Advice, going temporarily gluten and lactose free

A friend asked for my advice, on behalf of her husband who has started experiencing symptoms of a very bad stomach. The doctors have said IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, which in my experience is what they say when they don’t know what’s wrong with the stomach. His symptoms are pains every time he eats, bloating, gas, constipation, neck pain, headaches, fatigue and sleeping problems.

What does headache and fatigue got to do with the stomach you may ask. The answer is, a lot. Your stomach is literally the centre of your body, when it is out of sorts, you’re whole body is out of sorts. Headaches, muscular pains and joint pain are very common symptoms of a damaged stomach.

The symptoms set on after a cure of antibiotics. We know antibiotics kill off the good bacteria in our stomachs, those that protect us from intestinal damage so my initial thought is that his stomach is irritated, maybe slightly inflamed, and he needs to let this heal. He should naturally keep seeing his doctor, in order to rule out anything more serious but it is easy enough to try to eliminate a few foods for a while and see if it improves. I say easy enough, when you don’t know what the alternatives are it isn’t that easy, but in part that is what this blog is all about, informing people about the alternatives.

My advice is to start by avoiding lactose and gluten for a while. They are common food intolerances and often aggravate each other. I do not think he will have to avoid them for the rest of his life, however a period of strict diet will certainly allow his stomach to recover and he is likely to find he can go back to his usual diet afterwards. He normally eats a lot of bread, salads, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish and pasta. All in all a very healthy diet!

So no milk, yoghurt, cream, creme fraiche, cheese, or other things containing milk products for a while. And no wheat, barley, rye, bread or pasta either. I would suggest doing this for 4 weeks and see if there is a difference. If the stomach is still bad it’s likely that he reacts to something else and needs to try to work out what this might be. If the stomach is feeling better I would continue with this for 3 months and then start re-introducing lactose and gluten in the diet. He will know immediately if he still reacts and that he’ll have to avoid them for longer.

He should take a good multivitamin tablet to ensure he gets all the necessary nutrients, and it may be worthwhile investing in some lactose free digestive enzymes, Holland and Barrett do a good one.

So, what to eat instead of...

...bread? - I personally haven’t found a good alternative to bread. Most gluten free breads you can buy in the supermarket have so much crap in them that I don’t feel it’s worth the hassle. When I am absolutely dying for something bread-like, I make “pancakes” with pureed vegetables, nut milk, eggs, gluten free flour mix and baking powder. I also snack a lot on rice cakes or oat cakes, with either hummus or peanut butter. You can also eat taco shells and tortilla chips.

...pasta?  – here you have lots of options. There is a number of gluten free pastas on offer so try them and see what you think. Rice noodles are good. You have to go to a more specialised store to find noodles made of buckwheat, but have no wheat in them. The buckwheat noodles at the supermarket normally aren’t wheat free. Note, buckwheat has no gluten; it is a grain and not related to wheat at all. And you can by buckwheat groats and cook, one part buckwheat to just over two parts water, bring to a boil and then simmer on low heat until water is absorbed. You cook quinoa and millet in the same way. Have a look under the tab Favourite Foods for more information on these grains. You can also eat rice, basmati, jasmine, arborio, brown, red, wild etc...

...cereal? – it can be hard to find ones without gluten but cornflakes are normally gluten free. And serve cereal on juice instead of milk for a lactose free version. Orange juice with banana slices and puffed rice is a common weekend breakfast for me.

...milk products? – There are a number of alternatives to milk you can buy; rice milk, almond milk, oat milk and soya milk. I would advice not introducing soya milk into the diet right now but stick to one of the others, as soya is also a common food to be intolerant to. You can make your own nut milk and my favourite is one made of cashews. After that it is a question of getting used to not having cream, cheese etc. Sauces based on tomatoes or just stock instead of cream. I have recently taken to adding a good glug of olive oil to any sauce I make, it really enhances the flavour. That leads me onto oils, which is what you need to be cooking with instead of butter or margarine. Remember, whey is a derivative from milk, not lactose free and it’s often added to margarine. When cooking something in the oven, add some chopped seeds and nuts on top instead of cheese.

...baked goods – well, no reason why you can’t bake. Just don’t use wheat flour. I prefer to grind nuts and use instead of flour, and to use coconut oil instead of butter. Dried fruits, preferably organic, are also a great alternative if you just want something sweet. Here is an example of a fruit based cake.

Well, there you have it, I hope this helps. Keep up the fruit, vegetables and protein part of your diet and avoid the bread, pasta and any dairy. Have falafel, hummus and salad but skip the pita bread. Make a tomato based sauce and serve it with rice instead of pasta. Hard boiled eggs make for an excellent breakfast. With a little bit of planning and a lot of reading ingredient lists it can actually be relatively simple.

Remember, you are probably not facing an entire life of restricted diet but rather a period of being strict so your gut can heal. And I would love to hear your feedback!