Powerlifting and Gluten Allergy and/or Lactose Intolerance

[tank]

I was recently told by my doc that I may be lactose intolerant and/or have a gluten allergy. We don't know because I'm deployed and can't get tested for allergies out here. I could be have a Gluten allergy called Celiac's Desease, I could be lactose intolerant, I could be both, or I could have neither! So, he told me to avoid milk and most carbs (due to the near omni-present Gluten ingredient) until I get back to the states and get allergy testing done.

That being said, anyone know good ways I can still get those calories and energy? I was drinking a lot of milk with every meal and eating a lot of carbs to get bigger while powerlifting, so I don't really know the BEST things I can do to compensate. Any and all personal tips, advice, experiences welcome! Thanks guys.

[BendtheBar]

First thing I want to mention is the "3 day crash." You might feel fuzzy the first 3 days away from grain-based carbs. Hang in there, it gets better.

My best advice is to attack fat. It's real easy on a limited carb diet to undereat fat. I did this and it left me very weak. Here are some tips:

--Lean meat is not necessarily your friend. Don't shy away from the high fat meats.
--Butter is very healthy. Add it to veggies or with meats when possible.
--Olive oil is another great choice. Vinegar and olive oil dressing for your salads will add calories and fats.
--Almonds, nuts and seeds. Snack on them! Calories and fats.
--Eat your fruits and veggies. You need as muich good nutrition as possible.
--If you aren't doing strict Paleo, which you aren't, legumes might be ok. Some people with Celiacs seem to be bothered by legumes. Read this =>

Celiac and Legumes

--Remember that many dairy products have little to no lactose. Most cheeses, sour cream, etc. are almost all fat and protein. You may be able to eat these en masse.

--Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!
--Pork rinds are a great snack choice at night.
--Don't avoid skin and other organ meat if you like it.

The first 3 days on lower carbs I highly recommend you monitor your calories to make sure you are eating plenty. The real key to a satisfying low-grain based carb diet is satiety...eat when you are hungry without limitations. Snack when you feel like snacking.

[tank]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

First thing I want to mention is the "3 day crash." You might feel fuzzy the first 3 days away from grain-based carbs. Hang in there, it gets better.

My best advice is to attack fat. It's real easy on a limited carb diet to undereat fat. I did this and it left me very weak. Here are some tips:

--Lean meat is not necessarily your friend. Don't shy away from the high fat meats.
--Butter is very healthy. Add it to veggies or with meats when possible.
--Olive oil is another great choice. Vinegar and olive oil dressing for your salads will add calories and fats.
--Almonds, nuts and seeds. Snack on them! Calories and fats.
--Eat your fruits and veggies. You need as muich good nutrition as possible.
--If you aren't doing strict Paleo, which you aren't, legumes might be ok. Some people with Celiacs seem to be bothered by legumes. Read this =>

Celiac and Legumes

--Remember that many dairy products have little to no lactose. Most cheeses, sour cream, etc. are almost all fat and protein. You may be able to eat these en masse.

--Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!
--Pork rinds are a great snack choice at night.
--Don't avoid skin and other organ meat if you like it.

The first 3 days on lower carbs I highly recommend you monitor your calories to make sure you are eating plenty. The real key to a satisfying low-grain based carb diet is satiety...eat when you are hungry without limitations. Snack when you feel like snacking.

Thanks a lot for the insight! I'll read that link, and I'm going to start implementing these things asap.

[BendtheBar]

I asked a couple more guys to chime in

[Squatter]

Hi Tank!! I have Celiac Disease. Firstly, carbs are not the enemy. Gluten is. If you avoid anything derived from wheat, rye, and barley, you will be good to go. To be 100% safe, you can go completely grain free. However, grains like Quinoa and buckwheat are gluten-free, as well as rice and corn of course. Oats are gluten-free, but are always contaminated in the mill. You must buy guaranteed uncontaminated oats. I can supply a link if you like.

The biggest concern with situations where you do not make your own meals, is cross contamination. For example, french fries are gluten free, but if they are deep fried in a fryer that breaded chicken fingers have been fried in, the fries are not gluten free anymore. Even if a steak is cooked on a grill where garlic toast has been on, the steak is no longer gluten free.

As I mentioned before, carbs are not a problem. Eat all the veggies, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, etc you want.

And lastly, going gluten-free will almost always make you lactose tolerant. Yep, even if you are lactose intolerant, going gluten free will reverse that.

Gluten is a real nasty substance that looks like glue, and really is not fit for human consumption. In many ways, Celiac Disease is a blessing. It has been for me.

Please feel free to ask me any more questions.

[tank]

how did you discover you add celiacs? i'm not sure if my symptoms are from gluten or milk.

[Wlfdg]

Hey Tank, First and foremost, Thank you for your service!
I'm completely dairy and gluten intolerant. I eat a very strict, you might even say Spartan Paleo diet.

To add to what BtB posted.
Great carb source is sweet potatoes.
To bump up you kcal intake and get some much needed MCT's add in plenty of coconut products.
Don't be afraid of saturated fat.

Pretty typical day of eating for me is
Bfast - 1/4lb of bacon or 1/2lb of ground turkey, beef or pork, 8 whole eggs cooked in tallow, coconut oil or bacon fat, roasted sweet potato, 1 piece of fruit, 1 - 1/2 avocado
black coffee

pre-train - 1 egg boiled, banana, green tea, 1-2ozs. 88% or darker chocolate

Lunch - fruit, 1.25 - 1.5 lbs of meat or fish, 10ozs, veggies cooked in meat fat or coconut oil

Dinner - 1.5lbs. of meat or fish, 10-12ozs. of veggies cooked in animal fat.

I have no problem eating 3,000 - 5,000+ kcals a day

[tank]

Originally Posted by Wlfdg

Hey Tank, First and foremost, Thank you for your service!
I'm completely dairy and gluten intolerant. I eat a very strict, you might even say Spartan Paleo diet.

To add to what BtB posted.
Great carb source is sweet potatoes.
To bump up you kcal intake and get some much needed MCT's add in plenty of coconut products.
Don't be afraid of saturated fat.

Pretty typical day of eating for me is
Bfast - 1/4lb of bacon or 1/2lb of ground turkey, beef or pork, 8 whole eggs cooked in tallow, coconut oil or bacon fat, roasted sweet potato, 1 piece of fruit, 1 - 1/2 avocado
black coffee

pre-train - 1 egg boiled, banana, green tea, 1-2ozs. 88% or darker chocolate

Lunch - fruit, 1.25 - 1.5 lbs of meat or fish, 10ozs, veggies cooked in meat fat or coconut oil

Dinner - 1.5lbs. of meat or fish, 10-12ozs. of veggies cooked in animal fat.

I have no problem eating 3,000 - 5,000+ kcals a day

np. thank you for sharing your experience!

[Squatter]

Originally Posted by tank

how did you discover you add celiacs? i'm not sure if my symptoms are from gluten or milk.

I started to have issues with very loose or pure liquid bowel movements on a regular basis. At first, I thought it was a stomach flu. I went to my Family Doc and she suspected Celiac. At that time, I said I had Celiac when I was a kid. She said "what? I told her it went away. She had a good laugh with that. It didn't go away, even tho I had no symptoms for as long as I can remember. Celiac can be a nasty disease in that respect - destroying my intestines and I didn't even know it.

Anyway, my Doc did a blood test which came back positive. To confirm it, I had a tissue sample taken from my intestine. It's a quick day surgery thing.

[tank]

Originally Posted by Squatter

I started to have issues with very loose or pure liquid bowel movements on a regular basis. At first, I thought it was a stomach flu. I went to my Family Doc and she suspected Celiac. At that time, I said I had Celiac when I was a kid. She said "what? I told her it went away. She had a good laugh with that. It didn't go away, even tho I had no symptoms for as long as I can remember. Celiac can be a nasty disease in that respect - destroying my intestines and I didn't even know it.

Anyway, my Doc did a blood test which came back positive. To confirm it, I had a tissue sample taken from my intestine. It's a quick day surgery thing.

thanks for the information. i'm starting to think what i'm dealing with is a lactose intolerance, but i'm continuing to experiment. i ate wheat with each meal today, and was fine all day, but a couple of hours ago i had one of those little cans of coffee energy drink in which milk was the 2nd main ingredient, and lo-and-behold my guts are tore up from the floor up. i know that good takes a long time to digest, but it seemed like way too much of a coincidence that it happened at that time combined with the fact that i avoided milk all day and had no issues, when on a normal day drinking a ton of milk i would have been in the bathroom with serious "issues" throughout the day.

all of this stemmed from my attempt at incorporating GOMAD diet, but at least it made apparent a deficiency of which i had no clue so now i can avoid it.