My EnteroLab results from May 21

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Sat May 26, 2012 7:23 pm

Charlotte’s EnteroLab results 5/21/2012

Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score    Less than 300 Units   (Normal Range is less than 300 Units)
2 1/2 years ago it also was less than 300.

Mean Value 11 Antigenic Foods    19 Units   (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
This tells me I have developed sensitivities to more foods and more eliminations are needed.

  Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA    95 Units   (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Last time this was 32 units, it upsets me to see that this has gone up when I really felt I was eliminating all gluten.  

Fecal Anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA    64 Units   (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Last time this was 7 units. The first year I faithfully eliminated dairy but in the second year I added in a little cottage cheese, and yogurt and occasionally ice cream.

My MRT test January 2012 indicated cottage cheese as a yellow, and the rest green. However, I have again eliminated dairy products since mid January. I clarified butter a month ago which I use very sparingly. I cook with coconut oil and olive oil. I recently switched from rice milk to almond milk.

Fecal Anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA    15 Units   (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Egg was not tested last time. Eggs were a very low reactive green on MRT. Now I need to eliminate eggs. Right?

  Fecal Anti-soy IgA    17 Units   (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Prior to January 2010 testing I was drinking soy milk. My soy units at that time were 14. I then switched to rice milk. Now because of the results in the next group, I have switched to almond milk

most immunologic reactivity: Rice, Corn, Oat, White potato
 intermediate reactivity: Walnut, Cashew, Chicken, Beef
 least immunologic reactivity: Almond, Tuna, Pork

What a bummer!
  Within each class of foods to which you displayed multiple reactions, the hierarchy of those reactions detected were as follows:

  Grains:
 most immunologic reactivity: Rice
 intermediate immunologic reactivity: Corn
 least immunologic reactivity: Oat 

This is going to be hard, no white rice, rice flour, rice pasta, corn chips, corn tortillas.
On my MRT test Rice and Oats were low greens and Corn a little higher green but still allowable. I felt safe in eating them. No reactions that I could tell. And I just made Marliss’s Down to Earth Granola with safe oats.

Meats:
 most immunologic reactivity: Chicken 
next most immunologically reactive: Beef
 intermediate immunologic reactivity: Tuna
 least immunologic reactivity: Pork

 I could give up Beef but Chicken! Darn! I love Chicken. Will Turkey be OK? Not a favorite. As a result, I have been eating more seafood and pork. But how can one be on a rotation diet when you make a pork roast and have enough for 6 meals. DH doesn’t want to eat it all and by the time I get back to eating it, it’s spoiled. I find when I freeze leftovers they get stuck in the freezer and not eaten.

MRT indicated Beef, Pork Egg, & Turkey as being low reactive greens. Chicken & Lamb were a little higher greens but not much.

 Nuts: 
most immunologic reactivity: Walnut
 intermediate immunologic reactivity: Cashew
 least immunologic reactivity: Almond

On MRT Walnuts were the only yellow under Beans/Nuts/Legumes and I don’t use them. I was eating a lot of Almonds. Because Almonds were a higher reactive on MRT I switched to Pistachios and Cashews which were very low reactive. As a result of the NUTS test here, I am going to try switching back to Almonds and Pistachios.  

Nightshades: You displayed immunologic reactivity to white potato.

I haven’t had potatoes or any nightshades since January when my MRT chemicals listed SOLANINE as a yellow.
The individual results for white potato, tomatoes, eggplant were green on MRT

A concern of mine is the section from the EnteroLab report that I have highlighted below.

Dietary Recommendation Based on Test Results to Individual Foods: This test panel was designed to guide your choices when building a new more healthful, less antigenic dietary plan. The results are delivered in such a way that you are not left with “nothing to eat,” but instead they guide you in avoiding the foods in each group that are most stimulating to your immune system. We discourage dietary changes that involve removing too many foods at once. This can lead you to feel too hungry too often, especially if adequate healthful replacement foods are not readily available. Dietary elimination (beyond gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free) is best approached over a period of weeks to months and sometimes years, removing one or two additional foods at a time, rather than removing many foods at once.

I called EnteroLab after getting my results as I had a question and was put through to the nurse. Later on in our conversation she said I didn’t need to eliminate EGGS altogether, just cut down on them to once a week. The same with Chicken and Beef. Just have them occasionally. If I remember correctly, she did want me to eliminate Rice, Corn Oats, & White Potatoes. Isn’t this contradictory to what is said here on the board?

She did stress the importance of the rotation diet so we don’t become sensitive to foods that we are eating every day.
I apologize that this has become so long but I wanted to explain each area.

I am doing very well. I have been having one and sometimes two quite normal BM’s a day by alternating Budesonide between 2 one day and 1 the next day. I don’t want to drop down any further as we are traveling to Wisconsin for a wedding on June 6 so the next ten days will be stressful for me. We plan on being gone 22 days. I will be taking a cooler and a lot of food along.

Post by **tex** » Sat May 26, 2012 9:44 pm

Charlotte,

I agree that there are a lot of "bummers" in those test results. FWIW, I had the same problem with my gluten test result back in December. In my case, though, I suspected cross-contamination, and sure enough, my anti-gliadin score was 62, suggesting that I had probably been ingesting trace amounts for quite some time. In general, the higher the score, the longer we have been exposed to that particular antigen. In the real world, it's very tough to totally avoid all traces of gluten. Cross-contamination is virtually everywhere.

With a score of 15 on the egg test, I don't understand why Phyllis said that it was OK to eat eggs once a week.

Charlotte wrote:If I remember correctly, she did want me to eliminate Rice, Corn Oats, & White Potatoes. Isn’t this contradictory to what is said here on the board?

It's not common to be sensitive to rice, corn and white potatoes, but we certainly wouldn't recommend against eliminating them from the diet for anyone who is sensitive to them. Many of us are sensitive to oats, so we usually recommend against eating oats, unless someone is absolutely sure that they do not react to them.

Do you mind if I add these results to our list?

Tex

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Sat May 26, 2012 11:27 pm

Yes, Tex, you can add them to the list. If you want to take out all my comments and just leave the results, that is OK also.

Yes, I was surprised that Phyllis would say that, but she did. I cooked up some quinoa and will use that in place of rice. Will also switch to quinoa pasta rather than brown rice pasta. I will make a conscious effort to rotate foods which I haven't done in the past.

It is hard for me to believe I have consumed that much hidden gluten to make my number go up that much. Oh well, I'll just keep plugging along.

My MRT booklet included a recipe for Tortillas. The dietician wanted me to make them which I did in the beginning. She suggested I use 1 cup brown rice flour and 1/2 cup tapioca flour. What flour would I use in place of the brown rice flour? Has anyone made Tortillas and if so were they any good? I can't say these were that good but they were filling. The hardest part was getting them rolled thin enough.

I will need to contact her and let her know what's going on with me.

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Sun May 27, 2012 5:53 am

Charlotte,

Your results are very similar to mine. I am lucky that the only person I have to cook for is me and I don't mind simple and repetitive food. In fact I find it easier, don't have to think much. I have given up all grains, but that's pretty much the way I had been eating for a long time so it wasn't very difficult to do. I am just being more scrupulous. I have been eating pork and lamb only for protein. I am perfectly happy with ground meat made into burgers. You could try pork chops instead of roasts. This is an ongoing challenge to figure out, so it seems.

Jean

Post by **tex** » Sun May 27, 2012 6:53 am

Charlotte,

Thanks, I added your results to your previous data.

Gloria has a lot of experiences making tortillas. Maybe she will have some ideas for a flour that you can use.

Tex

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Sun May 27, 2012 9:29 am

I'm thinking this morning about what I posted last night regarding milk. I said I was going to switch from rice milk to almond milk. Actually I shouldn't even be having almonds or almond milk. Because it was the least reactive of the eleven, I will keep almonds and almond milk in my diet.

I will take the large batch of granola to Wisconsin with us. The grandchildren will love it. I have another box of food packed to give to my youngest daughter.

We have been asked to go out for breakfast/brunch after church this morning. I was planing on having 2 eggs, bacon and fruit. Since eggs are out I have no idea what I will find on the menu that is allowable. Maybe I'll experiment with a small salad.

Deanna in CO · Post by **Deanna in CO** » Sun May 27, 2012 1:13 pm

In Latin America, tortillas are generally made with nothing but ground corn and water. You might try using just ground quinoa and water. Not sure oats would work.

Oats can be cooked up into a thick oatmeal and then made into patties, fried, and eaten like pancakes with pure maple syrup. With no other flour, they don't taste like pancakes - more like cornmeal mush - but they are very good and would provide you some variety. If you cook a bigger batch, you can have bowl of oatmeal one day, then store the leftovers in the fridge and have them for breakfast another day.

Remember to be sure you get both quinoa and oats in truly GF brands as both are easily cross-contaminated. Someone here posted a couple of GF quinoa brands recently, and I know there have been discussions of oats as well.

Deanna

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Sun May 27, 2012 2:43 pm

Deanna, Oats are out for me as they are on the highly reactive along with rice and corn.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Sun May 27, 2012 3:32 pm

Hi Charlotte,

First off, I'm very glad to hear that your flare is back under control with Budesonide - that must be a big relief. Regarding your Enterolab results, that's a real bummer - a lot to wrap your mind around.

Since you can use almonds - how about almond flour? It's a bit pricey, but works well for me. I don't know if you're OK with coconut, but coconut flour is another possibility. When I first got my MRT package, I found a recipe for "Linda's simple oil biscuits" in the booklet. Back then I made them with garbanzo bean flour, and did very well with those. You can make them with any flour that works for you, including a combination of flours.

Lots of luck with this next chapter in your diet management.

Love,
Kari

Deanna in CO · Post by **Deanna in CO** » Sun May 27, 2012 5:35 pm

Charlotte,

I'm sorry - I was looking at the grains and saw that oats were least reactive, without looking at hour overall results.

I've been eating sweet potatoes for breakfast - I found a recipe that called for them, cooked (I bake them in the microwave) and sliced, with sliced bananas, fried in a bit of coconut oil. My recipe calls for a few chopped pecans toasted in coconut oil, which adds a nice touch but isn't necessary. Add a tablespoon or so of maple syrup on top and - voila! A delicious, easy breakfast with nothing we can't have! :-)

Deanna

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sun May 27, 2012 8:37 pm

Jean wrote:I don't mind simple and repetitive food. In fact I find it easier, don't have to think much.

Exactly how my menus are, too. DH just said today, "I wonder what I should eat for dinner." I told him I never pose that question anymore. I just look at my rotation calendar and eat what's listed.

Charlotte,
I make and freeze roasts for all of my meals: turkey, pork and lamb. They last about three weeks, and yes, I do freeze and defrost them. I slice the roast and throw the pieces in a bag. The first time I partially defrost the slices (which do stick together), I break them all apart so they are easier to retrieve the next time. I also freeze each gravy in a container and label it. I defrost the gravy enough to scoop some gravy out and then reheat it with the meat. I'll admit that my meals are boring and unappetizing, but I don't live to eat anymore; I eat to live.

Here is a link to instructions on making tortillas: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... 0283#80283
I don't list quinoa flour with almond flour, but I made that combination, too. I think that almost any combination of flours can work; some are easier to work with than others. Quinoa tended to stick to the flat skillet, as I recall.

Many flours are interchangeable in recipes. I started out using rice flour combined with other flours. As I became intolerant to each flour I was using, I had to swap it for a new one. My recipes look like they've been through a war zone LOL. But they work even though the flours are now completely different from when I first made the recipe. I should mention that I can no longer make yeast bread, however. The present recipes I use with flour are tortillas, waffles, pancakes, corn muffins, almond muffins and brown sugar muffins. I make them using combinations of arrowroot, corn flour or cornstarch and almond flour.

It's intriguing that there are differences between your Enterolab and MRT scores on several different foods. I'm never surprised about the grains and the dairy differences, but I am surprised about the nuts and meats. I believe that the Enterolab testing trumps the MRT testing because it tests the stool, and seems to be more reliable. I believe that the MRT highly reactive results are very reliable, the yellows are somewhat reliable, but the greens should always be tested.

I hope that these test results point you in the direction of remission. It's great that Entocort is working for you again.

Gloria

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Mon May 28, 2012 1:26 am

Like I said above, I felt I was doing so well with my diet by eating no gluten or soy for 2 1/2 years and following the MRT plan for about four months and yet I was still having D and couldn’t figure out what was triggering it. Therefore I had the EnteroLab tests done for the second time.

When I first read the results I was so upset because I interpreted it to say I had to eliminate all the eleven foods I was reactive to plus eggs. When my husband read the report he interpreted the report to say I could eat the least reactive foods and only eliminate the high and intermediate reactive foods in each group. I reread it and felt that that was indeed what the report was saying. I even called EnteroLab and spoke to the nurse who agreed with my DH. She said I could have eggs once a week, and oats were OK occasionally as well as pork, tuna, and almonds because these were the least reactive. Therefore, I bought a pork roast, almond flour, almond milk, almond butter, and GF oats for the granola recipe.

What this board is saying, and Tex confirmed it, is yes, I need to completely eliminate all eleven foods that were tested because I reacted to all of them including the usual, gluten, dairy, soy, along with eggs. DH still disagrees with me on this but I will listen to what this board says.

I also don’t mind simple repetitive foods as I don’t care to spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing fancy dishes.

I want to do a menu plan like Gloria does so I will know exactly what to eat each day, but I am having a hard time. For breakfast, since cereal, eggs, and breads are out, I’m thinking quinoa for one, maybe a fruit smoothie for another, someone mentioned fried bananas. That sounds good. I will try making tortillas again and the Oil Biscuits recipe. I read Gloria’s tortilla recipe and have questions regarding the grains, but that will have to be in another post.

Since soy milk, rice milk, and almond milk are out, what can I use for milk? Hemp milk?

I’m concerned about getting enough protein. I love peanut butter and celery, but celery is yellow on MRT. I do put peanut butter in my smoothies. I assume I can have seafood, I just can’t have tuna. Right? All seafoods were low green on MRT. That limits my protein for lunch and dinner to seafood and turkey. Not much variety. I have never eaten lamb before. I don't know if I am willing to try it. Is there anything else I’m missing that I can have for protein?

I need to introduce more fruits. Citrus is out for me that I know.

I love all vegetables so they are not a concern of mine. I have not been eating any raw veggies, all are cooked and no salads for several months. This noon we ate out and I had a lettuce salad with avocado, bacon and balsamic vinegar dressing and have not had a reaction so far. I just realized bacon is pork so I shouldn’t have had the bacon. This is going to be a whole new way of thinking for me.

We will be gone for about 23 days in June, on the road and at relatives in Wisconsin and Minnesota and I am dreading it immensely. My granddaughter is getting married June 16th. That’s exciting. However, my 92 year old sister in Wisconsin has brain cancer and has had a stroke recently. She was admitted to the hospital on Friday. We may be attending a funeral as well.

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Mon May 28, 2012 5:01 am

Charlotte,

I am too new at this to really be advising anyone, but I have been eating pork and almonds which were 2 of my least reactive foods. They don't seems to be bothering me. I was reactive to the big 4 and have cut them all out and have cut out all intermediate and highly reactive food but kept in my least reactive. I have no idea whether this is smart or not but for the moment I seem to be doing ok with it, not perfect but mostly ok.

It sounds to me that you have more than enough stress in your life. I am so sorry about your sister. I too get very anxious about traveling, even when it is for "good" things. Only my mother's illness and subsequent death over the last 2 years got me away from home. It was necessary but not easy. I hope you can figure this eating thing out sufficiently so that the trip will not be too hard.

Jean

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Mon May 28, 2012 7:06 am

Gloria wrote: Exactly how my menus are, too. DH just said today, "I wonder what I should eat for dinner." I told him I never pose that question anymore. I just look at my rotation calendar and eat what's listed.

Gloria - That's what I am going to do today. Make a calendar with my daily meals and eat only what's on the calendar. Simple. Thanks.

Jean

Post by **tex** » Mon May 28, 2012 8:20 am

Charlotte wrote:What this board is saying, and Tex confirmed it, is yes, I need to completely eliminate all eleven foods that were tested because I reacted to all of them including the usual, gluten, dairy, soy, along with eggs. DH still disagrees with me on this but I will listen to what this board says.

I apologize for any confusion that I caused, because it appears that you're misinterpreting what I've been saying. You're asking questions about your test results and questions about the way that we usually make recommendations, and doing that in the same posts has led to confusion. What we usually recommend has very little to do with your specific test results. IOW, what we usually recommend does not take into account specific test results, and specific test results from EnteroLab trump any recommendations made based on usual situations.

Look at the test scores/ratings for the 11 antigenic foods. An overall rating of 19 is relatively high -- high enough to virtually guarantee that you are sensitive to the "worst" foods in the group. (IOW, statistically speaking, it's a very valid number because it's a relatively high positive result). If your overall score would have been, say, 11, that would have meant that you weren't very sensitive to most of them, but you were probably slightly sensitive to maybe two or three of them. (Statistically speaking, 11 would be a very weak positive result).

Consider this: 11 foods are tested, and every food has a non-zero rating. That means that for every test (even tests for someone who has no clinical symptoms of food sensitivities), all 11 foods are ranked, and none of them can show a zero result. Obviously, for someone who actually has no food-based clinical symptoms, the foods in all three categories could be safely eaten, without worries about a reaction. This should also be true for someone whose mean value result for the test was 10 or less. Theoretically at least, they should be able to eat any of the 11 foods, because the overall score showed a negative reaction rating (regardless of how they were ranked in the results). That said, surely some individuals will be at least somewhat sensitive to certain foods in the "worst" category, so an overall rating of 10 or below does not guarantee global tolerance.

As the overall score increases, the odds increase that more of the foods may be a problem (or some of them may be particularly problematic), but that does not imply that the foods rated as least reactive will not be safe to eat. Therefore, the higher the overall score, the more likely that more of the foods may be problematic. That doesn't change the fact that the foods rated as the least reactive will still have the best chances of being safe to eat.

Based on your ratings, I would say that almond, tuna and pork are safe foods for you. You might want to verify that with a simple food challenge, but the odds are very high (IMO) that they will be safe for you. By the same token, if those test results were mine, I would definitely avoid rice, corn, oats and white potato, at least until I had been in stable remission long enough to feel confident about testing them, one at a time, (if I wanted to see if I might be able to tolerate them).

With an overall score of 19, I would assume that walnut, cashew, chicken and beef are probably off limits for now, but after I had been in stable remission for a while, I might want to test each one individually, to see if I could add them back into my diet.

Remember, no one will ever get a zero rating on all 11 foods in that group, so you have to interpret the results accordingly.

I hope I haven't just confused the issue even more.

Tex