Dairy products, IBS and Weight loss
Options
Fit2btied2016
Posts: 384 Member
I have IBS (as one of my major health "issues") and I have struggled with it for a very long time.
Without going into specifics or TMI, I am interested to hear from others in this challenging boat.
How did giving up dairy completely affect your weight loss? Did you find you suddenly dropped a bunch of mystery weight when you did so?
Do you still eat dairy (because like me, you enjoy the taste of it too much, but kick yourself when you eat too much, too often, or you forget to take your lactose pills?)
Was giving up dairy completely worth it for the extra weight you lost, if this was your result?
Are you on the fence about giving up all dairy?
Thanks for your responses. I am considering dumping dairy entirely for 30 days to see how much difference it would make, but then it means additional meal planning that I am not sure I can take on at this instant.
Feel free to chime in even if you don't necessarily have IBS but have ditched dairy and it helped your weight.
Without going into specifics or TMI, I am interested to hear from others in this challenging boat.
How did giving up dairy completely affect your weight loss? Did you find you suddenly dropped a bunch of mystery weight when you did so?
Do you still eat dairy (because like me, you enjoy the taste of it too much, but kick yourself when you eat too much, too often, or you forget to take your lactose pills?)
Was giving up dairy completely worth it for the extra weight you lost, if this was your result?
Are you on the fence about giving up all dairy?
Thanks for your responses. I am considering dumping dairy entirely for 30 days to see how much difference it would make, but then it means additional meal planning that I am not sure I can take on at this instant.
Feel free to chime in even if you don't necessarily have IBS but have ditched dairy and it helped your weight.
0
Replies
-
Dairy doesn’t affect my IBS at all so I eat a fair amount. The key is finding out what your triggers are and restricting intake: if it is dairy, then avoid it. It not, then diary products can be consumed as part of a healthy diet (ignoring the ethical issue - purely in nutrition terms). Avoiding IBS triggers are unlikely to make you suddenly lose weight either, unless they’re causing constipation. IBS doesn’t technically affect the CICO equation, excepting that nausea / D&V will affect food intake.1
-
I don't have IBS, but I also don't consume a lot of dairy.
I have yogurt for breakfast, some milk in my coffee, and that's about it on a normal day. It's just a preference thing, and has no effect either way on my weight. Other than the fact that the yogurt is satisfying to me without a lot of calories, so it helps me stick to my calorie goal.2 -
I was diagnosed with IBS (IBS-C) some time back, but show no sign of lactose intolerance or other dairy sensitivity. In fact, I don't seem to have specific food triggers.
Getting overall good nutrition, adequate hydration, regular exercise seemed to help reduce symptoms, alongside better stress management and reaching a healthy weight.
Since you do seem to have dairy sensitivities, that's something you'll need to find your own best accommodation to, I'm sorry to say.1 -
I lost almost 70kg and the major change I made was "giving up" meat and dairy. I switched to a mainly plant-based but "flexitarian" way of eating. This was after I'd spent a lot of time diarying and looking closely at what I was eating and why. I did a lot of cognitive behaviour therapy around my eating and decided not to ban any foods...so if I feel like eating meat or dairy, I do.
My body has thanked me by not only losing weight (I could have done this without reducing my animal products) but I have fewer migraines, I feel fuller more quickly, my bloating has gone, and I've reduced the issues with IBS. Not completely gone, but it's definitely helped. I drink less coffee too...doesn't quite taste as good with plant-based milk, and I can't stand it black. It's possible that the weight loss improved my issues, rather than the lack of dairy...but I tend to attribute it to the dairy because if, like last night, I have some (cheese on my baked potato) I get symptoms back fairly rapidly!2 -
ToffeeApple71 wrote: »I lost almost 70kg and the major change I made was "giving up" meat and dairy. I switched to a mainly plant-based but "flexitarian" way of eating. This was after I'd spent a lot of time diarying and looking closely at what I was eating and why. I did a lot of cognitive behaviour therapy around my eating and decided not to ban any foods...so if I feel like eating meat or dairy, I do.
My body has thanked me by not only losing weight (I could have done this without reducing my animal products) but I have fewer migraines, I feel fuller more quickly, my bloating has gone, and I've reduced the issues with IBS. Not completely gone, but it's definitely helped. I drink less coffee too...doesn't quite taste as good with plant-based milk, and I can't stand it black. It's possible that the weight loss improved my issues, rather than the lack of dairy...but I tend to attribute it to the dairy because if, like last night, I have some (cheese on my baked potato) I get symptoms back fairly rapidly!
Most cheese doesn't have lactose or enough to cause issues but maybe your allergic or intolerant to casein, the protein in milk.1 -
IBS and lactose intolerance are two different things. I have IBS and have had since I was a little kid. I tried taking Lactaid thinking maybe it was a lactose intolerance, and it made no difference.
2 -
Fit2btied2016 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »ToffeeApple71 wrote: »I lost almost 70kg and the major change I made was "giving up" meat and dairy. I switched to a mainly plant-based but "flexitarian" way of eating. This was after I'd spent a lot of time diarying and looking closely at what I was eating and why. I did a lot of cognitive behaviour therapy around my eating and decided not to ban any foods...so if I feel like eating meat or dairy, I do.
My body has thanked me by not only losing weight (I could have done this without reducing my animal products) but I have fewer migraines, I feel fuller more quickly, my bloating has gone, and I've reduced the issues with IBS. Not completely gone, but it's definitely helped. I drink less coffee too...doesn't quite taste as good with plant-based milk, and I can't stand it black. It's possible that the weight loss improved my issues, rather than the lack of dairy...but I tend to attribute it to the dairy because if, like last night, I have some (cheese on my baked potato) I get symptoms back fairly rapidly!
Most cheese doesn't have lactose or enough to cause issues but maybe your allergic or intolerant to casein, the protein in milk.Fit2btied2016 wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »ToffeeApple71 wrote: »I lost almost 70kg and the major change I made was "giving up" meat and dairy. I switched to a mainly plant-based but "flexitarian" way of eating. This was after I'd spent a lot of time diarying and looking closely at what I was eating and why. I did a lot of cognitive behaviour therapy around my eating and decided not to ban any foods...so if I feel like eating meat or dairy, I do.
My body has thanked me by not only losing weight (I could have done this without reducing my animal products) but I have fewer migraines, I feel fuller more quickly, my bloating has gone, and I've reduced the issues with IBS. Not completely gone, but it's definitely helped. I drink less coffee too...doesn't quite taste as good with plant-based milk, and I can't stand it black. It's possible that the weight loss improved my issues, rather than the lack of dairy...but I tend to attribute it to the dairy because if, like last night, I have some (cheese on my baked potato) I get symptoms back fairly rapidly!
Most cheese doesn't have lactose or enough to cause issues but maybe your allergic or intolerant to casein, the protein in milk.
Interesting. Now that you mention it, milk seems to be a worse offender than cheese or yogurt! Thanks for mentioning this.
Maybe that was why I couldn't even handle the A2 milk? Hmmm...You might be on to something. This will require some more exploration.
Thank-you! And thanks ToffeeApple.
Have you tried the fodmap diet, and apparently the carnivore diet has stopped IBS and other stomach issues in it's tracks and the 1 study on carnivore from Harvard seems to back that up.0 -
Fit2btied2016 wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »I don't have IBS, but I also don't consume a lot of dairy.
I have yogurt for breakfast, some milk in my coffee, and that's about it on a normal day. It's just a preference thing, and has no effect either way on my weight. Other than the fact that the yogurt is satisfying to me without a lot of calories, so it helps me stick to my calorie goal.
Do you find one kind of yogurt better than others (say, Greek as opposed to traditional?) I have been trying to stick to one brand also, Activia, as I found too many of the others had a lot of sugar (Activia still is quite up there), but also things like cellulose, and extra gelatin. Oikos seems to be okay.
Been toying with the idea of making my own, like my Mom used to do, but it just seems like a lot of work. Although I recently met a lady kayaking that makes her own while camping! She takes the base with her and then keeps it warm at the feet of her sleeping bag, lol, and goes from there. Not sure I would go that far, but she also bakes sourdough bread camping, so she seems to have all sorts of tricks up her sleeve. LOL.
It could also be the extra sugar in the yogurt that sets me off some days, besides the yogurt itself. I don't know.
It's frustrating, and now with the price of groceries going through the roof? My husband picked up 5 Gala apples yesterday. $7.92!! He nearly put them back but picked them up because he knows I need something of fruit, and he will munch on one now and then. (He's mad at me a bit because I told him not to buy bananas anymore--too much sugar for me right now--he likes them very ripe, and I like them on the greener, just ripe side. So he said he was okay with that and eats them with peanut butter on sandwiches
Reading different posts here and other's stories has been very helpful to spark other ideas and things to research, and I appreciate your taking time to post. Thanks!
(Edited as having trouble posting replies to long posts)
I eat a lot of natural Greek yoghurt, it doesn’t have sugar added and I generally have it with fruit. You may also be able to find unsweetened kefir - I’m eating tonnes of the stuff after antibiotics to help my stomach. Re the price of fresh fruit and produce: tinned fruit in juice is not too bad nutritionally and can be a lot cheaper than fresh, and can you get frozen berries? Berries have less sugar in them than some other fruit and frozen fruit and veg is often cheaper than fresh. Frozen veg can actually have more vitamins than fresh as it’s not left hanging around on shelves for weeks.
Unfortunately with IBS it’s often not just food which is a trigger, but stress and hormones. So I’d recommend a food and symptom diary to help you work out what’s going on, but it will be a long process. As an example, I can drink coffee and eat chocolate when I’m not stressed: throw in high emotions and that’s a recipe for classic IBS for me. But going back to my original post, eliminating IBS triggers won’t magically make you lose weight sadly.
1 -
I have IBS-C, Gastritis and autoimmune condition. When I decided to stop consuming dairy, everything improved! I lost weight, felt less bloated and have better skin.1
-
Fit2btied2016 wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
I am also starting to think I am allergic to soybeans, which might explain why eating tofu makes me sick to my stomach/nauseated. (Soybean oil is found in a lot of salad dressings, so guess what? More cooking!)
Keep in mind that if you are actually allergic to soybeans (the protein in them), then regular soybean oil should not be a problem. Regular soybean oil is highly refined and does not contain soy protein so food manufacturers do not need to list it as an allergen on the label. However, you would be better off to avoid expeller pressed, extruded, or cold-pressed soy oil as those types may contain some residual protein and should be allergen labelled as containing soy.1 -
Fit2btied2016 wrote: »I have IBS (as one of my major health "issues") and I have struggled with it for a very long time.
Without going into specifics or TMI, I am interested to hear from others in this challenging boat.
How did giving up dairy completely affect your weight loss? Did you find you suddenly dropped a bunch of mystery weight when you did so?
Do you still eat dairy (because like me, you enjoy the taste of it too much, but kick yourself when you eat too much, too often, or you forget to take your lactose pills?)
Was giving up dairy completely worth it for the extra weight you lost, if this was your result?
Are you on the fence about giving up all dairy?
Thanks for your responses. I am considering dumping dairy entirely for 30 days to see how much difference it would make, but then it means additional meal planning that I am not sure I can take on at this instant.
Feel free to chime in even if you don't necessarily have IBS but have ditched dairy and it helped your weight.
I can't say it helped my weight, but it definitely made me feel way better and changed my daily life... I was no longer having to run to the toilet every couple hours or else. But, I have celiac which caused lactose intolerance. So it was way worth it for me.2 -
You can make "tofu" from chickpeas instead of soybeans. It works really well and isn't too difficult. Lots of recipes online, just Google it.
Another fermented food you may really like is dosa or idli. Again, not hard to make, just time consuming to soak the rice and urad dal.
I have a steamed lentil slice I make to have (instead of bread) with soup. Google Dhokla recipes. All high protein and easy to make. Giving up meat has made me much more adventurous with my cooking!3
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 913 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions