Found reasons for my stall - dairy intolerance

#1

Hi all, only been doing this WoE for a few weeks, but I had alarmingly started gaining weight. Not much (about 3 kg) but a steady trend.
I have done some eliminations and experimentation with various food and found some issues that seem to have affected me.
My experience might help someone else.

My calculated macros are fat - 110 gm, carbs -20 gm, protein - 61 gm.
Starting weight 77 kg, went up to 80 after losing about 2 kg water weight initially. I am a 61 yr old woman who used to have hypertension, T2D and some other stuff that is resolving.
Hoping this WoE will manage my severe depression, but so far I am feeling great :smiley:

I LOVE cheese but it caused me severe heartburn, so cut that out to see if it would help.
I still suffered severe heartburn even with no cheese, and weight did not change despite following my macros and eating 18/6.
I also noticed that my blood pressure was creeping up which concerned me.
I wondered if I was consuming too much protein and causing an insulin response which elevated BP.

I have previously had a DEXA scan which showed my lean body mass to be 45 kg, so I cut protein to 45 gm/day and eliminated all dairy products.
Weight started to drop.

I played around with re-introducing dairy in various forms (cream, full fat yogurt, butter, cheese) in only one form every couple of days.
Every time, with any dairy food, I got heartburn and it stopped my weight loss or rebounded it back up.
I have come to the conclusion that I am allergic to dairy, and the inflammatory response to that allergen was retaining weight.

As of today, 3 days off all dairy, I am back to 77.4 kgs and can see a big change in body shape - less abdominal fat and less bloating.

I have clarified some butter and made ghee, which does not seem to cause any reactions, so that is a great thing.
I have also tried using sheeps milk cheese - pecorino - with no reaction.
Will try goats milk cheese soon too.

Also, I have found that when I dropped my protein intake, my blood sugar levels the following morning are a whole point lower - from 5.5 to 4.5
Upped the protein and following day the morning levels are back up to mid 5 range.

Anyway, just my experience that might help some other person with a stall.
Maybe consider an inflammatory response to a food group as part of the reason.

cheers all

(Jay Patten) #2

Thats a great job you did, taking your diet to the next level!

#3

Very interesting.

What I would suggest is cutting it out for a period of time (months, maybe a year, then adding it back slowly)

I used to eat tons of eggs, then after my second child was born I could not tolerate eggs unless they were hard boiled or in baked goods (and even then but it was not as obvious), scrambled would go right through me. I did not eat eggs except for the very occassional hard boiled for about 10 years. Then I found I could eat egg beaters so I thought maybe it was some pathogen in eggs that pastuerization eliminates. I still would only eat them at home if I made them. Then I tried regular pasteurized eggs and those were ok. After a couple of years when my local supermarket was out of the pasteurized ones I tried organic. Worked out ok and now I have no problem even with raw eggs.

About 5 years ago I tried an elimination diet called the plan and the idea is certain foods trigger allergies in almost everyone and some are person specific. It was called the Plan by Lyn-Genet. It was interesting and I made it through 3 weeks of it. On the day I introduced the pasteurized eggs I was eating I had the classic inflammatory response. I was not surprised. Now I feel fine when I eat eggs so I continue. I have thought I trying to eliminate them or dairy to help my stall but honestly I would have nothing left to eat since I do not eat pork.

It is nice that you found what works

#4

Thanks Saphire for sharing your experience.
I seriously hope I dont develop an egg allergy! I have my own free range chooks at home and just love their eggs.
I eat heaps!!
It is early days yet with the dairy, but I will be leaving it quite a while before trying to re-introduce it.
Maybe when a lot of inflammation has settled down I may be able to tolerate it again.
cheers

(Stacy) #5

I needed to see this today. I previously cut dairy but I don’t think I did it for long enough. I’m in a lengthy stall, and have tried almost everything. Currently taking ACV before meals (which I quite like), and have recently increased fats trying to shake up my system and maybe help fix my insulin response. Today I weighed and am up 6lbs! since mid Feb.

It’s disappointing, and yet I know I am getting closer to the piece of the puzzle that will help me. I plan to start Easter Monday dairy free and carry it through for a month to see what happens. Seeing you break your stall in this way is encouraging for me! So thanks for sharing!

(Liz ) #6

This is about where I am at. I’ve decided to try Dairy Free April (which will likely lead to dairy free May, June, etc lol oh well) so thanks for the details, very helpful!

(KCKO, KCFO) #7

Wow thanks for sharing your experience. Good results too.

#8

Thanks Stacey, Liz and Collaroygal.
I am so pleased I may have given you a bit of a tip to help with your own journey.
And what a journey it is, eh ladies!!!

Today, I have bounced back up a bit (only 400 gm so it could be totally normal) but what I did differently yesterday was I had some berries.
I have a beautiful veggie patch and berry garden and I froze a lot of raspberries, mulberries and strawberries over summer. I just love them, but have to limit myself.
I had 100 gm berries with some coconut yoghurt yesterday as a treat, and today weight is up and ketones are down.

I will seriously grumble and whinge if I have to give up my berries but it is looking a bit grim for the short term.
This is a constant journey of discovery about our bodies, but seeing as how I thrashed and punished the poor thing for 61 years, I do have to give her a bit of time to rectify that damage.

KCKO xxx

(Jen) #9

I think I’m going to join you and @mmm_bacon on Dairy Free April! REALLY not happy about it (I reallllly love cheese), but I’m getting desperate to break this 3-month stall and this is one thing I haven’t tried yet. Would love to share daily meal ideas if you ladies feel like it.

(Stacy) #10

Sure I’m in for that!

#11

I’m in for dairy free April! My stall has been too long. If I can give up bread and beer, I can do anything!!
I will miss you hwc but, I will miss cheese most of all.

(Liz ) #12

Started a thread if folks want to do dairy free as a group!

Cc: @Swickimik

(Miss E) #13

If you’ve been okay with the clarified butter and ghee, my guess is it’s either the preservatives/thickeners that are causing the allergy or just the lactose itself. You may be able to try a lactose free milk or cheese and see if that gives you a similar response.

#14

Hello Eva,
I think it is actually the casein protein in the milk causing the problem.
Lactose should not cause a true allergy as it is not a protein - it may well cause a reaction, but not an allergy.
Clarified butter should not contain anything but the fat component, as it removes all the remaining protein and lactose.
In Australia, we are able to buy dairy products without any preservatives or thickeners, and they are certainly the ones I looked for.
I also made my own yoghurt from fresh milk, so no additives there either.
Lactose-free milk also causes the same reaction.
Sadly, I think it is the protein which rules out anything but pure milk fat, which fit with my experimentation.
Thanks for your thoughts though.

(Miss E) #15

I have heard of keto reversing allergies in the long term so hopefully that happens.

I’m in Australia as well :slight_smile:

#16

Lucky , aren’t we xxx

(tulsanurse1) #17

If you’re still going to do this in April, I will do it with you :grin:

(Liz ) #18

Check a few posts up to see my link to a new thread I a made about trying this and join us!