A visit to the Gastro Dr.

[Barrett]

Hey everyone I just returned from the Gastro Doctor. He told me to be on a lactose free diet. As well refrain from raw veggies and fruit. I was looking at a list of food and it has some of my favorite things, My protein(whey), bananas, apples, nuts and seeds and cold cuts(turkey). Is there anyone who has to deal with the same thing if so what are some advices for getting enough protein and vitamin and minerals. I was thinking legumes. Any help would be great.

[dianas]

I don't have experience with your particular restrictions but I am allergic to milk. A lot of the restrictions are going to depend on what they are actually trying to curb ie is it texture, fiber, lactose, protein, fat etc. One thing to note is that whey is milk protein and lactose is the milk sugar. Intolerance to one doesn't necessarily mean intolerance to the other so if they've removed the lactose from your protein powder you may still be ok with that. Or not if trace amounts are too much or they've included the carbs from the milk in there. Or if they didn't really mean lactose but all dairy or the whey protein itself then you'd obviously want to avoid your whey powder. There's always soy products (which is controversial right now) and I've seen egg protein powders although I've never tried them.

Is it only raw fruits and veggies that are off limits? Can you have cooked ones? A lot of diets/ GI problems cooking changes things enough that the foods can be tolerated. Cooked fruit can seem kind of yuck but sometimes canned or pureed will accomplish the same thing. Ie you can't eat an apple but may do fine with applesauce. Same thing with veggies often applies.

Are the nuts, seeds, and cold cuts off limits also? Again it depends on why--if it's fiber or texture some people can use nut butters but not the whole seeds and nuts.

Regarding the cold cuts remembering back to my hospital nursing days the primary reason those were restricted was because of the processing ie the sodium and the preservatives not the meat itself. So you might still be able to eat all the meat you want as long as it isn't brined or cured. Also don't forget about eggs as another protein source.

I'd ask about the legumes before assuming they're ok. A lot of cases of lactose intolerance also means you can't digest beans and the like as well. They're also high in fiber and if it's the fiber they're wanting you to avoid right now with the raw fruits and veggies restricted then the legumes may not be a good choice right now.

Regarding the vitamins and minerals I'd take a good multi-vitamin.

Best of luck with your new dietary restrictions.

[Espi]

Lay off the beans and cabbage as well. I've been plugged up this week for several days and still suffer from gut pain because the intestines don't take kindly to a ton of fiber.

Legumes are as problematic.. with careful easing into them it may be possible, but when i look at a pic of myself from 2001 when I spent 3 months in Mexico on a diet of 2 bean-meals a day I'm utterly shocked at how I looked like being 6 mo. pregnant all the time... can you say bloat Batman?

The underlyign cause of both eating legumes and glutinous grains is that they cause your gut to get leaky (leaky gut syndrome) . As a result one may develop all kind of weird symptoms of which joint pain and constant inflammation is the most predominant one.. for some reason it also causes nearly acute memory loss. If someone can explain this to me.. I'd love to hear it.

The milk can be both allergy (to either casein or whey fractions) or lactose-intolerance (lack of lactase). The latter can be easily solved by avoiding lactose-based dairy and only having fermented foods like cheese, yoghurt/cottage cheese (draining is advised) or lactose-free whey.
In the former case, it helps to pinpoint whether it's the cheese fraction (lay off cheesy stuff , including cc and Quark or yoghurt) or the whey fraction.. mostly it's cheese.

As for the cold cuts.. the main reason for trouble seems they contain a ton of histamine. Not too long ago I've had a few slices of smoked sausage and started itching like crazy within hours.. looked it up and it has a TON of histamine.

Well-cooked veggies are no problem.. for fruit you need to peel them and avoid things with a skin. Kiwi & strawberries are often problematic too.

It is quite confusing, you got to find everything out for yourself. Best is to start on a very boring basic (elimination) diet and then add back in foods one week at the time. HTH.

[Barrett]

Is there anything that I should look for on the ingredent labels, that might not say speifically lactose or whey or casein. Something that might be "hidden".

[Espi]

For what kind of food? Outside protein powders, a label will rarely tell you it is 'casein' or whey.. you just need to know.. unless you are eating foods that may have whey hidden. I've seen this in fast food esp. ready-made meals, sauces and of course things like crisps with cheese flavour.

And also, while I was rattling on.. what is exactly your medical problem. Is it the stomach or the first part of the gut (smaller intestines) or the rear end (large intestines)

Do I get it right you are frequently suffering from diarrhea or gut pain that you are told to lay off the raw fruit/veggies?

[LisaS]

did you get a diagnosis or just a list of foods to avoid?

[Barrett]

I dont know this is a lactose free diet, about 3-4 weeks, leading up to a hydrogen breath test, and blood work.