Thanks for your helpful feedback re: flavors and taste in bland foods.
I have enough replies to help generate some strategies, although every person is different.
My own problem started back in early May. I got prescriptions, but very little dietary help from my GI MD at that time, or from several PAs since then. But, I had an appointment with the GI MD today, and pressed for a dietary conversation. A few bits of information follow.
• One does not really know for certain whether lactose/dairy and gluten intolerances are in play with lymphocytic colitis. Can only clear that up by trial and error.
• Lactose & dairy product problems: there are over-the-counter tablets that can help offset any lactose/dairy problems. I got a package today at Kroger. It's called Fast Acting Dairy Digestive Supplement. There are other manufacturers and trade names. It may take a week to get the lactose/dairy issue resolved. If it works, that can help with the food flavor issues.
Today I started this line of lactose/dairy testing with a tasty vanilla yogurt.
• I don't know of any gluten-free local bakery. My GI MD simply recommended that I let a small amount of gluten back into my diet. I should know within 2 to 4 days whether that's a problem or not.
• Somewhat unrelated: I have discovered that Canada Dry ginger ale has such a good taste that it helps to get through the day, with no apparent bad side effects.
Thanks again, Carl
THANKS FOR IDEAS RE: TASTE & FLAVOR
Moderators: Rosie, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
THANKS FOR IDEAS RE: TASTE & FLAVOR
Newbie since September, 2015. Age 89.
Hi Carl,
Sorry for this bad news, but lactose is not the main problem with dairy products. Lactose merely causes problems with incomplete digestion, resulting in gas, bloating and diarrhea as bacteria ferment the undigested milk sugar.
The main problem is the casein, which is the primary protein in all dairy products, and there is no handy remedy for this, other than to totally avoid all traces of all dairy products. Most of us (roughly 75–80 % of us) produce antibodies to casein, and this causes inflammation in the intestines, similar to the inflammation caused by gluten.
Forget gluten-free bakeries. Baked GF products more often than not prevent patients from achieving remission due to cross-contamination in their flours and other ingredients. Eat whole, pure foods, cooked from scratch at home, and you will get your health back much, much faster than you will if you try to use commercially processed foods.
Tex
Sorry for this bad news, but lactose is not the main problem with dairy products. Lactose merely causes problems with incomplete digestion, resulting in gas, bloating and diarrhea as bacteria ferment the undigested milk sugar.
The main problem is the casein, which is the primary protein in all dairy products, and there is no handy remedy for this, other than to totally avoid all traces of all dairy products. Most of us (roughly 75–80 % of us) produce antibodies to casein, and this causes inflammation in the intestines, similar to the inflammation caused by gluten.
Your GI MD is lost, and doesn't have the foggiest idea how to treat MC.Carl wrote:My GI MD simply recommended that I let a small amount of gluten back into my diet.
Forget gluten-free bakeries. Baked GF products more often than not prevent patients from achieving remission due to cross-contamination in their flours and other ingredients. Eat whole, pure foods, cooked from scratch at home, and you will get your health back much, much faster than you will if you try to use commercially processed foods.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Re: THANKS FOR IDEAS RE: TASTE & FLAVOR
CarlO.......CarlO wrote: My GI MD simply recommended that I let a small amount of gluten back into my diet. I should know within 2 to 4 days whether that's a problem or not.
Sorry, but I agree with Tex, your GI practitioner is giving you bad advice which will not help you regain remission and a speedy return to health.
Most of us are members on this forum because we have had to find help for our MC and gut related problems because our medical professionals have failed to help us effectively. My own GP/MD admits never having heard of MC before. I have been seeing him on and off for four or five years complaining of tummy problems which he kept calling IBS.
My best advice and most helpful advice, which I follow to the letter, has come from reading members notes and experiences on this forum. Everyone on the forum understands in great detail what you are going through having travelled that same road.