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Bloating, dairy reaction, FODMAPs diet?


katyroq

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Hello, I'm looking for some help/advice on what I'm learning from my reintro. I finished my 2nd whole30 on July 20th. The first was 3 years back when I didn't have a health problem, just wanted to clean up my diet. I was surprised during that reintroduction that I get anxiety from grains in general, and had tummy trouble with peanuts. I have eaten a fairly low grain diet since that time, mainly rice.

 

This recent whole30 was to try to help my autonomic nervous system disorder which causes racing heart and fainting. Within a week, I felt like a new person! I have gone very slowly into reintro because I do not want to mess up a good thing. Also, I do enjoy what I'm eating and don't really desire much besides compliant food, so I am in no hurry. I mainly want to do a good, thorough experiment.

 

1st week of reintro - rice (mix of white and brown). It gave me almost too much energy - anger/quick temper, and increased anxiety. It was also PMS week, so I decided that may be confounding and to try the reintro again sometime later.

 

2nd week: I ate compliant, a little lax on sugar in things like sauces (I ate ketchup at a restaurant).

 

3rd week: Reintro a small amount of dairy by adding cheese to an otherwise compliant dish. I noticed that afterward I had gas, bloating, and a bit more sudden urge for BMs. These are the symptoms of lactose intolerance, but here is my question: as far as I can tell, there is little to no lactose in cheese. Also, I added about 1 cup shredded cheese (0 g sugar) to an otherwise compliant dish, which I divided into 6 portions for the week. So how much lactose could I really be getting?  Or am I just really super sensitive? I have never had tummy issues with dairy before.

 

Yesterday, I went to a restaurant and had a mostly compliant salad with blue cheese (which I read has low lactose), and I got very sick afterward. Horrible stomach cramps and diarrhea. It came on within an hour after eating, but I was basically fine in 6 hours. Seems classic for lactose intolerance, EXCEPT I don't think I was eating much lactose!!! I am very confused and would appreciate others' input. Do I wait a while and try dairy again?

 

I truly am trying to make sure I only change one variable. Here is what I have been eating every day this past week, with the exception of yesterday's salad meal:

Breakfast: 3 eggs, 1/4 avocado, sweet potato hash (eaten every single day of and since the whole30)

Lunch:compliant taco salad (lettuce, tomato, olives, 1/2 avocado, banana pepper, compliant salsa, ground turkey cooked with onion, green pepper, spices) I ate this for 1 or 2 weeks during the whole30 for lunch.

Dinner: chicken with coconut milk, sundried tomatoes, CHEESE, over zoodles.

 

Yesterday's salad: BLUE CHEESE, Lettuce & spinach, hardboiled egg, bacon (w/sugar I'm sure), grilled chicken, tomatoes, red onions, no dressing.

 

Final question:  While the whole30 did wonders for one health issue, the thing that it did not help is my constant intestinal bloating, which has gradually gotten worse over the last 2 years. My abdomen is always hard and gets pains when pushed on, likely due to gas buildup. I do not get acute pain/cramping normally, just a general feeling of pressure/fullness all the time. From reading, I am thinking of trying a low FODMAP diet, and I have already tried to cut out broccoli, cabbage, and haven't eaten much fruit at all during the last 7 weeks. I do eat a lot of avocado. I am thinking of finishing my reintro, then eliminating FODMAPS but hopefully able to add in other foods such as rice. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

 

If you've read through this giant novel, thanks :)

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When we eliminate dairy from our diets our bodies actually stop producing the enzymes (lactase) required to digest it, and so sometimes when we reintroduce dairy we get symptoms that present like lactose intolerance until the body learns to start producing those enzymes again. If you particularly want to include dairy in your diet then I'd suggest maybe incorporating some probiotics which can help ease any symptoms until lactase production begins again. Actual lactose intolerance isn't as common as some people believe though and the fact that you're suffering bloating from other foods points perhaps to some other underlying issue and something like FODMAPs (or SIBO) could be your issue - I'd go down the low FODMAP route if it were me.

Of course it could be that you're sensitive to casein or whey so it could be worthwhile breaking down your reintros a little further - I guess it depends on how much you want to include dairy in your diet...

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Thanks for your input, jmcbn. That's interesting that we stop making lactase when we don't need it! That could totally explain what is going on. I actually don't like dairy that much, so I think I'll leave off for a while and concentrate on figuring out what foods are causing the bloating.

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Hi katyrok... Allow me to put in my 5 cents worth about dairy...

Not all dairy products  are created equal!!!

My 1st reintro was brutal. Cheese was always a main staple in my diet (I am Swiss) , and I reacted pretty much the same way you did when first reintroducing this type of dairy. Cow cheese that was. I was not a fan of goat or any other type of cheeses. So I decided that if my body reacted that way, I would just eat it on an exceptional basis, when I did not have any other choice, like when visiting and being served cheese fondue or Raclette. Until one day, when I walked by my cheese stand at the market, and the vendor inquired about the reasons for me not buying his cheese anymore. I told him about not tolerating it, and he gave me this long speech on other clients who also experienced problems but had found a way to eat certain cheeses that would not present a problem. I got very curious, and asked him to sample some of those cheeses, which I then took home and ate. 

1. Reintroduced goat cheese... Freshly made goat cheese, the consistence was like ricotta cheese. I went thru the day, and did not experience any bloating or cramping or any other reaction I previously had with cow milk. Went back to two days of compliant eating.

2. Reintroduced aged Parmesan cheese. Peeled thin slices of it and put it on my veggies. It's strong taste really satisfied my tastebuds, and there too, I had no reaction whatsoever. Went back to compliant eating.

3. Reintroduced a Camembert, made with what we call raw milk, and there too no reaction. Went back to compliant eating.

4. Reintroduced fresh yogurts made with raw milk. Boy did they taste differently. But there too, no reaction whatsoever.

So as you see, it all depends what raw material is being used with your dairy choice, or the age of the cheese, and I could go on and on about all the other things I tried, just to be able to keep dairy in my diet.  

So so don't get discouraged, try different things, small portions and see what works and does not work for you. a little bit of shaved Parmesan or some other kind of very dry and aged cheese comes a long way to satisfy your tastebuds. 

I can can even drink raw cows milk now, unprocessed straight out of the cow. Yeah I know not everybody has access to that kind of milk, but it goes to show you again how mankind, when it started to manipulate our food sources, really did not do us a favor.

good luck experimenting...

 

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UHT (ultra high temp) processed milk is heated to 275 F.  Most of the enzymes are DOA. Husband grew up on a dairy farm.  He talks about the high pressure piston pumps beating the milk back and forth. The protein strands and everything else are beaten down into a substance that doesn't resemble raw milk in any way.

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1 hour ago, MeadowLily said:

UHT (ultra high temp) processed milk is heated to 275 F.  Most of the enzymes are DOA. Husband grew up on a dairy farm.  He talks about the high pressure piston pumps beating the milk back and forth. The protein strands and everything else are beaten down into a substance that doesn't resemble raw milk in any way.

Precisely, and not just UHT. The heat required for pasteurisation kills off the probiotics, which is why raw milk & raw milk products are tolerated in so many more people

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26 minutes ago, jmcbn said:

Precisely, and not just UHT. The heat required for pasteurisation kills off the probiotics, which is why raw milk & raw milk products are tolerated in so many more people

Research the high incidence of the big cee word since drinking the processed stuff.  Milk addicts who guzzle gallons of it per week.  Prostate/men and breast/women. Diabetes. Enormous jump. :ph34r:

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