Food allergy/intolerance

[Guest guest]

I wanted to write to thank , who shared with us the results of

her " experiment " with cutting wheat out of her diet. I recognized the

symptoms that she mentioned, bloating, pain in the gut, gas, and

realized that this could perhaps by my problem.

I have had gut problems since I went away to college 20+ years ago,

and I've never really been able to pinpoint what causes it. I've

thought stress, eating too much fat, sugar, etc. I've taken Prilosec

and other drugs that help, but don't cure, the problem. My nightly

gas has been a running joke in the family for years.

After reading 's post I decided to look into food

allergies/intolerances. I put myself on a two-week elimination diet.

The first week I avoided wheat, dairy, soy, corn, chocolate, citrus,

tomato, egg, a peanuts. This was a diet in every sense of the word,

in that a. it was temporary b. I couldn't maintain it long-term and

c. it wouldn't result in weight loss. But weight loss wasn't the

point. I want to feel better.

After just a couple of days I felt so much better I knew I was onto

something. The gnawing pain in my stomach was gone. The offensive gas

that I tortured my family with every night was gone, too.

In the second week, I began introducing foods that I had eliminated,

one by one, and paying close attention to how my body reacted. I kept

a journal. I'm not quite finished with my experiment, but I have

uncovered a definite sensitivity to soy, and possibly corn (the

reaction to corn was mild, and I want to retest it). Wheat doesn't

seem to be a problem, but I would never have known if I didn't try

this approach because most bread is made with soy. In fact, about 60%

of foods have soy in them...argggh.

Here's the thing that I found fascinating. When I have a reaction to

a food, sometimes it is a delayed reaction. It doesn't happen until 3

or more hours after I ate the offending food. I get a knot in my

stomach that feels like extreme hunger. If I eat something, it

sometimes feels better (I'm thinking that if I eat a non-offending

food, it dilutes the effect somewhat, but I'm not sure). What I used

to think of as hunger I now know is a reaction in my gut to a food I

ate hours ago. When I have eaten only " safe " foods, I still feel

hunger, but it is a mild, empty feeling in my stomach, not the sharp

gnawing pain I'm used to.

Anyway, I'm thrilled that I have found a way to eat without pain--you

may think it's hard to avoid chocolate (contains soy) and baked goods

(ditto on the soy), but it's amazing what a deterrent the knowledge

of certain pain can be. Also, now that I know I'm not sensitive to

wheat, I can make and enjoy homemade baked goods.

My journey isn't over--I still have to test dairy, and I will be

experimenting to see if I can tolerate soybean oil or soy lechitin,

which some soy-sensitive people can tolerate. Incidentally, I've lost

3 pounds.

Here is the site that I used, I don't necessarily endorse it, it may

not be the best elimination diet out there. I didn't follow it

exactly (I didn't eliminate cane sugar or fruit juices), but it's a

start: http://www.fpnotebook.com/ENT5.htm