Milk.

[Bell]

I've been off gluten for about 2 months, and feel much better for it. D has stopped, and my mind feels clearer, which i'm sure you'll understand, is an enormous relief! The only thing is, now I think I'm allergic to milk. Or intolerant perhaps. When I drink milk I feel within about 30 mins or so that I need to clear my throat. Every 2 minutes or so. It's not painful, but a big old pain nonetheless. The thing is, before going gluten-free this never happened as a response to drinking milk. I've experimented a bit, by changing to soy milk - it stopped the mucus immediately, but when I eat a bit of cheese it does not really come back. I'm a bit green about how this works, but my impression was that lactose tends to be the allergen that makes you mucosy. I then read lots of anti-soy literature saying it would cause tumours and was generally bad for you, and tried to find a middle ground by using goats milk instead. But exactly the same thing happened. I'm clearing my throat constantly after a small cup of tea earlier today!

I can't research much because my internet connection is "wireless" and stops working, or slows right down when I move toward the computer (I'm not joking! it works for my boyfriend!) so could anyone help me? Is it normal to be come intolerant of something else after eliminating gluten?

bell

[ShayFL]

Yes....many of us have experienced the same thing. The theory is that the gluten intolerance "mask" others. And once that main irritant is removed, the others come to light. It can be a bit frustrating.....but listen to your body. Stop drinking the milk. Milk is hard to digest in general (even for healthy folks). Fermented dairy is a better choice (cheese, kefir and yogurt). You said the cheese doenst bother you. So here is your clue that what I am saying is correct.

For "milk" I use coconut milk or almond milk. I also enjoy Hemp milk. The hemp has the good fats we need.

The reality is that you dont need SOY or DAIRY to be very healthy. Dairy is a myth. The countries that consume the most dairy have the most osteoperosis. Go figure. The countries that consume the most vegetables and sea vegetables have very little osteoperosis. Those same veggie countries eat soy but ONLY fermented (natto, tempeh, miso, etc.). The U.S. invented soy milk. It isnt natural and it is not a health food IMO.

[Bell]

I know it sounds daft, but I'm still surprised, and comforted by the fact that my experiences are so familiar to the folks here. I still feel embarrassed to be "picky" when I'm out with my friends, but here i know it's understood. I will find it hard I think to find a replacement for milk, but actually I would like to give up cheese too for the time being. I always thought that lactose caused the mucus, and the lactose was far less in goats milk and cheese too. But I expected if anything to be instead be sensitive to the casein since that is similar in structure to gluten. I'm not sure what the symptoms of casein intolerance are.

What else is a good substitute for milk? I like soy, but have read too much bad press. Almond milk is lovely but too weak and expensive. I love full fat milky tea! perhaps I should invest in a nut milk making machine, because I can't afford almond milk in the quantities I'd drink it! And cheese - how on earth can I replace that? My diet is rapidly shrinking. Luckily, drinking milk and coughing and swallowing my own mucus makes me less inclined to eat anything at all, which is a relief.

X

Yes....many of us have experienced the same thing. The theory is that the gluten intolerance "mask" others. And once that main irritant is removed, the others come to light. It can be a bit frustrating.....but listen to your body. Stop drinking the milk. Milk is hard to digest in general (even for healthy folks). Fermented dairy is a better choice (cheese, kefir and yogurt). You said the cheese doenst bother you. So here is your clue that what I am saying is correct.

For "milk" I use coconut milk or almond milk. I also enjoy Hemp milk. The hemp has the good fats we need.

The reality is that you dont need SOY or DAIRY to be very healthy. Dairy is a myth. The countries that consume the most dairy have the most osteoperosis. Go figure. The countries that consume the most vegetables and sea vegetables have very little osteoperosis. Those same veggie countries eat soy but ONLY fermented (natto, tempeh, miso, etc.). The U.S. invented soy milk. It isnt natural and it is not a health food IMO.

[AliB]

Soy milk is VERY mucous-forming. I can't tolerate soy at all.

It is very common for other intolerances to become apparent. It may be a mask effect, but it may also be, as I suspect, down to rogue bacteria adapting from their original food source - gluten-based carbs - to other sugars/carbohydrates.

Lactose is a milk sugar.

It depends on the type of cheese as to whether you can tolerate it or not. Certain cheeses that have been cultured using lactic bacteria that digest the lactose are usually ok, like Brick, Cheddar, dry curd cheese, Gruyere, Havarti, Manchego, Monterey Jack, Provolone, Swiss, can usually be tolerated ok and some like blue cheeses, Danish and Stilton, Brie and Camembert, Edam, Gouda, Gorgonzola, Gruyere, Muenster, Parmesan, Port du Salut, Romano and Roquefort may be able to be tolerated occasionally. It is probably a matter of experimentation.

Milk is best avoided unless you can find a source of raw unpasteurised and are prepared to drink it, as pasteurisation kills the very enzymes in the milk that are there to help us digest it. Homogenisation also changes the fat structure in the milk, rendering it into a form that may be damaging to the body (not enough is known about what it does). They break the fat down so it will stay mixed into the milk but its effect is unknown.

I also use coconut milk and now actually prefer it to cows milk.

I had to avoid dairy too after going gluten-free and also most carbs as I can't digest them properly either which is also very common. I was actually Lactose intolerant for years - constantly clearing my throat - other foods can do that but dairy was the worst, and if I ate a dessert with gluten, cream and sugar, I would be coughing for hours. Like Shay and others I have been following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and am gradually healing and recovering.

[Bell]

I don't find soy milk to be mucous forming for me at all, but I am quite dubious about its supposed health benefits. I think I'd rather try and give up milk completely than drink as much soy as I would habitually have in my tea every day.

Coconut milk - isn't that really thick and creamy? lovely too, but surely you can't put it in hot drinks?

I am very interested in the specific carbohydrate diet, as I have noticed that although my stomach isn't upset, I feel more anxious and forgetful when I have rice and corn. But if I remember rightly, the SCD allows milk. I was worried about what to eliminate and what to keep. It seems everything is troublesome unless I try to ignore some of the more "mental" symptoms!

[ShayFL]

SCD only allows 24 hour fermented homemade yogurt. And can sub goat milk or coconut milk to make the yogurt if you dont tolerate Cow. A few cheeses to that have no lactose or casein.