<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Original Message: Just wondering about the list members with multiple food sensitivities. I just discovered a few months ago that gluten was a problem for me. Closed sinuses, migraines, muscle aches. Then milk protein started giving me the same reactions. Now soy seems to be bothering me. How many of you guys out there are following a similar pattern? Is this common? Will I ever be able to reintroduce dairy or soy? What's next? What foods are least allergenic? I was just getting used to soy replacing dairy and now this. Any suggestions for good rice based products? I really miss creamer in my coffee. PART I: SUMMARY I'm experiencing the same thing. I've cut way back on diary products. Coffee and tea seem to cause a gout-like reaction, so I try to stay away from them. Recently, I stopped eating peanuts. That seemed to dry up my sinuses a lot. However, the problem has started back up in the past several days. I cooked something that contains cashews so now I'm wondering if I need to stop all nuts. Read www.paleodiet.com Also, get the book NEANDERTHIN. I got it at Amazon. After I got on paleo, my arthritis, everything, went away. I am sensitive to gluten, corn, soy and dairy. I primarily replace milk with coconut milk. While my gut is readjusting I am also careful about the vegetables and fruit I eat. I use nondairy creamer in my coffee. If you don't have a problem with corn, you might look into it! (ie, like Cremora or CoffeeMate). And, yes, dairy and soy are right up there with gluten! You might be able to add cheese back in after your stomach settles down with GF eating. I can really identify with the problem you are having. It seems that I have become more and more sensitive to foods -- soy and dairy are huge ones for me. I used to eat tofu before I developed celiac disease and loved it. Also loved yogurt, but even that causes gastro problems now. I would love to see the responses you received from other people on the list. I just saw a doctor who is into natural healing methods and he suggested healing the leaky gut problem (which is what he thinks is causing the reaction to foods) with HCL with pepsin. He said to take one 10 grain capsule (not tablet) with a meal and see if it helps. If it doesn't bother your stomach, you increase it to 2 with each meal. After you've been on it awhile, he said to up it to 4. If you go to a good health food store they will know what HCL with pepsin is. In reply to your questions on the celiac newsletter. I have had food sensitivities for about 15 years, along with the chemical sensitivities. The one thing that I have learned over the years-- everyone is different and their sensitivities follow different patterns. I finally discovered that foods that really bothered me I could gradually reintroduce at a later date. I stayed off corn for about a year and now can eat it. The time interval differs with each food. Some foods I have never regained, like lettuce. It is important to rotate your foods every four days.m This often allows your body clear out the culprits. If you don`t know about the rotation diet, there are many books about it. I know what you mean about multiple sensitivities. Gluten and dairy (fat and lactose) are my Big Bad Evil substances, but soy and I don't get along well in large amounts either. Corn is suspicious for me, too. I put gf vanilla extract in coffee to smooth it out. I don't know how that would substitute for creamer (which I never liked, personally) but it does have a similar mellowing function. Perhaps syrups in place of sugar (if you're a sugar person) would help. Rice is good. I've also had good luck using potato, sweet potato, and winter squash as the basis of a meal. Pureed potato (in stock, lots of onion optional) or pumpkin makes a good cream soup base). Lentils are mild enough to use as a pilaf-type-thing alone. I've heard (frustrating) that the more you can vary the less likely you are to keep developing sensitivities. Most celiacs are lactose intolerant untill they get the gut well. The villi in the small intestine are where the lactase that allows us to digest lactose is produced. When those villi are damaged as in celiac, then we cannot produce the lactase and hence cannot digest lactose. In fact, the lactose will further damage the gut just as gluten will. After a year or two, many celiacs can reintroduce lactose, if they don't overdo it. If your gut is damaged to point that you have "leaky gut" syndrome, then it allows minute particles of whatever you eat to escape into the bloodstream, hence causing new allergies. Generally this happens with foods that you eat often. Sometimes after avoiding that food for a year or more while the gut heals, you can reintroduce it again, but not in large quantities. Again, soy can also damage the villi in the small intestine just as gluten and lactose can. Those are the only three substances that will do such damage. I too had problems with lactose (at least thought I did - had problems with everything several months ago!). I had always drunk coffee with milk, but eliminated it completely and only drank black coffee. After I started feeling a little better I went for a lactose test, early this past summer. The result was negative! I couldn't believe it. So, I slowly reintroduced milk products into my diet (cheese, ice cream, etc), but never went back to milk in my coffee! Guess I got so used to it, and it actually tastes better to me now! Soy I've been afraid to reintroduce. I never used many soy products in my diet, except for soy sauce, so haven't missed it terribly. I think when your system is so damaged it's extra sensitive. A simple diet with foods that are easy to digest is the way to go in the beginning (and lactose seems to be a problem with many celiacs). I have been on GF diet since July 1998 and have lactose intolerance too. my main complains were about itchy skin problems and even with the diet they did not dissapear. so I had more food allergy tests done and find out that I have been also allergic to soy lecithin and citric acid . I dont eat anything premixed or made and cook my own from fresh fruits and vegetables and plain meat. Its hard but it helps for healing faster. I take digestive enzyms and zrytec syrup.They are the must for my cure... The same thing happened to me. It broke my heart to realize once I eliminated gluten that soy was giving me the same reaction. I am, however, thrilled with Blue Diamond's Breeze. It's almond milk. I also can no longer eat cinnamon. I find that in addition to gluten I have difficulty with soy, tree nuts and the almond family of fruits (peaches, plums, etc.), watermelon, and kiwi. This summer, after 2 years in becoming more and more gluten free, I found that I can have the nuts and fruits in small amounts if they are cooked and skinned (if at all possible). I have not tried the soy yet as the reaction is different. I am on this diet for 25 yrs and I seem to be very sensitive to other foods as well. I have been allergic to milk since I was in my 20s and never have been able to go back to having diary products. My main symptom is like gluten, diarrhea and a lot of gas and spasms. I also had bone pain when I was young and never knew what it was from. I use DariFree as a milk substitute in coffee, I find it too sweet to use in cereal. It is made from potatoes. I find I can eat soy products. I think it is easier to say what most people are allergic to than not. I cannot eat citrus, vinegar or anything that is fermented or mushrooms because of the mold allergy. Lots of foods have hidden ingredients. Eggs are a very allergic food as well as shell fish and some fish. Food dye is an allergen as well as msg and other additives and food dyes. PART II WILL SOON FOLLOW.