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Dear Friends,
Recently I posted a request for thoughts on why I had a strong painful
reaction apparently from eating some Swiss cheese from a deli. Thank you so
much to all who responded!

I know some others struggle with dairy and lactose intolerances, so this may
be useful information. Unfortunately, once again, there are no clear cut
answers, except that cheese can cause misery. One person said her research
revealed Swiss cheese may be made with wheat to aid in fermentation, but she
found a couple other cheeses to be gf. I called the deli. The clerk read off
the ingredients to me, which sounded fine but, as we know, that could be
misleading. When I'm feeling brave, I could try one of those gf cheeses
recommended below.

According to my mail, some people build or rebuild a tolerance to cheese and
other dairy by starting with very small quantities and adding gradually. This
reminds me of a movie in which someone slowly built a tolerance to arsenic so
he could attempt to get away with murder. In other words, is building a
tolerance to something your body doesn't want a good thing? I look at my
peeling finger nails and think it might not be a bad idea to get calcium from
tastey cheese. Then again, there are always kale and brocoli and calcium
pills. Yum!

I did buy a tofu cookbook, so I'll be looking for recipes for things mentioned
in the last post below. Thanks again to everyone for the excellent responses!

Mara

___________
3 persons said the reaction was to the dairy.
___________
2 persons thought it could be cross-contamination from the slicer at the deli,
and one suggested trying cheese from a pure source.
___________
One person recommended "the book Eating For Your Four Blood Types  by DR
D`Adamo at the library. This might be something in addition to a Celiac
reaction."
___________
One person reacts similarly to lactose. Her doctor recommended building
tolerance by introducing 1/4  c. of milk for a few days and slowly increasing
it. Now she can consume what she wants, but, if she stops consuming it for a
while she would react again.
___________
Lactose Intolerance [for the writer] takes about 2 hours. If the attack took
24 hours it was probably some thing else. [A reaction to dairy usually hits me
in a couple of hours, too! That's why I started to suspect gluten.]
___________
I avoid all dairy due to mild intolerance, but swiss cheese makes me
double over in terrible cramps as you described.  I have never learned why
it is worse than other cheeses, but I avoid it completely!
___________
Mine [reaction to lactose] cleared up after 18 months GF.  However, I didn't
start by consuming 1 1/2 slices of cheese!  I started slowly, like a bit of
only natural, not processed cheese. And worked my way back from there.
intoducing a little at a time.  At first the "nautral" cheeses caused some
flatulence, but as I progressed it went away.  It was at least a year after
natural cheeses didn't bother me before I ventured the same tecnique using
milk.  TOday I eat any dairy.  No problemo!
___________
I am a cheese lover and have researched the gluten connection.  Wheat is
used in cheese to aid the fermentation process and also as a binder.  I
have found a couple of cheeses that are gluten free.  One is Tillamook
Cheese, all flavors and another is Cabot Cheese, all flavors,  these come
in a small loaf and can be found at places like Costco, Sams Club and
Waremart/Cub Foods.   For Italian type cheeses there is Stella, Frigo and
their subsidiaries  Gardenia, Dragone etc.  All of these have free 800 #'s
(which I don't have handy at the moment and/ or websites. I have
personally contacted these companies and they are super nice and will send
you lists of their gf products.   Stella is in Wisc and Cabot is in Maine,
and you just call 800 555 1212 for the toll free #.   I have not actually
spoken to Tillamook I don't think but got their name from the CSA  GF
Consumer Guide,  which is a godsend when shopping.

A wonderful benefitof the wheat free cheeses is they do not mold like other
cheeses.  I can keep them for weeks and months with no molding.  Actually
the wheat is used in Bleu cheese to promote the blue mold that gives it's
name  so stay away from any cheese that has veins running through it.
Hope this helps.  For years I suffered from diarrhea when I ate cheese now
I eat it all the time with no reaction.  I am a happy woman!
___________
I don't know about gluten in Swiss cheese but I can tell you that if you are
dairy-intolerant connected to the CD, as I am, you will have a ferocious
reaction to any and all dairy products. I have also been GF for about two
years and my expereince is that the longer you are GF, the worse the reaction
not only to gluten but also to dairy (and in my case, eggs and corn too. Ugh!)
Luckily I have no problem with soy, chocolate, coffee, rice, potatoes, all
meats and fish, and some other foods that make life worthwhile. If you don't
have a soy reaction, I would suggest that you get a good tofu cookbook; I have
just discovered that I can have all sorts of goodies like cheesecake, quiche,
cakes and cookies and lots of other delicious foods made with no eggs or
dairy.