Severe Intolerance to Protein

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Replies

  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    Not knowledgeable on protein intolerance specifically, but I've got a decent background with immunological function.

    Based on a quick Google (yes, I know) and a visit to Medscape, protein intolerance is an immunological reaction (whether non-immunological reaction plays a role in protein intolerance is disputed). It is the conformation of the protein (or parts of the protein) that makes the antigen. If you completely denature the protein before it hits the GI tract in OP's case, she would likely not have any reaction at all.

    An interesting read on the pathology: emedicine.medscape.com/article/931548-overview#a5

    ETA: Reading on, there's little info on how to go about dealing with protein intolerance as an adult. Medscape mentions nearly all cases are infants and children, most grow out of it, and there are some adult cases - and then just about everything they discuss afterwards is only pediatric. Must be frustrating for OP.

    So, based on this, and your comment on denatured protein, then, theoretically, OP should be safe with powders as they have been denatured? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is incredibly interesting.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    GenRoberts wrote: »
    drewschenk wrote: »
    Sounds like you are on the right track, I think a rating scale is an excellent idea. For nutrition calorie intake is the most important factor. Managing your macro intake (fat/protein/carb) definitely helps improve the results but is nowhere near as important as calorie intake. Your body can take what it gets from various foods and make what it needs. However, if your trying to build muscle there is an advantage to the concentration of amino acids available from eating chicken but it's not the only way your body can get it done. Definitely focus your diet on things that do not agitate you much, if you always feel like crap you will not want to eat healthy or workout hard and you'll just lose more progress than you gained.

    I find I end up eating a lot of carbs because I'm hungry and scared to eat certain things. I need to pay more attention to that. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm going to try and figure out the least offenders. During the process I have also learned a lot about protein in foods. There are foods I never would have guessed were high in protein, and ones I thought were high have very little traces.

    What percentage of carbs? For me, eating a lot of carbs isn't a problem if they are coming from foods like legumes. (As opposed to Girl Scout Cookies.)

    In general, I like to eat about 40-45% carbs, but I have vegan friends who eat much higher and IIRC @BecomingBane and @janejellyroll are vegans who eat at around 60% carbs.
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    GenRoberts wrote: »
    drewschenk wrote: »
    Sounds like you are on the right track, I think a rating scale is an excellent idea. For nutrition calorie intake is the most important factor. Managing your macro intake (fat/protein/carb) definitely helps improve the results but is nowhere near as important as calorie intake. Your body can take what it gets from various foods and make what it needs. However, if your trying to build muscle there is an advantage to the concentration of amino acids available from eating chicken but it's not the only way your body can get it done. Definitely focus your diet on things that do not agitate you much, if you always feel like crap you will not want to eat healthy or workout hard and you'll just lose more progress than you gained.

    I find I end up eating a lot of carbs because I'm hungry and scared to eat certain things. I need to pay more attention to that. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm going to try and figure out the least offenders. During the process I have also learned a lot about protein in foods. There are foods I never would have guessed were high in protein, and ones I thought were high have very little traces.

    What percentage of carbs? For me, eating a lot of carbs isn't a problem if they are coming from foods like legumes. (As opposed to Girl Scout Cookies.)

    In general, I like to eat about 40-45% carbs, but I have vegan friends who eat much higher and IIRC @BecomingBane and @janejellyroll are vegans who eat at around 60% carbs.

    I aim for about 35% carbs but often go over. I tend to make it up over the course of the week, but I also, in a minimal way, carb cycle depending on whether I'm training regularly, if it's a rest day, etc. On training days, I'll increase carbs earlier in the day to fuel the workout later on for example, it's a lower body day today so I had a pile of protein and a sweet potato with lunch today. I'll make up the protein difference with dinner and fill the rest with carbs because yummy.

  • Genrgenr
    Genrgenr Posts: 21 Member
    Just a thought, but if it's the protein that's the problem, how is varying up the source going to help?

    Not asking to be snarky,but generally curious. Since all proteins are made of aminos, the source will have different qualities and quantities, but still the same or similar aminos. I don't actually know the mechanism of protein intolerance, but it stands to reason that, provided it's the protein that actually caused the problem and not the source, that simply changing the source would have little effect since the aminos would be the same.

    Am I drastically mistaken?


    I'm still learning about it all but all I know so far is my body reacts different to protein sources.
  • Genrgenr
    Genrgenr Posts: 21 Member
    drachfit wrote: »
    protein is a group of essential nutrients for the human body. you cannot survive without adequate protein intake. if someone was "intolerant" to any of the 7 essential amino acids (proteins), they would die very soon after being born.

    perhaps you should see a doctor to figure out what it is about the fish and chicken that gives you actual pain. perhaps you always cook them in say peanut oil, but are mildly allergic to peanuts. or something like that.

    Nope not dead, and have an intolerance to protein.
  • Genrgenr
    Genrgenr Posts: 21 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    drachfit wrote: »
    protein is a group of essential nutrients for the human body. you cannot survive without adequate protein intake. if someone was "intolerant" to any of the 7 essential amino acids (proteins), they would die very soon after being born.

    perhaps you should see a doctor to figure out what it is about the fish and chicken that gives you actual pain. perhaps you always cook them in say peanut oil, but are mildly allergic to peanuts. or something like that.

    Amino acids are not proteins, they are the building blocks of proteins. It is the intact or partially intact protein that is the problem.

    OP can most certainly be protein intolerant since it is a medical diagnosis.

    The name is a bit misleading, because it does not mean she is intolerant to all proteins. She has an allergic/inflammatory reaction to certain proteins or groups of proteins. According to the link I posted, dairy and soy proteins are the most common culprits, but I have to wonder if that is because most diagnoses are infants whose diets are almost exclusively formula.

    Thanks for that. I understand how weird it sounds to say I'm intolerant to protein. I am absolutely not saying I'm allergic to it. It's not going to kill me(I may feel like it will during a bad attack) but it's not. I just ride our the symptoms.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,984 Member
    Have you gone to a gastroenterologist for an assessment?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
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  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    Not knowledgeable on protein intolerance specifically, but I've got a decent background with immunological function.

    Based on a quick Google (yes, I know) and a visit to Medscape, protein intolerance is an immunological reaction (whether non-immunological reaction plays a role in protein intolerance is disputed). It is the conformation of the protein (or parts of the protein) that makes the antigen. If you completely denature the protein before it hits the GI tract in OP's case, she would likely not have any reaction at all.

    An interesting read on the pathology: emedicine.medscape.com/article/931548-overview#a5

    ETA: Reading on, there's little info on how to go about dealing with protein intolerance as an adult. Medscape mentions nearly all cases are infants and children, most grow out of it, and there are some adult cases - and then just about everything they discuss afterwards is only pediatric. Must be frustrating for OP.

    So, based on this, and your comment on denatured protein, then, theoretically, OP should be safe with powders as they have been denatured? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is incredibly interesting.

    If it's been completely denatured, and what Medscape describes is in fact the whole picture (there was a mention of a potential but disputed non-immunological component), then yes.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    drachfit wrote: »
    protein is a group of essential nutrients for the human body. you cannot survive without adequate protein intake. if someone was "intolerant" to any of the 7 essential amino acids (proteins), they would die very soon after being born.

    perhaps you should see a doctor to figure out what it is about the fish and chicken that gives you actual pain. perhaps you always cook them in say peanut oil, but are mildly allergic to peanuts. or something like that.

    Amino acids are not proteins, they are the building blocks of proteins. It is the intact or partially intact protein that is the problem.

    OP can most certainly be protein intolerant since it is a medical diagnosis.

    The name is a bit misleading, because it does not mean she is intolerant to all proteins. She has an allergic/inflammatory reaction to certain proteins or groups of proteins. According to the link I posted, dairy and soy proteins are the most common culprits, but I have to wonder if that is because most diagnoses are infants whose diets are almost exclusively formula.

    That is probably true, but I think it's also more common in infants as many outgrow it.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    drachfit wrote: »
    protein is a group of essential nutrients for the human body. you cannot survive without adequate protein intake. if someone was "intolerant" to any of the 7 essential amino acids (proteins), they would die very soon after being born.

    perhaps you should see a doctor to figure out what it is about the fish and chicken that gives you actual pain. perhaps you always cook them in say peanut oil, but are mildly allergic to peanuts. or something like that.

    Amino acids are not proteins, they are the building blocks of proteins. It is the intact or partially intact protein that is the problem.

    OP can most certainly be protein intolerant since it is a medical diagnosis.

    The name is a bit misleading, because it does not mean she is intolerant to all proteins. She has an allergic/inflammatory reaction to certain proteins or groups of proteins. According to the link I posted, dairy and soy proteins are the most common culprits, but I have to wonder if that is because most diagnoses are infants whose diets are almost exclusively formula.

    That is probably true, but I think it's also more common in infants as many outgrow it.

    That's not what I meant - I meant that the reason they make such a big deal out of dairy and soy is because for the vast majority of their patients, that's just about the only thing they eat. There may be a number of other foods that would be as bad or worse, but since infants and very young children aren't eating them, who would know?
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    stealthq wrote: »
    drachfit wrote: »
    protein is a group of essential nutrients for the human body. you cannot survive without adequate protein intake. if someone was "intolerant" to any of the 7 essential amino acids (proteins), they would die very soon after being born.

    perhaps you should see a doctor to figure out what it is about the fish and chicken that gives you actual pain. perhaps you always cook them in say peanut oil, but are mildly allergic to peanuts. or something like that.

    Amino acids are not proteins, they are the building blocks of proteins. It is the intact or partially intact protein that is the problem.

    OP can most certainly be protein intolerant since it is a medical diagnosis.

    The name is a bit misleading, because it does not mean she is intolerant to all proteins. She has an allergic/inflammatory reaction to certain proteins or groups of proteins. According to the link I posted, dairy and soy proteins are the most common culprits, but I have to wonder if that is because most diagnoses are infants whose diets are almost exclusively formula.

    That is probably true, but I think it's also more common in infants as many outgrow it.

    That's not what I meant - I meant that the reason they make such a big deal out of dairy and soy is because for the vast majority of their patients, that's just about the only thing they eat. There may be a number of other foods that would be as bad or worse, but since infants and very young children aren't eating them, who would know?

    OIC quite true
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
    If you actually feel like you have a medical condition causing this reaction to a very necessary macronutrient you should probably see a doctor. You can't go too long without it...

    I had a friend in high school who now has a daughter who cannot consumer protein and she's on all sorts of medication and a special diet.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    GenRoberts wrote: »
    drewschenk wrote: »
    Sounds like you are on the right track, I think a rating scale is an excellent idea. For nutrition calorie intake is the most important factor. Managing your macro intake (fat/protein/carb) definitely helps improve the results but is nowhere near as important as calorie intake. Your body can take what it gets from various foods and make what it needs. However, if your trying to build muscle there is an advantage to the concentration of amino acids available from eating chicken but it's not the only way your body can get it done. Definitely focus your diet on things that do not agitate you much, if you always feel like crap you will not want to eat healthy or workout hard and you'll just lose more progress than you gained.

    I find I end up eating a lot of carbs because I'm hungry and scared to eat certain things. I need to pay more attention to that. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm going to try and figure out the least offenders. During the process I have also learned a lot about protein in foods. There are foods I never would have guessed were high in protein, and ones I thought were high have very little traces.

    What percentage of carbs? For me, eating a lot of carbs isn't a problem if they are coming from foods like legumes. (As opposed to Girl Scout Cookies.)

    In general, I like to eat about 40-45% carbs, but I have vegan friends who eat much higher and IIRC @BecomingBane and @janejellyroll are vegans who eat at around 60% carbs.

    I do eat 55-60% carbohydrates. OP, I don't know about your particular situation, but there are lots of healthy models for higher carbohydrate diets out there. You don't have to be scared of carbohydrates (at the same time, you do need to meet your protein needs -- carbohydrates can't replace protein).
  • chelsea7162
    chelsea7162 Posts: 97 Member
    If I remember correctly, my dietician (through a local hospital, not some random person who claims to know nutrition) said you only need .8-1g of protien per kg of body weight, but if you're overweight and the number is high just aim for 60g a day. Just make sure you're meeting this goal daily and you should be fine. Perhaps eat foods with smaller amounts of protein or try a mix of plant based protiens to see if maybe it's a specific amino acid that bothers you. Also keep in mind that drastic changes to your diet like eating lots of beans can also have effects on your digestive system at first. Continue to see doctors about this and also continue to try different foods as protein sources and don't become afraid of carbohydrates or fats they're not going to hurt you.
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    Kind of blown away by the responses of some of the people who didn't even bother to read the thread "You can't have a protein intolerance because you'd be dead" and "you should see a doctor".
    You've seen a doctor, you've had the allergy tests, and you know that it's the proteins that are the problem.

    I have soy intolerance, so I feel a very tiny amount of your pain. I can't imagine if everything protein made me sick!
    I think most everyone else had really good advice. The only other thing I'd suggest is is talking to your allergist to see if allergy tolerance therapy is an option for you.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    It wouldn't be the cheapest thing out there, but I think it might be worth seeing if you react even to hydrolyzed protein like hydrolyzed whey or casein. Hydrolyzing reduces a protein about as close to pure amino acids as you'll get short of just buying pure amino acids, which for some of the essential ones, probably won't be available to an individual.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    senecarr wrote: »
    It wouldn't be the cheapest thing out there, but I think it might be worth seeing if you react even to hydrolyzed protein like hydrolyzed whey or casein. Hydrolyzing reduces a protein about as close to pure amino acids as you'll get short of just buying pure amino acids, which for some of the essential ones, probably won't be available to an individual.

    Anyone can buy elemental formulas like Neocate, Elecare, or Nutramigen if they want.