bloating, stomach cramps after reintroducing Greek yogurt

[weronajs]

So I just finished my very first Whole30 this weekend. Greek yogurt was always a main staple of my diet which I missed. I bought full fat Greek yogurt and it's the only thing that's giving me a problem. Very quickly after eating it I find myself gassy and bloated as well as stomach cramps. I read someone's post yesterday about bloating with dairy and a moderator commented that this can happen since lactase hasn't been produced in the absence of dairy and your body will produce it again as you keep eating dairy.

I really would like to be able to eat Greek yogurt. It's an easy on the go breakfast for me. I'd appreciate any advice or personal experience that you've had with this.

Thank you!

[ladyshanny]

Yes, you can "innoculate" yourself to the effects of dairy if it is something that actually bothers you. Basically what you're doing is requiring your body to create defenses (thicker mucosal gut linings, for instance) in order to try and protect itself from the irritating item. This isn't the course that I would necessarily recommend but it can be done.

[jmcbn]

20 hours ago, weronajs said:

... I read someone's post yesterday about bloating with dairy and a moderator commented that this can happen since lactase hasn't been produced in the absence of dairy and your body will produce it again as you keep eating dairy....

 

Yes, this was my comment, but let me clarify.

It is true that the body stops producing lactase when dairy is removed from the diet. It is also true that when dairy is reintroduced the body will soon start producing lactase again, so those who tolerate dairy may still have some symptoms upon reintroduction until heir body readjusts. If, however, you don't tolerate dairy it doesn't matter how much lactase your body produces you're still going to get the symptoms - and this is why it's a good idea to really break down the dairy reintros in my opinion. Raw dairy products in particular are more widely tolerated due to  their probiotic content for instance, making those a good starting point.

Many people suffer symptoms immediately upon eating dairy. Others can tolerate a small amount before symptoms occur. The thing is that if you get immediate symptoms with yoghurt, having already carried out other dairy reintros, you're likely intolerant to the yoghurt, and continuing to eat it is only going to cause inflammation - or as ladyshanny said cause the gut to form a protective  lining, which will mask the symptoms of any other intolerances you might not yet know about. There are things you can do to lessen the symptoms (up your vitamin d & omega 3, take probiotics, & cut back on omega 6 for instance) but the intolerance will still be there.

Worth noting is that Greek yoghurt is particularly high in casein (a milk protein) and so it may be that casein is your problem, rather than lactose.

Ultimately you have to decide how worth it is to you to investigate further.

[FitBritt32]

I was an avid yogurt consumer pre-Whole 30 and I experienced the same issue - immediate and extreme bloating/gas - upon reintroduction after adding a small spoonful to my green smoothie (blueberries, almond milk, banana). Should I try it again a couple days in a row and see if it gets better (ie. if my body just needs to start producing lactase again)? How long should I give it before determining if it's actually an agitator?

P.S. Yogurt has been the first and only thing I have tried reintroducing after 38 days of W30.

Thanks!