Did you go gluten or dairy free? Why?

ktouton

Sorry to burst your bubble, but as of right now there are no laws governing what can and cannot be labeled "gluten free" in the US. In Europe it is 20 ppm (parts per million). Not sure what the regulations are in Canada or anywhere else.

My son was diagnosed with Celiac 3 1/2 years ago. After listening to all the symptoms I realized it sounded a lot like my dad. Those dots only get connected thru me. I had the genetic test (positive) and the blood work (negative). I went GF with my son. So, officially, I am gluten intolerant. The biggest change for me was I stopped having kidney stones. After 10 that is welcome relief.

If I cook something in the house it is GF. My husband, by default, is GF in the house.

katejkelley

I really limit dairy because as I've gotten older, I just don't tolerate it the way I used to. I've switched to lactose-free, fat free milk (bascially white water, I think!) for my cereal and coffee. I don't eat ice cream and really limit cheese. It has helped a lot with bloating and cramps. Most adults really don't need any dairy. You can get your calcium and protein from other sources.

MarisaLWood

I don't have problems with gluten, but I'm lactose-intolerant and have cut WAAAAAAAAY back on dairy. I usually drink soy or almond milk instead.

Once in a while I'll have a scoop of Molly Moon's salted caramel ice cream, or an ounce of cheese or 6 ounces of Greek yogurt--but any more than that causes gas and bloating. (I try to limit cheese anyway because of the sodium content.)

Birdie

I have to be dairy free. I used to be lactose intollerant and could use lactiad products but suddenly that doesn't work anymore. If I eat anything with even a trace of dairy it will go right through me and it is a painful process. UGH! So I was wondering why this sudden change of not being able to consume any dairy and I came across several articles about how gluten destroys your instines and you can not digest properly and absorb nutrients. It just happens that my doctor was also wondering why my vitamin counts were so low even though he has been giving me massive supliments. So I am trying to cut out gluten to see if it helps. In a few months I have another appointment and I will ask him about celiac. In the mean time my triglyerides were high and he told me to cut out all the white carbs anyway. *as far as products being labeled gluten free... it really is helpful when you are someone who has to read every label when your shopping. Yes, some of them seem silly because they are products that never had gluten, but it is helpful info for some of us.

grammiejul

I went gluten free in November 2011. I see a specialist for IBS, a gastroenterologist. I showed antibodies in my lab(blood test) for celiacs disease. I under went an upper GI to rule that out. Then, once the microbiology showed that I did not have celiacs, he suggested an elimination diet. I saw alot of improvement in a short amount of time. Reintroducing foods containing gluten brought my symptoms right back.

I lost 10-15 pounds without trying, just with the change in diet. (Read-no cookies, bread or crackers)I've lost more than that now, but with other lifestyle changes added. Other than relief for the IBS, I see changes in symptoms such as rashes, fatigue and sinus headaches.

Through the elinination diet, I learned that diary does not effect me with symptoms, so I am not diary free.

lwagnitz

I'm (pretty much) dairy free...because I'm lactose intolerant, and only discovered this after limiting my intake on dairy. I can still handle things like yogurt and some ice creams.

BeautyFromPain

Yes, because otherwise I will be puking with horrible stomach cramps ...

AmyFett

I wouldn't do either unless I had a medical issue to where I had to. There's no reason to do it imo.

jojobn9

I went dairy and egg free for a year after my last baby (I was nursing) and I lost weight fast (mostly pregnancy weight) it cuts out a number of grains and breads anyhow but allows pasta which still has gluten (so I wasn’t gluten free but limited). I started with an elimination diet for a few weeks and then started introducing things back in to find out what she could tolerate. It is a good way to see how you react and feel after each introduction of a new food for or a week or two. I basically ate lean meats, rice, and fresh veggies for the first few weeks. I know some people do the elimination intoduction with meat too. It may be good to try perhaps with a doctors consult first? Both me and my first daughter have an allergy to dairy but can on some level tolerate small amounts but I must say I felt a lot better when I cut it out completely – but it is work and cheese mmm it is so good

I used the go dairy free site and Paleo for ideas on eating out and cooking this was a big help. Best of luck on whatever your choice and goals.

beccarockslife

I am because it makes me sick. Gluten anyway, I eat dairy in moderation as if I eat a lot of it I'm ill. Both my son and husband are intolerant to dairy and gluten.

sweetiebrittie

I went gluten free, dairy free in May, after hearing Kris Carr at a cancer convention talk about her book,"Crazy Sexy Diet" about going gluten free and vegan for your health.

I felt better but then I started eating wheat again in August, and swore wheat was the problem, I did months of GI workup and the doctor finally told me not to go gluten free unless the test says so. He said it can be more harmful if you don't need to.

With that said, I am not gluten free anymore but if I try to stay away from gluten.

As with dairy, it doesn't agree with me, it gives me more muscus and the like.

I'd stay away from dairy. Gluten is ok.

fudgiemudge

I have been gluten free for 6 years due to intolerance issues. A few of my friends have chosen to go gluten free in their attempts to lose weight. Some it helps, others not. The ones that have benefitted from being gluten free have not looked for replacements for their breads and pastas, but filled the fiber requirement with whole vegetable sources. It appears to be more related to food choices and not so much the gluten. If going gluten free eliminates starchy processed carbs from your diet then it may help you loose weight, but ultimately I think it goes back to making good, healthy choices about the fuel you put into your body.

chubtofit

This is my 2nd day being gluten free. I haven't been diagnosed with Celiac but I do have an unknown autoimmune disorder and lately I've been suffering with gas and bloating. My doctor originally thought I was consuming more vegetables but I've always eaten lots of fruit and veggies. Plus I have been living with joint pain for the past couple of years. After reading about gluten free diets and speaking to others, I decided to go ahead and cut gluten.
It can be tough at first but I think if you are serious, you can find the substitutes and learn to cook differently. I haven't seen many results yet but my body is probably still purging any remaining gluten from my body.

PhilyPhresh

I went gluten and dairy free (among other things) about 9 months ago do to some studies I had done on the matter. I must say that since then my quality of life has vastly improved. I understand and agree that not any dietary form of lifestyle is for everyone, but for me it has been a great decision. I no longer have the digestive issues I seemed to suffer from, haven't gotten sick, haven't had headaches, have actually slept soundly throughout a night, don't have the congestion and sinus issues I once had... to name a few. All of those things I had dealt with for so long that they became normal and I didn't think anything was wrong with me until they all went away. I highly recommend trying it out, but also encourage you to understand if you are going to try it 1, study up on it for yourself from reliable sources. (a place like milk.com would not be a good unbiased source ) and 2, understand that making a decision like this should not be taken lightly and should be looked at as a life change, not a temporary solution to a problem. I am pretty well off at this point, physically, but I understand the reasoning behind going gluten and dairy free as a means to a preventative lifestyle, not just a way to more easily lose weight as a lot of people presume it to be...

Enigmatica

Because gluten and dairy were making me sick all my life and I didn't realize it until my doctor advised elimination diet last year. I used to be one of those people who scoffed at the idea that those foods could cause problems. Yeah well... the migraines I used to get pretty much daily - GONE. The "bad skin" I'd had since childhood - CLEAR. The accelerating hair loss over the last few years - REVERSED. The weird muscle cramp in my neck and shoulder that had plagued me since my 20's - GONE. The constipation and bloating - GONE. The undigested food coming out of me and the persistent nutritional deficiencies evidenced by my blood tests and other exams (in spite of eating a supposedly healthy diet) - RESOLVED.

Of course, being a skeptic by nature, I've tried to add those foods back into my diet many times over - or accidently consumed them without realizing it - and my body has reacted quite clearly.

Gluten and dairy cause serious health problems for me.

That's why.

RawVeganFlirt

i went vegan at first for the animals, but then i realized how amazing i felt. later on i decided to eliminate gluten too for a while to see how i would feel. i do eat gluten once in a while now but definitely not as often or much.

dairy: when i cut out dairy my severe acne cleared RIGHT up, that for me is plenty reason to never eat it again
gluten: i had so much more energy, waking up early wasn't hell anymore, also while working out i felt muchhh less weighed down

edit: spelling

spiregrain

I went gluten free (not dairy free - I don't think I can give up cheese!!) due to extremely bad migraine headaches... .i've had migraines my whole life (since before I can even remember) and nothing I have ever done seems to help (except taking medicine). Growing up I would only get a really bad one maybe once a month... as I got older I just got used to having a regular plain old headache often and the past year it's been at least 3-4 days a week if not more.... and I just lived with the headaches and feeling bad all the time....i didn't want to take medicine every day for them so I did some research to try and find out what I could do to prevent them... I came across that sometimes gluten intolerances are related to having migraine headaches... so I gave it a try.... it's been since June 6th.... and I have not had a single headache (except 2 instances where I'm pretty sure I've had gluten - 1 was fake crabmeat in sushi... who knew that had gluten in it???) i never knew that I could feel this good!! I can't believe I've gone my whole life feeling like **** and never knew what feeling really good was like!!! It's been an incredible experiment.... so far it's been full of lots of ups (and an occasional down or two) but it's been completely worth it!!! help this helps!!!

Have you had your thyroid checked? My BFF had the same stuff going on, and it turned out that she has something called Hashimoto's Syndrome, a thyroid related autoimmune disease which is pretty common and can induce migraines that gluten can worsen. She spent maybe 15 years trying to get some kind of diagnosis and now she is on a mission to raise Hashi's awareness, which I am apparently partaking in now.

If you might have Hashi's, it's important to get diagnosed, because often as the disease progresses into later stages, it will make you effectively feel like you are bipolar unless you are treating it medically. In Hashi's, your immune system attacks your thyroid, and causes you to swing back and forth between hypothyroid and hyperthyroid (so you may not fully develop symptoms of one or the other, but it wreaks havoc on all your regulatory systems which are trying to compensate -- thus chronic headaches and migraines). Sometimes a test will catch you in the middle of a swing, too, so it can be hard to rule it out unless you get a series of thyroid tests over time. And it's a disease whose symptoms can creep up on you.

The relationship to Celiac/gluten is, the antibodies created by the Hashi's immune system that attack the thyroid are the same or very similar to those generated by the Celiac immune system as a response to gluten. Somehow. There my understanding of the science ends!

Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there, in case it helps anyone.

spiregrain

Oh, and I went GF due to Celiac diagnosis. It's okay. It helped my Celiac, and killed my food-related social life. I don't think I would recommend it to someone who isn't sick to try just for fun.

solarpower4

...
Unless you have a true gluten sensitivity there's no health benefit to cutting gluten out of your diet. But hey, the placebo effect runs strong when it comes to dietary choices so why not!

Unfortunately, there are currently no medical tests able to measure gluten sensitivity. Only untreated celiac disease with small intestine damage can be confirmed by medical tests. The only way to find out if you have a gluten sensitivity (suspected to affect approx. 10% of the Caucasian population) is to go completely gluten-free for at least 30 days. This IS very difficult for most people to do if processed foods (including condiments and restaurant meals) are consumed.

Gluten sensitivity is a range, with celiac disease being the far end of the range. The gluten content of wheat has increased multifold since even the 1970s b/c a higher gluten content makes it easier to bake commercial bread. That's one of the reasons suspected for the increase in gluten sensitivities (along with a much greater awareness of the issue, thank heavens!). Europe and the (current/former) British commonwealth countries have been way ahead of the US in terms of GF awareness, diagnosis and labeling so you might find more scientific resources from those countries.

Also, for some as-of-yet-unknown reason, gluten sensitivities are often linked with casein (dairy) sensitivities, so it's a smart thing to eliminate both and see how you feel, then, if curious, add one back in and see if anything changes.

I've been GF for over 13 years now (no choice) and CF (dairy free) for over 9 years (again, no choice). It's a lot easier now than it used to be, though it is more work and more expensive than the traditional factory-agro food. A great small book (with full scientific references) is by Hilda Cherry Hills called Good Food Gluten Free (or something like that).

Best of luck on your experiments! Feel free to look at my food diary (though I've not been good about logging lately!) and feel free to friend me.

blinkinglight

When I eat dairy, I'm really congested and blowing snot every morning.
When I eat grains I bloat up and feel super *bleh* after the meal with grains.
Believe it or not, I poop a lot better without the grains too. There is plenty of fiber in fruits and vegetables.

monicalosesweight

Hmm. It looks like I misread the website. It looks like you're right. Apparently, they are still in the process of finalizing the laws. I can't believe it....but the morons really are sitting on their butts while the rest of the world already took action on labeling. Sheesh. FDA morons!

I found this:

http://www.celiac.com/articles/22874/1/FDA-to-Issue-Gluten-Free-Allergy-Labeling-Rule-in-2012/Page1.html

So, if we're lucky - we'll end up with the same rule that's under 20 ppm just like in Europe and Canada.

Now here's an interesting question, if a corporation exports to Europe, they have to be in compliance of gluten laws. I'm assuming, if you find a product there, then there is a chance that it's probably falling under the 20 ppm rules here as it would be silly to run two different plant styles if we have Europe and Canada both running these laws. Basically, you'd have to repackage everything if you didn't follow it.

Now, what I do find ridiculous is that we still don't have these things finalized? I'd always read we had rules but apparently, there is a law but these guys are taking a stupid amount of time to finalize defining gluten free. It's supposed to be finalized at the end of this year in 2012. I'm guessing most of the manufacturers are right now making sure their products are going to comply or they'll have to strip the label and change it once the rule goes into play. In some ways, that would be good. Also, they might be under pressure considering they look like idiots to the rest of the world.

pdworkman

Canada's gluten labeling regulations just went into place within the last couple of months. Hang in there.

Now, what I do find ridiculous is that we still don't have these things finalized? I'd always read we had rules but apparently, there is a law but these guys are taking a stupid amount of time to finalize defining gluten free. It's supposed to be finalized at the end of this year in 2012. I'm guessing most of the manufacturers are right now making sure their products are going to comply or they'll have to strip the label and change it once the rule goes into play. In some ways, that would be good. Also, they might be under pressure considering they look like idiots to the rest of the world.

smokinjackd

No

smokinjackd

Though I have gone Lupin free, does that count?

hannahcall2

BUMP