posted
I know that it is important to follow specific diet when treating and maintaining health w/ Lyme, (ie; no alcohol, sugar, pasta, etc), but what about 100% whole wheat bread??
-------------------- Bullsye rash: 1994, tx w/ ABT, Symptomatic:1999 Hospitalization: 2004 Equivocol results (specialy lab) resulting in chronic use of ABT, herbs, etc ever since. Severity of symptoms continue to worsen intermittingly. Posts: 140 | From maryland | Registered: Oct 2006
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- I would avoid it as it contains gluten. Most LLMDs suggest their patients go gluten-free, for many reasons.
I've been away from gluten so long I don't even miss it. There are many other things you can enjoy. Black rice has become a favorite. Quinoa, too.
For something chewy now and then, Van's Gluten-Free waffles (not all of theirs are GF, so read the label). Actually not too bad on the glycemic index if you eat with some protein and good fat (and avoid the syrup - or put just 1/4 tsp pure maple syrup in with some walnut oil to top it). The GF buckwheat is the best choice for occasional enjoyment. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
I might be the exception but I eat whole wheat flour including bread, pasta and home made things. I have no trouble with gluten or dairy.
In the beginning of my treatment I tried to eat only vegetables and meat. To get enough calories, I was eating way to much meat, which is toxic. My body has never smelled so horrible - and it wasn't die off. Now I don't eat any red meat at all.
I buy 9 grain bread. I don't eat a lot of it. I don't eat sugar or processed food. Basically I eat what I consider to be healthy.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- nefferdun,
Gluten is not only about the stomach. In fact, some have no stomach problems at all but all sorts of neurological problems. Gluten can damage the brain in those with certain deficiencies.
You might call the LLMD whom you are going to see soon and ask if they have thoughts on the matter so that you can make adjustments before you go.
As a transition, you might try Food for Life Ezekial Bread (from sprouted grains) but they add barley malt and that contains gluten.
Ezekial also makes a gluten-free rice tortilla but it has to be heated as it's like glue cold. It will break your teeth trying to chew it unless it is warm.
Trader Joe's makes their own Brown Rice Bread that is really good. Just keep a couple sliced in the fridge and the rest in the freezer as it dries out fast. Before freezer, separate and try to freeze so that it's not going to turn to a solid block.
Aside from the issue of gluten, for those not going gluten-free whole GRAIN bread is better than whole wheat. Whole GRAIN is much heartier and lower on the glycemic index.
=========================
Just a few links about gluten: --------------------------
posted
I am gluten free, sugar free, and soy free. I don't eat rice products, or vegetables that grow under the ground (apart from garlic and onions), and no potatoes for me, they are broken down into glucose. I eat all fruits apart from bananas. I would try to avoid gluten if I were you. The bacteria uses the digestive enzymes that is used to digits gluten. Therefore, it is safer to not use it. You can have bread made out of corn (if you are not sensitive to corn), and there are a lot types of flours out there that you can use.
My doctor put me on a very strict diet, but I am sure you can have rice and potatoes which will be a lot easier. Also grains like buckwheat and quinoa are good.
It is very difficult to avoid these foods at first, especially gluten, but really you get use to it by time. I am new to this diet, only few months, and I still crave a lot of things. It's just not as hard as it was first.
Good luck!
-------------------- Ema Posts: 394 | From Southern California | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
Ezekiel Bread also contains wheat. However, that company does have a gluten free line.
I have no problems with gluten now, but had severe problems when I was sick.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
100% whole wheat bread still turns into sugar very quickly in the body, so it is going to feed yeast.
The wheat berry has been ground up into a flour. This process makes the wheat easily digestible, meaning it turns into a simple sugar rapidly. The fact that fiber is there also doesn't really change much when it comes to the sugar aspect of the bread.
From p. 35 of Burrascano (anti-yeast diet):
"STARCHES None!! If it is made from flour- any kind of flour- it is not allowed. (No breads, cereals, cake, etc.)"
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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disturbedme
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posted
I agree with Keebler.
You might not think you have gluten allergies and you might blame it all on being lyme or a herx from lyme, but it could be, in part, to gluten intolerance or celiac.
I was SO sure I didn't have gluten intolerance or gluten issues either because I didn't have bowel symptoms or problems, but decided to be tested on a whim anyway just to see what came up. I was tested by a company that does saliva testing which tests the antibodies in the saliva to gluten. The test came back very highly gluten intolerant.
I was completely shocked! I couldn't believe it. After going completely gluten free and being very careful with what I ate and changing my entire lifestyle to gluten free, I felt SO much better. It amazed me how much going gluten free had helped. It was obvious quite quickly how much of the symptoms were actually due to my gluten intolerance. Most of which were neurological symptoms!!! Like I said, I never had the bowel symptoms with it at all - just neurological symptoms that I always thought was just the lyme.
After being gluten free now for at least a year, I still have neurological problems and cognitive issues, but they aren't as bad as they were when I would eat gluten. I am so happy that I decided to be tested for gluten intolerance even though I was so SURE I didn't have problems with gluten.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
Yep. It still feeds yeast. If you HAVE to have bread, that would be the best way out....
BUT... you would do well to go gluten free.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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canefan17
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
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posted
....into the trash
Posts: 5394 | From Houston, Tx | Registered: Aug 2009
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nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
I will ask the doctor about it and I will eat a lot less of it until I see him (late November). I love brown rice so would rather have that than potatoes or noodles.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
My lyme doc only allowed a little brown rice once per week.
No potatoes, no noodles or pasta (all made from flour).
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
I was already on a low carb diet, and I just learned I have to go gluten free too. That means no bread at all.
However, you can make bread and cake type things with almond flour, which has protein, fiber, good fat and minerals, and not much carbs, and tastes good. You can also use stevia as a sweetener.
I have made chocolate cake, biscuits, pancakes and pizza crust with almond flour before. (Sorry, don't remember the recipes right now or I would share, but my chocolate cake one is on an old thread somewhere.) I can't cope with cooking, so I haven't learned many recipes, but there are a lot.
I am discovering that most "gluten free" products are off limits to me because they contain lots of corn, rice, potatoes (all high carbs), and possibly sugar or artificial sweeteners.
I mainly eat meat, eggs, nuts, cheese and vegetables, and a little berries and melons, and I put coconut oil in everything. If you just melt it in soup or on meat, it doesn't have any flavor and no salt, so you can hardly tell it's there. It's nice for frying too, and rubbing on your skin if it's dry or itchy.
I recently hired a service that makes all my low carb, gluten free meals and delivers them to a health store near my home twice a week. Best thing I ever did. The chef who owns it is a fantastic cook, and comes up with all kinds of delicious and creative recipes that fit my diet, which I could not do myself. Meanwhile I get ideas for possible things I could cook, when I'm able to again. (Because I can never go off this diet.)
You also may discover new foods that you like. For instance, one day my personal chef made salty low carb pancakes with spinach sauce, and they were great. I would not have thought of that--I gave up pancakes because I wanted them to be sweet.
I am suffering from low B-12 absorption from gluten sensitivity, which was starting to cause anemia-like symptoms such as air hunger and dizziness, and can cause neurological symptoms and permanent damage, too.
I just learned that gluten can do damage, starting with the top of your small intestine so it's a long time before you realize it. The amount of gluten that can do it is very small. If you flip a bun and then a burger with the same spatula, or spread peanut butter on regular bread and put the knife back in the jar and get a crumb in the peanut butter, those foods are contaminated with gluten and not safe for gluten-sensitive people to eat.
Low carb/sugar works against Lyme, candida and helps keep your blood sugar and insulin stabilized even if you cheat a little once in a while. As I understand the gluten free diet, it won't be very effective unless you don't cheat at all, because it takes a while for the gluten to get out of your system. (Just read a book about all this yesterday, yikes.)
Don't eat the wheat (or rye, barley, triticale, or possibly oats, which don't have gluten but may be contaminated with wheat/gluten from the field or factory).
www.celiac.com has lists of ingredients and foods that do and don't have gluten in them. Note that gluten can also be present in some supplements, so you have to find out about the ones you're taking.
If you are just avoiding refined carbs but not gluten, that is simple. Don't eat sugar, flour, or anything made from grain, and you're all set. If you do, then count the number of grams of carbohydrates minus the grams of fiber you eat in a day, and keep it between 20g and about 90g (the amount that works is different for each person, so you have to experiment, but that's a ballpark). You will quickly see that a piece of whole wheat bread might use up half your carbs for the day, and a sandwich might use it all, so you learn to get your carbs mostly from green and salad-type vegetables.
Good luck finding healthy and happy food. I haven't completely achieved it yet, but I'm getting there.
-------------------- Don't forget to laugh! And when you're going through hell, keep going!
Bitten 5/25/2009 in Perry County, Indiana. Diagnosed by LLMD 12/2/2009. Posts: 756 | From Inside the tunnel | Registered: Jan 2010
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"I just learned that gluten can do damage, starting with the top of your small intestine so it's a long time before you realize it. The amount of gluten that can do it is very small.
If you flip a bun and then a burger with the same spatula, or spread peanut butter on regular bread and put the knife back in the jar and get a crumb in the peanut butter, those foods are contaminated with gluten and not safe for gluten-sensitive people to eat."
My husband is not gluten free, so I have two separate jars of Mayo for our use. It's one thing I didn't think about until about 6 months ago! OOPS!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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quote:Originally posted by nefferdun: In the beginning of my treatment I tried to eat only vegetables and meat. To get enough calories, I was eating way to much meat, which is toxic. My body has never smelled so horrible - and it wasn't die off.
Sounds like you were eating mostly lean meat. Were you getting enough fat in your diet ?
Low-carb should be high fat, not high protein.
Posts: 330 | From Colorado, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
If a person does not have a problem with gluten before Lyme, why do they suddenly develop a problem with lyme? I can readily understand sugar, which has no nutrition and causes yeast overgrowth as well as feeding the bacteria. But why whole grains? I believe the healthiest diet is vegetarian without anything processed.
Is there a connection between lyme and gluten that I am not getting?
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
For those who are new to eating gluten free, it is not as simple as it seems. It doesn't just mean bread and pasta are out. There are SO many commercial items that contain gluten. READ EVERY LABEL!
Soy sauce contains gluten. Some corn tortillas contain gluten. Every Campbells soup contains gluten. Lunchmeat (sometimes) contains gluten, as do salad dressings. When I first started eating GF, I was shocked by the foods I found it in! And restaurants are a high risk - you'd be amazed where they seem to sneak it in. And you will know when you've consumed even a small amount...
The best thing to do is look for packaging which specifically says they are gluten free. And research the company. Gluten free means it may contain a small amount of gluten - but companies that have a gluten free facility with no risk of cross contamination will proudly say so.
It takes a lot of time to be true GF, and works best with a lot of homemade GF cooking. Trader Joe's and Wegman's are great stores for GF people. Carol Fenster has some great GF cookbooks.
-------------------- June 2009: Lyme IGM 23 and 39 positive, Titer 1.12. September 2010: Rediagnosed with Lyme as well as Babesia coinfection. Posts: 27 | From Pennsylvania | Registered: Aug 2010
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posted
Neff, because gluten is so hard to digest. Breads today also have a lot more gluten as they did even ten years ago. I did suddenly have a problem with gluten.
Ninja, even with high fat, I still couldn't do low carb, everyone is different.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
If you ask me, it's fine in moderation. Whole grains are good for us! Unless you have food allergies or sensitivity, then that's another condition all together.
Don't make it more complicated than it has to be, is what I say. We have enough to keep up with as it is!
As per the "diet," it's not as much about WHAT you eat as much as it is WHEN you eat it, i.e., maintaining a stable blood sugar. When your blood sugar spikes (or when you go a long time without eating, which causes sugar to be released for your body), the candida pay attention and swarm and this can easily lead to yeast overgrowth. For these reasons simple sugars are always a "no" because they cause blood sugar spikes and aren't beneficial for the immune system. I say just eat like a diabetic!
Do a test. Eat a piece of bread by itself, then eat one with a regular meal say with an egg or ham sandwich (adequate protein), and notice the difference. You'll figure it out.
little olive
Posts: 512 | From USA | Registered: Sep 2010
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quote:Originally posted by sixgoofykids: Ninja, even with high fat, I still couldn't do low carb, everyone is different.
That may be true, but the bad smell is a sign that nefferdun was trying to do high protein.
Posts: 330 | From Colorado, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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quote:Originally posted by nefferdun: [QB] If a person does not have a problem with gluten before Lyme, why do they suddenly develop a problem with lyme?
Infections and/or viruses can trigger celiac disease.
Read this very informative article on celiac disease!
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