On Wed, 21 Jan 1998, John C. Pavao wrote:

> For instance, anyone ever cheat and eat a piece of cheese and get these
> symptoms?  I'm guessing not too many.  But I'll bet hot dogs make most of
> us very sick these days.  Why?  Read the ingredients.  They're half grain,
> some of them.

John, I find that if I cheat and eat something like bread I
indeed feel bloated and cramped for several hours -- up to a day.
But a small bit of bread, such as a salad crouton, doesn't affect
me in any overt way.  Hot dogs don't bother me a bit, perhaps
because the amount of grain is so small (few brands have more
than about 2g of carb per link).  Legumes also cause no problem
at all.  Cheese is okay in small amounts, but anything more seems
to cause constipation.  Feta cheese seems okay in any amount.

I'm not sure whether any of this indicates gluten intolerance.
It seems to be true that if you start eating a food that you have
not been eating for some time, it will cause distress for a
while, possibly because you are lacking enough of the right
enzymes to deal with it.  I know vegetarians who experience acute
distress when they eat some meat, but I would hardly call them
meat intolerant.

Todd Moody
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