My Enterolab results and some questions

[Jonas]

Answer from
Phyllis Zermeno, RN, BSN
Clinical Manager
Enterolab

Dear Jonas,

Please see answers to your questions below...

1.
Q: How can I show a high value of gluten when I have not eaten it in 10 years’ time, thus that indicate that I eat cross-contaminated food? Or will I get high value regardless whether I had eaten gluten or not in recent years?

A: You could be getting cross-contaminated exposure to gluten. You may
also need to check your medications, supplements, vitamins, etc. to
ensure that they do not contain small traces of gluten, if you haven't
already done so. Sometimes we get exposed to gluten through paper
products in our kitchen, as some paper towels, napkins, paper plates,
etc. can contain wheat fibers. There are other ways to get exposed to
gluten, as well, without ingesting it.

New Q:
This was new to me, paper products? What do you think he means with “without ingesting it”? By air or on skin?

2.
Q: In panel A I already avoid gluten, dairy, soy and eggs. What about eggs, I can have it in a small amounts?

A: I would advise treating eggs as if they are in the 1+ category since
they are reactive but not near as highly reactive as some of the other
foods tested.

3.
Q: What is +1 results in panel C, I interpret it as if I can eat them but not too much and too often. Is 2- 3 times per week OK, what is your recommendation?

A: In the 1+ category, I would recommend not eating those foods more
than twice each week, and I would also recommend a rotation diet wherein
you do not eat any food more than twice a week until your immune system
is not so hyper-reactive. At the same time, keep a timeline of symptoms
that occur so that you can determine after a while which foods are
causing which reactions.

4.
Q: I rarely eat tuna that came up as the worst in the C panel, however I often eat other fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, cod. Should I stop doing that?

A: At present, the only other fish we know is cross-reactive with is
tuna is salmon. I would eliminate tuna and salmon and go ahead and eat
other fish in the rotation diet to see if you feel you may be reacting
to them.

6.
Q: How much can you rely on this test, can you rely on it 100 % or should you see it as a guidance?

A: You can rely on the test to give you evidence as to whether or not
the foods tested are causing an IgA reaction. We cannot, however,
determine a level of severity of each reaction. We can really only tell
which foods have been manifesting a response longer than others.
Everyone reacts symptomatically different and the severity of those
reactions differ from one person to the next. Use this information as a
guide in how to change your diet to where your immune system is not
being bombarded daily with the foods you already know it is reacting to.

Most sincerely,
Phyllis Zermeno, RN, BSN
Clinical Manager



My conclusion:
I guess the thing for me right now is to stop with salmon, tuna, beef. Continue to not use milk or soy products, and be even more careful with gluten. Use a rotation diet and observe if there is anything I still do not tolerate. Maybe most important is to focus on stress relief.

Does anyone know if beef is cross-reactive with any other meat?

Jonas

[Gabes-Apg]

Jonas

A lot of the organic/natural personal hygiene products, shampoo, conditioner, creams etc can contain wheat germ. Gluten can be in toothpaste

Secondary exposure can occur via ingredients such as meat, eggs, if the animals are feed high level of gluten grains

Another exposure risk that tex posted a story about this year, non gluten grains stored /or transported in bags or drums that have held gluten crops.

Hope this helps

[tex]

But if you have intolerants to most foods, and don’t want to be on medications all the time, then maybe this is the best way to keep the intolerance to many foods down and get your immune system to calm down.

I agree that it will be helpful while the gut is still hypersensitive, but as time goes on, you will notice that you begin to react to some of those foods — first one, then another, etc. The main problem is that most people who are in this situation, and who could benefit the most from rotation, don't have enough safe food options left to be able to design a practical rotation diet. It takes a logistics expert to figure out how to manage a rotation diet that works well, when there aren't many food options available. And as time goes on, it will become necessary to abandon many of those foods, as one-by-one, they begin to trigger reactions. And that will cause the stress level to go up a notch, each time it happens, unfortunately.

This was new to me, paper products? What do you think he means with “without ingesting it”? By air or on skin?

I had forgotten about that possibility (that paper products can contain gluten). But it's certainly true. Food can definitely absorb gluten from paper plates or paper towels, but that would still constitute exposure by ingestion. So when she says "without ingesting it", I think she is referring to products used on skin, eyes, hair (scalp), and possibly inhalants. Phyllis is a true expert, and she's always very helpful.

Does anyone know if beef is cross-reactive with any other meat?

Virtually all bison (whether wild or domesticated) contain domestic cattle DNA, due to crossbreeding with cattle at the end of the 19th century, when bison herds were almost decimated. And modern bison ranchers occasionally crossbreed bison with cattle in order to add desirable traits (such as added resistance to diseases and physical defects caused by too many years of inbreeding). I have no idea whether the same problem might exist with Asian and/or African water buffalo, but I have a hunch that it might. IOW, they might contain domestic cattle DNA, but I don't know that for a fact. I've never seen any credible data on that particular topic. Otherwise, there shouldn't be any cross-reactivity risk between beef cattle and any member of the deer (cervidae) or antelope (antilopinae) family.

Tex

[ldubois7]

Jonas,

I keep a journal of the foods I eat daily, and bathroom results. It's easy to spot patterns that way.

[brandy]

Hi Jonas,

Thanks for posting your correspondence with enterolab. I think it is helpful for folks.

Interesting about the tie out between tuna and salmon. I seem to be ok with salmon now but I'd say I've been in remission for about 3 months (after 2 long years of work.)

Very interesting about paper plates and gluten. I've seen paper plates at the grocery store for sale that say "contains soy." I never thought about gluten. I think my New Year's resolution will be to discontinue paper plates and I guess I'll put my dishes in a sink full of water to soak.

Brandy