Dairy Products and the Newly GF

[celiacmom]

This is my first time on this website... boy, am I glad to find you!  My 14-year old son was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 2 months ago.  The first couple of weeks on the gluten-free diet he felt so much better, but recently he's had some setbacks even though he's very careful about adhering to the diet.  I think we may have narrowed it down to dairy products and reading your experiences has certainly helped me decide to have him go dairy free for awhile. Drinking a glass of milk seems to really do him in, as well as cheese (last night's cheese omelet was a mistake!).  I hope this is only temporary, because being able to eat ice cream was making it easier to avoid the cookies and cakes.  This is tough on a teenager!  Also, his symptoms have always been nausea, gas and diahrrea.  They started at age 13 and went out of control after a stomach virus in February. His doctor diagnosed him on the first visit, because his own son suffers from Celiac disease.  Lucky for us we didn't go through the drawn out diagnosis some of you did. How awful for you!

[the sensible celiac]

Hi Celiacmom, and welcome!

I'm sure the recent diagnosis of your son's condition is a tough challenge. Teenagers are especially sensitive to anything that makes them seem different than their peers. I hope his friends and school are being supportive. Celiac disease is getting much more attention in the press these days, that should help.

I think having him avoid dairy for a while is probably a good idea, many people do develop lactose intolerance shortly after they go GF, it happened to my daughter.

You might consider some soy based substitutes for the milk and ice cream he is giving up. Be aware that some types of soy milk do contain small amount of gluten from barley malt or other sources.  I buy Trader Joes brand and WestSoy brand soy milk products. I prefer the WestSoy unsweetened soy milk, it seems to me to be much like I remember cows milk, without as much of the beany taste you get from some brands. The ingredients list for the WestSoy soy milk (unsweetened variety) is: filtered water, whole organic soybeans. So it is clearly GF! There is also Silk brand soy milk products, often in the dairy case in supermarkets, they make a great chocolate soy milk.

There are also several brands of soy-based "ice cream" that we buy sometimes. I prefer the Soy Delicious brand. I see it at health food stores, Trader Joes, and even in larger supermarkets like Ralphs (here in California).

Please feel free to ask any questions, voice any concerns, or ask for any help you might need. We try to be friendly around here.

Steve

[elizabeth]

I have had no problems with cheese before so does thus mean i can tolerate it and also can a celiac have soya?

[the sensible celiac]

I have had no problems with cheese before so does thus mean i can tolerate it and also can a celiac have soya?

Some people develop lactose intolerance temporarily after they go on a GF diet.  This happened to my adult daughter.  In many cases this lactose intolerance is only temporary, and is not directly related to having celiac disease.  If this happens you'll probably notice a tummy-ache after eating cheese, in that case I'd suggest you avoid cheese for about 6 months or so and then try eating it again.

Issues with lactose intolerance aside, many people with celiac disease have no trouble eating most cheese products - but avoid bleu cheese, it does contain gluten.

Soy beans are gluten free, so products made from soy should also be gluten free unless they have some other ingredient that does contain gluten.  Watch out for tofu marinated in soy sauce, almost all soy sauce contains wheat.

[elizabeth]

I have had no problems with cheese before so does thus mean i can tolerate it and also can a celiac have soya?

Some people develop lactose intolerance temporarily after they go on a GF diet.  This happened to my adult daughter.  In many cases this lactose intolerance is only temporary, and is not directly related to having celiac disease.  If this happens you'll probably notice a tummy-ache after eating cheese, in that case I'd suggest you avoid cheese for about 6 months or so and then try eating it again.

Issues with lactose intolerance aside, many people with celiac disease have no trouble eating most cheese products - but avoid bleu cheese, it does contain gluten.

Soy beans are gluten free, so products made from soy should also be gluten free unless they have some other ingredient that does contain gluten.  Watch out for tofu marinated in soy sauce, almost all soy sauce contains wheat.

Excellent thankyou this has helped alot,cheers
from elizabeth

[katzefrau]

I had trouble with dairy (especially ice cream) before going GF and had quit milk in favor of soy many years prior, but still ate some cheese, which didn't give me much grief.  Since going GF I can eat ice cream all day, which makes me wonder if it wasn't actually the dairy bugging me in the first place; in any case it was certainly exacerbated by gluten.  (figuring these things out can be confusing - there can be so many things at work.)

I don't recall if there was an adjustment time as I fasted and then re-introduced some common allergens (dairy, soy, corn, oats, nuts) one at a time and was therefore on & off dairy for a bit.  Now, however, ice cream and cheese and small amounts of butter (I still don't drink milk) suit me fine.


slightly off-topic cheese-related question:
Is bread really used in the process of making bleu cheese? (or gorgonzola)
Does anyone know how it's done?
Does anyone react to bleu cheese who otherwise tolerates dairy well?

[the sensible celiac]

slightly off-topic cheese-related question:
Is bread really used in the process of making bleu cheese? (or gorgonzola)
Does anyone know how it's done?
Does anyone react to bleu cheese who otherwise tolerates dairy well?

Yes, moldy bread is added to the mix because it has the proper organisms to create the cheese.  I have heard of people with celiac disease who are generally able to tolerate dairy foods reacting to bleu cheese.

In my case I avoid all dairy cheese because of being vegan.

[CarolM]

The kind folks at The Straight Dope have a pretty interesting article about how the cheese is made by adding the mold Penicillium roqueforti.

[lkatrych]

I am new to all of this, thanks for all the great info!

[katzefrau]

The kind folks at The Straight Dope have a pretty interesting article about how the cheese is made by adding the mold Penicillium roqueforti.

ah .. thanks, both, for the replies .. I have mold allergies too, and penicillin gives me hives.
So I guess that's two reasons to avoid it!

[jaysmommy]

My son never had a problem with dairy thank goodness.....to get some weight on him we supplemented with pediasure so it was nice he didn't have that reaction.

[eatingganesh]

...the problem with cheese is the diet of the cows from which it is made - if it is a mass-produced cheese, unless otherwise noted, the cows are given grain feed that includes wheat. Cheese that is made from cows who have a special diet (like Gruyere - clover feed), or who are free range, is usually safe.

I also cannot do corn.

When I switched to the GF diet I also switched to Soy milk to boost my protein intake, rather than an intolerance. BUT I have noticed that my stomach gets upset if I drink milk now. I don't get gassy/bloating/hurty - just a bit of weak nausea.

[the sensible celiac]

cows are given grain feed that includes wheat.

Whether cows are fed wheat or not, cows milk has always been and still is gluten free.  In fact it is so gluten free that it contains less gluten than a homeopathic medicine contains of active ingredient, in both cases approximately none at all.

Cows have 4 stomachs that are especially evolved to handle their typical ruminant diet of grasses.  As a grass wheat is not so unusual in a cows diet.  When an animal eats protein-bearing foods their digestive system breaks down the proteins into the basic amino acid building blocks.  Cows then use those amino acids to create milk.  Amino acids do not remember what proteins they were in before just as water does not remember what used to be dissolved in it.

Milk is 100% gluten free.  It always was.  It still is.

A very high percentage of people with celiac disease also lack the enzymes required to digest lactose, thus they become lactose intolerant.  While many types of enzyme therapy are hit and miss, it is well known that oral enzymes for lactose intolerance can be very successful.  People with celiac disease or gluten intolerance who are not able to tolerate milk are wise to try some lactose enzyme supplement as this often provides relief.

Many people find that their problems with lactose are only temporary and happen right after going gluten free.  In quite a few cases these people are able to resume using dairy products after 6 months or a year go by.