Food Addictions: Cheese Etc.

[YoloGx]

Hi.

Just noticing amongst my celiac and multiple allergies and sensitivities that eating (even organic aged) cheddar cheese is still a no no for me. I woke up with my left elbow aching after eating some organic cheddar cheese last night.

Fool that I was, I felt compelled to have some more. I then went for a walk and felt sore, woozy and tired all over -- even though I normally am fine and really enjoy and am well practiced at walking for an hour or more at a brisk pace.

Of course some of these "allergies" (like cheese) often function like addictions for me. Its hard for me to eat just a little for some of the things I am allergic to. It is much better to just not have such items in the house and not get started eating them.

Once again I just have to get over it. I have so many things I am allergic/addicted to however that sometimes I just want to test the waters and see if I can have something I previously crossed off the list. I suppose it should be a big warning sign if I feel particularly elated eating the previously offending food--it should say with bells hey, you are still addicted to this food and it will likely make you feel crappy afterwards...

This time I thought I could do it since most cheese theoretically is supposed to be OK for someone who has salicylic acid sensitivity--as I also seem to have. Its on the list of OK foods for that condition as well as normally for celiac, but its not OK for me--still... Sheesh!

OK I am ranting. I am wondering however how many others here also have this cheese sensitivity or other food addicitons..

Bea

[Skylark]

I know that feeling. With me it's starchy foods or refined sugar. It's so easy for me to hop on the carbohydrate blood sugar roller-coaster. I can't keep cookies or chips around the house because I will keep grabbing another handful all day until the package is gone. I wake up the next day feeling exhausted and craving even more carbs.

Aged cheese is rich in tyramine and other amines that can act as neurotransmitters. I wonder if that's what got you?

[GFinDC]

I don't know that I have any food addictions as yet. I do like to chomp down on some peanuts pretty often, and lately I think I am starting to react to them somewhat. So am starting to restrict them somewhat also. I did try some bread with carrot fiber in it the other day, but I haven't tried carrots in over a year so thot it might be worth a shot. No go though.

I got some Daiya alt cheese recently and like it pretty well. But otherwise I don't do any real dairy as it causes me consternation of the body.

[FooGirlsMom]

I have heard that we crave the foods we are allergic to. I wonder how true that is.

I am giving up all kinds of things I couldn't live without. I was addicted to cheese too. I gave it up with the other dairy. Corn is like my crack. My favorite soup was a potato corn leek soup...about 5 days ago I finally made the connection that my joint swelling & D were related to corn. (boo hoo) So I gave it up and boy do I feel better! It's hard at first but the farther I get away from the foods my body hates, the easier it seems to be.

The good part is I'm finding the love of sorbets and popsicles. Even my taste buds are getting more sensitive..??? Food tastes better. Odd.

Hang in there. I feel for you. It's hard giving up real food that is good for normal people but makes us sick. The only thing harder is eating it and wishing you hadn't.

FooGirlsMom

[catarific]

I am the same way - I so wish to have a cookie or a slice of pizza! I used to be able to eat anything - and now -

I love cheddar cheese and sometimes I can eat a slice and be okay but other times I am not. But if I am not, it usually because I combined the protein with a starch. Maybe the food combination is causing your problem with the cheese. I have been reading the Great Taste No Pain diet plan and that diet advocates separating starches from protein and eating one protein at a time at meals. Now even celiac free bread or crackers are still in the starch family. Maybe try having the cheese all by itself without an accompanying starch and see if that works. I have been separating my starches and proteins over the last few weeks and can definitely see a difference in how I have been feeling. I will have either a starch for breakfast (either gluten free toast or waffle). Then have a protein for lunch with a salad - i.e. tuna with lettuce and Hellman's mayonaise (which is gluten free). In between breakfast and lunch, I have a fruit (waiting 3 hours after the meal). And dinner - I have a protein and vegetable.

[catarific]

Here is a general model of food combining. Could be if you try this, those foods you can not tolerate, may be tolerated.

Starches and sugars should not be eaten with proteins and acid fruits at the same meal

Vegetables, salads and fruits (whether acid or sweet) can be tolerated.

Proteins, starches and fats should be eaten in small quantities

Only gluten free grains and starches should be used

Not less than four hours between starch and protein meals

Milk does not combine well with food and should be kept to a minimum

Don't mix foods that fight, see below chart

List A

Proteins

All meat (making sure meat is gluten-free)

All poultry

Cheese

Eggs

Fish

Soya Beans

Yogurt

List B

Neutral Foods

Most vegetables (those you can tolerate)

All salads

Seeds

Nuts

Herbs

Cream

Butter

Olive oil

List C

Starches

Sugar/Honey

Sweets (if gluten-free)

Mix anything from List A with List B

Mix anything from List C with List B

Never mix List A and C!

Mix vegetables or salads with pulses i.e. beans/lentils - make these and unprocessed foods the main part of your diet

Fruits should be eaten separately and not mixed with any list. You can combine different fruits together such as a fruit salad but fruit should not be mixed with anything else.

[Takala]

I was eating a really nice dinner out the other night, and thought to myself, while this IS a really nice dinner out and I'm grateful for it, and grateful to the restaurant for having a gluten free menu selection.... but I do eat a lot of meals that are "2 vegetables and a meat" and it could sometimes be sort of just the same old, same old. Your allergies are so extensive they might drive me batty.

We are programmed to crave the basic fats and the creamy texture. (10,000 years ago bone marrow was quite the delicacy... ) Also, sweet things because it used to be so much more difficult to FIND sweet things like fruit in nature. I think that is why normal people who are otherwise on diets are talking about things like cupcakes all the time.

[YoloGx]

I was eating a really nice dinner out the other night, and thought to myself, while this IS a really nice dinner out and I'm grateful for it, and grateful to the restaurant for having a gluten free menu selection.... but I do eat a lot of meals that are "2 vegetables and a meat" and it could sometimes be sort of just the same old, same old. Your allergies are so extensive they might drive me batty.

We are programmed to crave the basic fats and the creamy texture. (10,000 years ago bone marrow was quite the delicacy... ) Also, sweet things because it used to be so much more difficult to FIND sweet things like fruit in nature. I think that is why normal people who are otherwise on diets are talking about things like cupcakes all the time.

"Aged cheese is rich in tyramine and other amines that can act as neurotransmitters. I wonder if that's what got you?"--Skylark

I apologize if what I have written here seems a little too self involved. However, I think it is possible this line of enquiry could possibly be of help to others... I feel like in some ways I am once again the proverbial canary--but as I have been told by others, that canary can sometimes clue in others to important otherwise missed facts.

It is hard to have such a limited diet, yes. I too am allergic to corn. It can be nasty stuff for some of us due to its moldy/yeasty quality. It is sweet and ferments in the drying process.

Being able to eat eggs is really expanding my diet. I make a lot of sunflower seed pancakes--which I can make without eggs. However they are nicer with them... I am also now adding in cooked brown rice. And am more seriously thinking of making muffins again. Not quite cupcakes, but the same general idea. I am crossing my fingers that the eggs really are OK for me.

I still avoid sugar however like the plague...and use stevia instead. Sugar is one of those things I am totally addicted to. Once I get started its hard to stop and I end up feeling woozy and on another planet at best.

It seems like the well washed brown rice is just fine thank heavens.

Cheese however is not and may well never be for me. I was just following up Skylark's comments on tyramine in cheese and came across the migraine connection--which meanwhile I am still having a migraine from eating the cheese... Cheese is a big cause for migraines--they even call it "the cheese effect" in Wikipedia.

Fermented foods are a big no no for me in general--all except for the 24 hour yogurt. Thank heavens that is just fine for me! I could practically live on it.

Up til now my rule of thumb is to avoid things that seemed to cause me problems--and especially those things I seem to crave "too much"--and then challenge them once in a while and be observant of the effect. The cheese thing unfortunately hit me like a huge hammer in the head with cravings and then an achey body and finally a migraine!

However recently by following the suggestions of some other posters here I have been avoiding salicylatesand thus have been able to expand my diet a little. For me that is a big deal due to all the food intolerances/allergies I have. Its funny since as far as I can tell the salicylates in general were only really causing me to get this eczema. However it had come to a point I needed to address it due to it getting to the bleeding stage sometimes and potential bacterial infections. At this point it is way reduced. Fruit though may also still be a no no. I crave it so much and honestly some of the eczema and swelling came back. Not as bad as before but there again..

Am still up in the air about bananas. They are good for their low salicylates--of which substance I seem to also need to avoid (I will be doing a challenge on salicylate foods in a couple of weeks--but so far so good--except for this cheese induced migraine and some sensitivity to bananas). I seem to only tolerate the organic really ripe bananas. But even so can't handle them too many or too often. May be due to their high histamine count...

It is all so very complicated-but nevertheless well worth investigating I think.

[Skylark]

Have you run across this info, Yolo? It's very helpful as far as food chemical intolerances.

Open Original Shared Link

Your sugar addiction sure sounds familiar. Darned stuff. I have such a love/hate relationship with it. There is a deli near me where I can buy a little square of wonderful French dark chocolate for 25 cents. I get one once a week or so, come home with it, and when it is gone there is no more chocolate in the house.

[Juliebove]

My mom, daughter and I all have IgG allergies. My daughter and I do not like to feel sick so we totally avoid those things we are allergic to.

My mom however tends not to avoid those foods and claims that she has strong cravings for them. I guess we're all different.

[jenngolightly]

I've been following your posts with interest. My allergies have been popping up since starting my elimination diet in May. For example, I started getting itchy hands that were out-of-control and ended up at the derm. Atopic eczema all over both my hands. Yikes. I was prescribed a bunch of creams and lotions, but some days it was unbearable. Then I looked at my food diary and noticed that every time I ate tree nuts or peanuts my eczema flared up. Before my diet, I rarely ate nuts, but when I started the diet (SCD), nuts were just about the only snack I was allowed and almond flour is the primary flour for the diet. Now, with no nuts available, I feel really pissed off because I have so few foods to eat. The derm didn't even consider that the eczema was food related, so neither did I.

But then I read your posts and feel a little better. I don't react to salicylic acid like you do, but my side effects to other foods are similar and I also have multiple chemical sensitivities. You're diet is really restricted and you've got similar side effects to food that I have. I just wanted to sympathize and say thanks for keeping me updated on your situation so I can learn from you.

[YoloGx]

I've been following your posts with interest. My allergies have been popping up since starting my elimination diet in May. For example, I started getting itchy hands that were out-of-control and ended up at the derm. Atopic eczema all over both my hands. Yikes. I was prescribed a bunch of creams and lotions, but some days it was unbearable. Then I looked at my food diary and noticed that every time I ate tree nuts or peanuts my eczema flared up. Before my diet, I rarely ate nuts, but when I started the diet (SCD), nuts were just about the only snack I was allowed and almond flour is the primary flour for the diet. Now, with no nuts available, I feel really pissed off because I have so few foods to eat. The derm didn't even consider that the eczema was food related, so neither did I.

But then I read your posts and feel a little better. I don't react to salicylic acid like you do, but my side effects to other foods are similar and I also have multiple chemical sensitivities. You're diet is really restricted and you've got similar side effects to food that I have. I just wanted to sympathize and say thanks for keeping me updated on your situation so I can learn from you.

Hi to you all again.

Jenn--I can relate to your frustration with the SCD diet. It didn't quite fit me either. Suddenly discovering you have a nut allergy must be frustrating. I too am terribly allergic to all nuts as well as sesame seeds. That is why I started using sunflower seeds as a flour replacement instead. This isn't SCD acceptable however. There is some SCD "dislike" of the sunflower family it seems, since stevia is also considered a no no and is part of the sunflower family. I also can in no way handle eating honey or as recently re-discovered, cheese. Zucchini is also considered a staple for the SCD--and it may well turn out it is one of my "culprits" since it is full of salicylic acid... What I suggest is to just create your own diet that works for you, irrespective to what others proscribe. Learn from SCD (and other methods) but don't be a slave to it (or them) is my best advice...

In a similar vein, I wonder if part of my problem with most gluten-free grains out there is actually due to CC, really! since the well washed brown rice seems to finally be working well for me, whereas so called gluten-free brown rice flour has not!! I am thinking seriously of washing and then drying and grinding my own rice flour and see what happens...and if that works, I want to find sources of other gluten-free grains I could possible grind on my own.

The suggestions of separating foods out during the day by type (given by an earlier poster) seems basically a good one. I did try that in the past with little effect, but then knew less then than I do now--especially concerning my need to avoid all trace gluten as well as lactose. So now it might be worth trying again--especially eat fruit away from everything else even if it seems a little less fun than say having it with yogurt.

I do know that separating offending foods out to eating them only once or twice a week has often worked well for me. Thing is to still avoid foods that are addicting however since it really is hard for me to stop once I start -- like I said previously. Such foods often alter my brain chemistry, making me less able to control myself if the food is anywhere near. I somehow convince myself, OK it was fine once, now I want more...so it should be OK, right? NO!

Skylark thanks for the info on multiple food and chemical sensitivities at: Open Original Shared Link

I have to say I am sensitive to many of the items mentioned. I figured out years ago that many of my food allergies affected my brain and mood -- plus whether I got swelling in my joints, feet and muscles or not. What I didn't realize is that other sensitivities were still going on in the background creating insomnia and leg nerve pains as well as the eczema. Now I am sleeping better than ever by the way by avoiding the salicylates for the most part!!

I was exposed to many chemicals working on old rental houses etc. growing up and now these last 15 years working as a property manager on many of these same or similar houses. Given how I was brought up, plus the work I do, part of me thinks I am invulnerable whereas reality shows me hey its quite the opposite! The facts are that I inherited celiac and food intolerances from both sides of my family plus was exposed to radiation from Hanford Nuclear Power Plant's "Green Run" in December 1949 as an infant. I also had serious damage to my L-5 vertebrae at age 6 which didn't help either.

Nevertheless I still refuse to stay down and now actually have comparatively vibrant health at age 61. Avoiding gluten and sugar completely has been huge in creating this--as well as avoiding most additives and pre made anything.

However there still have been these nagging little problems I have yet to fully nut out--or am just starting to do so now. For instance I don't think I am as sensitive as my older sister who has an extreme salicylic acid response. I would hate it if it turned out that I am that sensitive especially since I have been using herbs medicinally for nearly forty years. It is claimed that most herbs are very high in salicylic acid. It would be ironic if what I have been using to cure me has actually had the opposite effect! Nevertheless, I am open to accepting it if it turns out to be true...

For now I am relying on dandelion and a few other herbs to keep my kidneys on an even keel like I usually do. I need to find out if this is really wise of course... They say dandelion is OK--but are cleavers and marshmallow root and uva ursi? I need to find out... More on this later...

For now, the fact I am sleeping better and am way less itchy and crusty is a godsend. So many thanks to you all!

Bea

[YoloGx]

Yay! I just found out that dandelion, cleavers and marshmallow root and uva ursi are all OK and actually very good for detoxing, clearing the skin, intestines, liver, urinary tract etc. Plus as far as I can tell, no salicylates in any of them...

Though uva ursi shouldn't be used if one has high blood pressure--plus its debated whether to take it either 4 days or 10 days and then go off of it. Its best to take it only if you have urinary tract problems (like I tend to do...).

Meanwhile I also looked up Neem leaf. Again no salicylates. A godsend for the skin as well as intestines, lungs and many other conditions. It is great against fungi, bacterial and parasitical infections. I am going to give it to my brother who is recovering from a perforated lung and pneumonia. He is off the antibiotics but still is healing...

You all might want to look at some of these herbs for your own uses ...

Reason I mention them is that I tend to use them--like I said before in my last post. Plus they are great detoxers for those with all these troublesome food addictions and sensitivities, eczema etc. etc.

Bea

[Skylark]

I use uva ursi and it's helpful stuff, but never for more than a few days. Everything I've read on herbalist sites states that it can irritate the kidneys and damage the liver if overused. The usual recommendation is no longer than 4-5 days.

There is another good trick for urinary problems. Take a gram of cheap, fast-dissolving vitamin C before you go to bed. The excess C is excreted into the urine, where it sits and acidifies it overnight. You don't want to mix uva ursi and vitamin C as the uva ursi supposedly works better if the urine isn't too acidic, but you can mix vitamin C and cranberry. As far as I know, a gram of C is safe to take indefinitely.

[jenngolightly]

Hi to you all again.

Jenn--I can relate to your frustration with the SCD diet. It didn't quite fit me either. Suddenly discovering you have a nut allergy must be frustrating. I too am terribly allergic to all nuts as well as sesame seeds. That is why I started using sunflower seeds as a flour replacement instead. This isn't SCD acceptable however. There is some SCD "dislike" of the sunflower family it seems, since stevia is also considered a no no and is part of the sunflower family. I also can in no way handle eating honey or as recently re-discovered, cheese. Zucchini is also considered a staple for the SCD--and it may well turn out it is one of my "culprits" since it is full of salicylic acid... What I suggest is to just create your own diet that works for you, irrespective to what others proscribe. Learn from SCD (and other methods) but don't be a slave to it (or them) is my best advice...

Thank you for this post. I'm really struggling with the diet, although I haven't felt so good in years and years! I just can't find enough to eat and I've lost quite a bit of weight. I'm not dangerously low, but I can't afford to lose any more. It's good that I've found my allergies to strawberries, Parmesan cheese, pineapple, nuts, and other foods while on the SCD diet, but I'm craving carbs and... substance. I almost dove into the brown rice that I made for my family on Sunday night, but I kept thinking, "I've done this for 7 months, I can do it for 5 more." And I keep reminding myself about how awful I was feeling before the diet. I know it's something big that I can't tolerate - I'm assuming corn, soy, sugar, dairy, or a combo of those, and I'm considering reintroducing some of them instead of waiting the full year. However, I'm not sure what to do first and I'm very tentative... My doc gave me an epi-pen recently. I can't tell you how frightening that was. How is it that a woman over 40 can suddenly become allergic to foods? I'm a smart person, but things are becoming frustrating and mucky.

Perhaps I'm just scared that I won't be able to eat anything that's not on my current diet. It's paralyzed me and I don't know what to do next.

[YoloGx]

Thank you for this post. I'm really struggling with the diet, although I haven't felt so good in years and years! I just can't find enough to eat and I've lost quite a bit of weight. I'm not dangerously low, but I can't afford to lose any more. It's good that I've found my allergies to strawberries, Parmesan cheese, pineapple, nuts, and other foods while on the SCD diet, but I'm craving carbs and... substance. I almost dove into the brown rice that I made for my family on Sunday night, but I kept thinking, "I've done this for 7 months, I can do it for 5 more." And I keep reminding myself about how awful I was feeling before the diet. I know it's something big that I can't tolerate - I'm assuming corn, soy, sugar, dairy, or a combo of those, and I'm considering reintroducing some of them instead of waiting the full year. However, I'm not sure what to do first and I'm very tentative... My doc gave me an epi-pen recently. I can't tell you how frightening that was. How is it that a woman over 40 can suddenly become allergic to foods? I'm a smart person, but things are becoming frustrating and mucky.

Perhaps I'm just scared that I won't be able to eat anything that's not on my current diet. It's paralyzed me and I don't know what to do next.

Skylark--thank you for your suggestion about the vit. C. Only thing though is that I think I may be allergic to ascorbic acid--and I know I am very allergic to citrus fruit. However I don't have to take uva ursi constantly--and don't. I just have it now and then. The dandelion and marshmallow root are wonderful regular herbs for me however. But even with them I go on and off them. I think I like neem leaf too -- though its bitter so probably I shouldn't overdo it either.

Jenn--I was on the SCD for 10 months, went off it and then back on for several more. I can understand your concern. I think its important to figure out what you are and are not allergic to. Back in the day I actually went on a simplified cave man like diet and then reintroduced one food every other day. I took my pulse and wrote down how I felt every two hours or so. It really helped me determine a lot of what I was and wasn't sensitive to. I didn't have celiac.com to help me however. If i had, it would have helped me save years of time--especially if I had known what celiac really was and how necessary it is to avoid just trace amounts of gluten.

By the way, not to overly alarm you--I'd like to tell you a story. Last summer I was overworked and under extreme stress both from my siblings concerning the property management business I run as well as dealing with a very dear friend who suddenly died. I had just finished renting out all our units, and gave my friend a proper send off when I noticed my ears were very inflamed. I never had this happen before. They had been itchy and flaky for a couple of years. But I had never had what appeared to be a possible ear infection before.

I went to the hospital emergency room and the doctor gave me way too powerful antibiotics despite my having told him I was sensitive to most antibiotics. The antibiotics almost killed me--I had shooting D for a week!! And after that my intestines were a real mess. The lining was basically gone. An emergency tech friend told me this was a common complaint for that particular antibiotic. And of course the antibiotics did nothing for my ears.

I should have just treated myself with herbs and diet. Neither the doc nor I realized it was just an allergy for Pete's sake! Olive leaf, dandelion, marshmallow root and my other herbs plus pro-biotics and the 24 hour yogurt actually saved my life. There was no way I was going back to that doctor to get yet more antibiotics--the usual treatment when this particular antibiotic is abreacted to according to the Merck Manual... I have had such bad luck with docs. He seemed so nice and said he knew someone who had celiac. Go figure! this was just about a year ago.

I do think it is becoming more possible to go to a good doctor who really knows his or her business about celiac and food allergies/intolerances. You have to look for them however. There is a new type of doc to whom if I had the money I would try out--they call themselves functional medicine doctors.

No matter what, becoming informed about these matters yourself will help you find your way and save a great deal of time and money.

The deal is that with celiac most of us do develop at least some other food allergies or sensitivities due to damage to the villi. Then undigested proteins can go into the blood stream from the intestines willy nilly--which your body then is likely to react to as if these proteins were foreign invaders. From thus early beginnings many allergies etc. are born.

By healing the villi you will go a long ways to solving many of your problems. This is why I take the gut healing herbs. Its also why I also take fibronylitic enzymes to help reduce the effects of scar tissue of the villi as well as elsewhere. Its also great for combatting platelate aggregation in the veins and heart and the hardening of any and all organs--a common circumtance of getting older.

Jenn--don't feel bad about being over 40 and having this happen to you. Almost all of us have stuff that happens to us as we age that didn't happen when we were younger. At least you are getting improved health out of this so it is worth the struggle. As we age we get the bodies we deserve. We have to make health happen--its no longer automatic like it might have been when you were younger (if you were lucky that is). At least you don't have a more life threatening condition, eh, like so many do who blithely neglect themselves and then wake up with a heart attack or cancer etc...

Bea

[jenngolightly]

By the way, not to overly alarm you--I'd like to tell you a story. Last summer I was overworked and under extreme stress both from my siblings concerning the property management business I run as well as dealing with a very dear friend who suddenly died. I had just finished renting out all our units, and gave my friend a proper send off when I noticed my ears were very inflamed. I never had this happen before. They had been itchy and flaky for a couple of years. But I had never had what appeared to be a possible ear infection before.

I should have just treated myself with herbs and diet. Neither the doc nor I realized it was just an allergy for Pete's sake! Olive leaf, dandelion, marshmallow root and my other herbs plus pro-biotics and the 24 hour yogurt actually saved my life. There was no way I was going back to that doctor to get yet more antibiotics--the usual treatment when this particular antibiotic is abreacted to according to the Merck Manual... I have had such bad luck with docs. He seemed so nice and said he knew someone who had celiac. Go figure! this was just about a year ago.

No matter what, becoming informed about these matters yourself will help you find your way and save a great deal of time and money.

The deal is that with celiac most of us do develop at least some other food allergies or sensitivities due to damage to the villi. Then undigested proteins can go into the blood stream from the intestines willy nilly--which your body then is likely to react to as if these proteins were foreign invaders. From thus early beginnings many allergies etc. are born.

By healing the villi you will go a long ways to solving many of your problems. This is why I take the gut healing herbs. Its also why I also take fibronylitic enzymes to help reduce the effects of scar tissue of the villi as well as elsewhere. Its also great for combatting platelate aggregation in the veins and heart and the hardening of any and all organs--a common circumtance of getting older.

Bea

Bea - Your story didn't alarm me at all. It's become clear to me over the last year that most of my problems are food-based. Although going gluten-free cleared a lot of physical issues, I never would have fully believed this before I went on the SCD diet and the remainder of my problems were alleviated. I'm most grateful to the diet that I learned that (and secondly for finding my allergies as, like you, I introduced foods once every few days).

I am under an immense amount of stress right now, so your story was a cautionary tale. I don't think I'll try going off the diet until the stress abates. One thing I am considering adding to my SCD diet since I found out I'm allergic to nuts (last week) is seeds. I haven't eaten those yet. I think I'll start with pumpkin because they are substantial enough to be a snack. Sesame seeds are too tedious. You spend more energy shelling them than you get by eating them. :-)

I do eat the 24 hour yogurt and I never eat processed foods, sugar, starchy veggies, grains, dairy, soy, or corn. However, I don't take any supplements or herbs, nor do I know if I need to. Do you have suggestions for me? I don't understand when you talk about the enzymes, etc. You'll have to be very explicit and t.a.l.k. s.l.o.w.l.y because I don't have a familiarity of natural medicine. Thanks so much for your wisdom. - Jenn

[Cinnamongirl]

I really related to the comment that if you feel especially good after eating a food, that it is a warning sign that there may be an addiction. I've kept a food diary the past 9 months and without exception whenever I feel that "elated" feeling after eating a food, I feel really lousy the next day. I have felt that after cheese and decided to eliminate it. We have a pizza restaurant that serves pretty good gluten free pizza nearby (they have a dedicated gluten free prep area), but I guess I'll have to stop eating the pizza. Darn!

I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but I have had cloudy urine on occasion in the morning - once after eating deli meat the night before and once after eating cheddar cheese at bedtime. I tried to look into what could cause that and it looked like it could have been caused by phosphates. Since it's not chronic I wasn't worried about it.