Bloating, Upset Stomach,Weight Gain and Food Allergies
As many of you know, I am allergic to wheat and dairy and have some food intolerances. Allergies and intolerances are two very different responses and people often think their intolerances are allergies ( more on this in a bit). I am often asked how I found out about my food allerigies and how I deal with them so this is my story and how I finally got my sanity back.
Since I was a teen I had severe bouts of stomach problems that would leave me curled up in a ball on my bed while my mom wondered what was wrong. She took me to all sorts of specialist where I had upper and lower GIs done with no conclusions. Finally, the testing stopped and I went on with migraines, stomach upsets, infrequent bowel movements, aches, exhaustion, and irratibility for years. I would sleep 8 or more hours and still have to come home and take a nap. My stomach looked like I was 5 months pregnant (hard as a rock) almost daily.
In 2007 I was set to get married in May so like any bride I wanted to get in shape before my wedding and what better way to do that then low carbing it (a horrible fad diet that I did because I was desparate). As a vegetarian, I started to add in things like yogurt and cheese that were low carb, things that I normally didn't have in my diet probably due to the fact that I associated it with PAIN. I was working out like crazy and yet I was gaining weight and it was all in my stomach. So again, I went to the doctor, except this time they had a million different diagnosis. I heard everything from IBS to Fibromyalgia. The doctors even tried to put me on antidepressants. When I said "but I'm not depressed" the response was "you may not know you are depressed but it's common in fibromyalgia patients." Needless to say, I ran out of there as fast as I could and without their pills! Finally when I changed insurance plans, I was sent to a specialist who had me keep a food journal. Unfortunately for me it took a while to pinpoint problem foods because when I would eliminate dairy, the wheat would cause problems and vice versa. After a month, my doctor recommended an IgE, IgG test, and a celiac test. The celiac test came back negative and the IgE showed an allergic response to both wheat and dairy. On one hand I was estatic that they figured it out and on the other I was couldn't help but think to myself " what the heck am I going to eat now?" I was already a vegetarian so I knew this was not going to be fun.
Allergy and Intolerance
Before I continue, I want to make sure that I clarify that I am allergic to wheat and dairy, not intolerant. However, during my comp prep, I noticed some digestion and intestinal problems but knew that I couldn't be getting wheat or dairy because I was making all of my foods for prep each week and didn't eat out the entire time. I wanted to retest my allergies but heard about a test called an ALCAT which measures reactions to certain foods. It is not an allergy test but rather a test for intolerances. When the results came back, I was shocked to find that a lot of the foods I was eating on my prep were those that I had a severe reaction to. They recommended a rotation diet in order to allow your enzymes to reset. I just finished the elimination stage and have started rotating the foods back in and so far so good. I am definitely not entirely free of all the digestive issues associated with those foods but knowing which ones cause it and avoiding or rotating has made a big difference.
Just to give you an idea of my symptoms, here are the differences:
Food Allergy- Extreme fatigue, swelling, joint pain, migraines, headaches, swelling of the sinuses, itchy throat, rash, EXTREME belly bloating ( and I mean extreme), constipation, and weight gain.
Food Intolerance- gas, bloating ( not nearly as bad), reflux.
If you have any of these symptoms after eating, go see a specialist and ask about these tests!
These were just my experiences with allergies and intolerances but I have been without wheat and dairy for 7 years now and all of my symptoms associated with food allergies are gone. After three weeks without wheat and dairy, my stomach flattened and I lost the weight and had no more issues with constipation. I get occasional reactions due to the separate intolerances now but on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst ( and how I felt with food allergies), I would rate my tummy upsets as a 2 comparitively. I can live with that. Just to give you an idea of what it looks like, the picture below (on the right) was when I accidently licked a spoon that had a tiny bit of my husband's whey protein on it. As embarrassing as this pic is, it use to be a norm for me and if it helps one person who may be going through the same thing, it's worth the embarrassment. You can't see very well because of lighting but you can see how swollen my stomach is- it's hard as a rock too! It took 3 or 4 days to go down. I was making mug cakes and thought it was mine and licked it before I realized. I took benadryl immediately but that won't stop the gastrointestinal response.
Getting Use To Gluten Free/Dairy Free
At first, I went out and bought everything that said gluten free and dairy free but soon realized that not everything tasted close to the real thing. Not only that, everything has wheat/gluten in it. Soups contain gluten to thicken it, even veggie burgers have wheat to hold the patties together. Soy sauce has gluten (imitation crab meat does too, I found that out eating sushi), breads, pastas, even some toothpaste has gluten so if you are highly allergic or super sensitive you have to be careful. I had to learn to read labels carefully. Barley, rye, etc. all had gluten. And oats, you have to make sure you get the gluten free kind of oats, and oh boy, forget granola unless it says gluten free. I wasted so much money! It took me about a year to learn what I could and couldn't have.
I lost a lot of weight at first but as I continued to east packaged gluten free, dairy free products I noticed a slow weight gain. It wasn't a big increase but I am 5 foot 3 and a half-yes the half counts, and an additional 5 pounds on my small frame is pretty noticable. To make a long story short, I cut out a lot of the packaged foods but some things you just have to have as a treat. I eat pretty much all whole foods now, which are naturally gluten free but when I bake or have a cheat meal there are some great products out there and some yucky ones to avoid like the plague. So if you or someone you know has food allergies or intolerances, here a list of some of the yummy gluten free or dairy free products out there that are worth the money. I rarely use gluten free pizza dough now because I love my zuchinni and almond bread crust that is on my coach's site but I have included my favorite ones that I have had over the years. Again, I cannot warn you enough, you can easily rack up tons of carbs and empty calories on these products. Just because they make gluten free or dairy free alternatives doesn't mean you need them. Use them as an occasional treat or cheat.
Gluten Free
Trader Joes Gluten Free Oats
Bob's Gluten Free Oats
Bob's Coconut Flour (Love this)
Bob's Almond Flour
Udi's has the best gf bread, not Rudi's
Udi's has a great frozen pizza crust
Pamelas pizza dough, brownie mix, scone, cookie (her whole line basically rocks)
Enjoy Life Brown Rice Tortillas
Rudi's spinach tortillas
Enjoy Life Cookies ( dairy free too)
Mainstreet Bakery Granola
Amy's has a great gf df line
Hilary's veggie bites (wholefoods)
Van's products are great
SoL Cuisine Vegetarian products
Chebe cinnamon rolls
Dairy Free
Coconut Bliss or So Coconut dairy free ice cream
Almond Breeze ( I use unsweetened plain)
Dark Chocolate
Daiya dairy free cheese (it even melts on pizza)
Earth Balance butter alternative
Rawfusion Protein
Sunwarrior Classic Blend
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