not prolong or delay healing — it will prevent healing. And unless you are in remission, you will have no way of knowing, because if you are already reacting, how would you be able to tell if any food causes you to react? You can't, not reliably at least. If you are in remission, and you are still eating yogurt, stop eating it for at least 5 or 6 days, and then reintroduce it into your diet. If you are sensitive to it, you will see a reaction. But you have to be in stable remission before that technique will reliably work.

The problem with leaving it in your diet if you are not in remission is that you might never reach remission, if you are casein-sensitive and you continue to ingest casein. That's why if we are serious about controlling our symptoms, we either do the EnteroLab tests, or we adopt a strict elimination diet so that we can get to remission. After we are in remission (unless an EnteroLab test result shows that we are sensitive to casein) we can add casein back into our diet, to see if it triggers a reaction/relapse of symptoms.

I have that Same Question regarding swiss cheese and part-skim mozzarella... even cooked Oatmeal.
QUES: Do they delay Healing even if they don't cause diarrhea to return?
Understanding the reasons why really help me choose wisely.

Same question — same answer. Unless you are willing to knowingly risk jeopardizing your recovery, lose the cheese and oatmeal. All cheese is loaded with casein. Most of us here (including me) are sensitive to the avenin in oatmeal, and it causes us to produce antibodies. The avenin in oats is a storage protein that's the equivalent of the gluten in wheat. It's a weaker protein, so it usually takes most of us longer to build up a sensitivity to it if we are not accustomed to eating it, but the results are just as unpleasant. As a farmer I can assure that most oats are cross-contaminated with wheat gluten in the field, during harvest operations,during handling and storage, and during processing, but even pure oats will send most of us to the bathroom. For example, it takes about 3 hours for oats to begin purging my plumbing, after I eat it.

Cream of rice is fine for most of us here.

Apple cider vinegar should be safe, but please don't expect it to restore balance to your absorption of minerals. Only healing of the intestines can do that.

Gabes has written many posts about topically-applied magnesium. Some of them contain information on dosing, but I don't recall offhand which ones. Some products list the approximate dosage of elemental magnesium in each spray cycle, for example. In general, topically-applied magnesium is the safest way to supplement, and overdosing is probably virtually impossible with topical application.

To add emoticons to your posts, when you get to where you want to add an emoticon, just open the emoticon popup window, and click on the emoticon/s that you want to add, and the system will automatically add the proper code to your post. You can move them around in your post (or duplicate them) by regular cut-and-paste or copy-and-paste methods. Just be sure that you always leave at least 1 space before the leading colon in the code, and a space after the trailing colon, so that everyone's browser will be able to tell where the emoticon code begins and ends.

Here's something to consider: If you don't want to give up yogurt, cheese, oats, etc., even long enough to reach remission and do some healing, you can find out whether you are sensitive to those foods by doing the proper tests at EnteroLab (Panels A1 + C1).

I hope that some of this is helpful,
Tex

[kenvh]

This board is loaded with good info.
Damn This is Nice!!

[TREESE]

Dairy with Casein Prevents Not Delays Remission??!! Then I haven't even begun?! Now what?!

How far back must I dial it? Just white rice and bananas and chicken breast? No Almond Milk, no gluten-free Rice Chex?

Cream of Rice is still okay, even if I'm Not in Remission???? I'm afraid I am feeling VERY Lost by this new information.

I am researching the Entero Labs regarding the Tests you mentioned, right now.

This Remission you speak of... how does one know when one is in Remission? No symptoms for a week? A Month? Another Medical Test? (Please, not another Colonoscopy!) How long does it usually take to be IN Remission?

After this, I hope not to keep troubling everyone with questions cawz I have obviously misunderstood what I have been told already. I thought Remission simply meant no diarrhea for a week. I'm sorry if I have tried your patience. But I do thank you and will definitely keep trying to comprehend all this.

Thank you, Tex! And all who have replied.
TREESE

[jlbattin]

Treese,

There will be no healing when you continue to eat foods that your body is sensitive to. That's why many of us have done the Enterolab food sensitivities tests because that helps eliminate rather quickly on some major foods. Your signature byline even mentions that you've had lactose problems and that's all related to dairy (casein).

If you choose not to do the Enterolab tests, then here is a great link on the elimination diet and how to go about it: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=732

I choose to think as my food right now as medicine, and I have been eating chicken and rice, turkey and potatoes, and one banana a day for over a month now. That's all I eat. However, I started with only chicken and rice and did that for about 3 weeks. Then I added in the turkey, potatoes, and banana, but only one change at a time.

Hope this helps, and I'm sure others will answer some of your other questions.

[maestraz]

Hi Treese,
Welcome to the group. The collective wisdom found here has been invaluable to me in learning how to manage my LC.

As to store-bought gluten-free bread, none of them are fabulous, IMO. And they all need to be toasted to be tolerable. I don't eat many bread products as a result. However, the best I've tried is Canyon Bakehouse, available at Whole Foods and some other supermarkets. They make the best hamburger/hot dog rolls I've tried also. You can order online at their website, but their shipping cost is outrageous.

A lot of GF baked products are very heavy/calorie dense. In your case, you may welcome the calories, though.

There is a magazine called Gluten-Free Living, also available at Whole Foods and by subscription, that is very informative. Pick up an issue and see what you think.

In that magazine, I recently read that Cheerios are going GF shortly. YAY, as I love Cheerios. Wait for the GF label to appear on the front of the box.

Once you are not so overwhelmed, and you have a chance to get your gut settled down, you will see that eating gluten free is not such a bad thing. Most GF crackers, for instance, are delicious. There are better GF pastas available than even two years ago. I even find GF pastas made in Italy! You can find GF bread crumbs, panko crumbs, and all kinds of stuff!

For an all-purpose GF flour, I like King Arthur. They also make some good mixes. But I would not try the mixes till later.

My advice would be, take it slow and steady. There's too much to learn, and it's easy to become overwhelmed.

[TREESE]

Suze and Jari, I think a Virtual Hug is in order! Thank you both! I checked out Entero Labs and the Tests sound great. But on the Interpreting of Results Page, I did get the impression that they advise Gluten-Free living regardless of the results. So, I am assuming that you are, as are many here, on a gluten-free Diet yourselves?

OK... I am heading to Whole Foods tomorrow to check out Canyon Bakehouse and other Gluten-Free stuff. The Calories would be great, as long as they are good healthy and safe calories. Maybe I can try to get money enough together for the Tests, too. Did you Both have the Tests done? Was it done with One Bowel Movement or over 3 days worth?

How would You describe REMISSION?

What is a Max Dophilus supplement? A Testimonial on EnteroLabs said they take one a day.

I'm tired...think my brain is fried. Thank you and good night!
TREESE

[TREESE]

JARI - Great Info on the Elimination Diet Page...Thanks!

g'Night - TREESE

[jlbattin]

Yes, I had the tests run, and based on my results, I will be gluten free, soy free, dairy free, and more than likely egg free for the remainder of my life. As a very kind person said to me the other day, "It's not a death wish." No, it's not. Some days it feels like it, but since cutting all of that out, I feel so much better. Even though I'm not close to 100 percent yet, I already feel better than I did even a year ago. I always had lower back pains and went to the chiropractor on a regular basis. I still am going regularly now to keep in alignment to help my healing, but it used to be, my back hurt all the time. I'd go to the chiropractor, he'd put me back into place, and then about 4-5 hours later, I was hurting again. Since cutting out all the gluten, soy, dairy, and a lot of other things, my back hasn't hurt in about 3 weeks. My chiropractor told me there was a close correlation with gluten. It's amazing! I've just learned to change my attitude from live to eat (as I used to do) to eat to live (what my body needs to heal)! As much as I miss a lot of the food I used to eat, there is NOTHING so tempting that is worth the price I'd pay if I ate it.

[maestraz]

Treese,
Unlike many here, I have not had Enterolab testing. I have eliminated gluten, dairy (though have recently been able to eat cheese in small amounts) and avoid soy to the greatest degree possible, as I had a horrendous reaction to edamame. I have also found that zucchini does not agree with me, along with having to be judicious with fruit such as canteloupe, strawberries, and peaches.

Red wine is also no longer my friend, especially the heavier, darker reds.

I will warn you that I am five years out with LC, and I still have occasional flares, usually stress-related, so I hesitate to use the term "remission." I have accepted that I have to accomodate bathroom issues in the morning, which sometimes means waking up very early in advance of travel, appointments, etc. I have accepted that my poo is rarely going to look "perfect," and in fact can look entirely different from one BM to the next. Pretty much, I don't give a s--- (pun intended) what my BMs look like as long as I can reasonably predict occurence. I just don't want to deal with the aching and crushing fatigue of a gluten reaction.

Probiotics made no difference for me. I can't go near magnesium--I even reacted to topical magnesium. I take Vitamin D and Calcium--do not take osteoporosis meds, and have been able to keep my bone density scores stable.