Dietary changes, need advice

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I have to change my diet according to my doctor. This means I can NOT eat any of the following for the next 3-4 months:
soda
dairy products (milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt)</p>

<p>Substitutes: Ice Tea/Lemonade for the soda, and for dairy products basically soy products (or tofu).</p>

<p>Now I know that’s not a huge list at all but I don’t eat meat. Once he told me that I stood there thinking for one minute and right there and then I realized just how many dairy products I consume.</p>

<p>My eating habits are different while at school then when I’m at home. At school, I always drink soda (on a few occasions, orange juice). I always eat ice cream every time I visit the cafeteria. If I get a sandwich at the cafeteria, grill, or deli, it’s going to have cheese guaranteed. I do get quesadillas and that also has cheese. For breakfast I’ll usually have egg/cheese on a roll or scrambled eggs with cheese/tomato/green peppers. When I order from outside it’s usually to get baked ziti with eggplant parm or sometimes to get some chinese food (shrimp fried rice).</p>

<p>School is ending though so I’ll go back to drinking orange juice mostly (no soda), no more ice cream, no more sandwiches at night, no more quesadillas, no more baked ziti w/ eggplant parm. However I consume a lot of milk because of cereal. No matter whether I’m at school or home when I go out of campus or my home once a week, I usually stop by a pizzeria to get a regular slice with some garlic knots.</p>

<p>This is driving me nuts already. I am not going to be using substitute products. I either eat what I normally eat or I don’t eat it at all. It’s insane that I have to change my diet. Most people joke around that I’m thin enough as it is and now I’m supposed to drop even more food?</p>

<p>I’m afraid I’m going be having a lot chinese food this summer. However if I go back to summer camp, it’ll be even worse in terms of eating. Because whenever take out orders are made, they are usually for pies of pizza. Rarely, chinese food.</p>

<p>I’m starving right now because I had to miss dinner. And while I may have been able to get pizza on my way back from the doctor, I couldn’t. And right now I could go to the grill, but I can’t get a grilled cheese sandwich or cheese quesadilla. And I can’t order from outside because I can’t get baked ziti w/ eggplant parm.</p>

<p>I maanged to somehow gain like 20 lbs this school yr. I feel like I’m going to lose all that by the end of the summer.</p>

<p>I honestly don’t know what to do. This is all because of that damn lyme disease and the anti-biotics I received. So one problem is cured and another problem begins.</p>

<p>How is a vegetarian supposed to go on a freaking diet?</p>

2

<p>You can order bean burritos and ask them to hold the cheese. You can make friends with tempeh and seitan and all those other textured proteins. You might be able to get a pizza where you ask them to leave the cheese off a few slices. I’ve seen pizza with soy cheese in the frozen section - I have no idea if it’s any good, but it might be worth trying. Some of the other ethnic cuisines might be worth exploring. Lots of good Indian vegetarian dishes. Hummus and stuffed grape leaves I think would be okay too.</p>

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<p>Have you thought about visiting a nutritionist? Or talking to friends who are lactose-intolerant? I’m sure both could be valuable resources.</p>

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<p>One of the most important things will be to find a protein source to replace the milk in your diet. I’m not a vegetarian, so I can’t comment on that, but I am allergic to milk and have to avoid all milk products. If you know anyone who is vegan, ask for their advice and then add eggs in where you see fit. I see that you eat shrimp fried rice, so consider temporarily adding more seafood products into your diet.</p>

<p>If you must absolutely avoid all milk products and traces of milk you’re going to have to be very proactive about reading labels and asking for allergy information when you eat out. Many chain restaurants have allergy information available online, or ask at your favorite places if they can help you find a milk-free dish. Take the time and effort to educate yourself about what does and does not contain milk.</p>

<p>You’re going to have a very hard time if you don’t accept a few milk substitutes. Your time will also be easier if you can cook for yourself most of the time. Try soymilk for your cereal (Silk brand seems to be the most palatable to people who are used to millk) or switch to instant oatmeal made with water. There are milk-free margarines, chocolates, yogurts, frozen treats, cheeses, etc. The milk-free cheese will be different than you are used to, and I expect you won’t like it. </p>

<p>Suggestions for what you CAN eat based off of your description of what you eat above:
Substitute sorbet for the ice cream
Get a sandwich without cheese - hummus, grilled veggies, egg salad
Substitute fajitas or burritos for the quesadillas
For breakfast sandwiches, try adding tomato slices or salsa to the egg instead of the cheese
For scrambled eggs, substitute water or soymilk for milk
Chinese food is usually a safe option for milk-free meals, and find a milk-free marinara sauce so you can still enjoy baked ziti - just skip the parm on the eggplant</p>

<p>PM me if you want any suggestions for milk-free foods or recipes to try (I have a big sweet tooth, so I’ve found quite a few good dessert recipes)</p>

<p>Edited to add: You will have a much easier time if you focus on what you CAN eat instead of what you CANNOT eat. It’s hard to shift to that perspective, but it does make a big difference…</p>

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<p>Sounds like you are also having a case of diabetes II and high cholesterol /triglycerides. Becareful on the OJ because it is full of sugars and citric acid that can be as bad as sodas. A glass of OJ will put me into a diabetes ride faster than a cola.</p>

<p>I make my own kiefer yogurts using nonfat milk and Spenda (sometimes a use a little veg oil to mimic whole milk yogurt)</p>

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<p>Sounds rough. My few suggestions, based on what you’ve written: when friends order a pizza, join in but give special instructions: mushrooms, green peppers, onions and cheese, but “put all the vegetables on one half of the pie, and all the cheese on the other half.” </p>

<p>OR simpler: "one pizza: one half = mushroom, other half = cheese. </p>

<p>Also explore fish, even breaded fish fillet sandwiches. In your dorm room, stock up on canned tuna fish and just eat a can when you’re hungry. It’s also sold in plastic bags now, vacuum sealed, which is less messy and smelly than the cans.</p>

<p>Try adding a lot of grains to vegetable soups, for example: Italian wedding soup (meatless) has lots of pasta in it; or Jewish barley/mushroom soup.</p>

<p>Indian food has lots of vegetarian options, so there look for the dishes with tofu in them, or chickpeas.</p>

<p>Baked potatoes will fill you up; just ask the cafeteria staff for 2 plain potatoes and put it in the microwave. Push “potato” or maybe poke with a fork and then bake it for 8 minutes or so. </p>

<p>Peanut butter and bananas have lots of calories. Can you get a banana smoothie instead of iced tea? (since you’re looking for calories)</p>

<p>Middle Eastern food is filling, too: pita bread with hummus (chick-pea spread) or pita with baba ganooj (eggplant spread).</p>

<p>If you mix brown rice with any kind of beans, together they form a protein. The sum is greater than the parts. So Mexican beans and rice will help supply you with proteins, even without any cheese.</p>

<p>For dessert, without icecream, you could go for sherbet, sorbet, or FRUIT PIE.</p>

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<p>Hi BP,
If you go to the health food aisle of a large supermarket chain (or, even better, a health food store) you’ll find tons of substitutions for milk. Not just soy milk, but almond milk (some people like this better than soy), rice milk, etc. Sometimes a vanilla (or chocolate) flavor (they come in these varieties) can make it much more palatable.</p>

<p>There are also veggie substitutes for sliced and other types of cheese.</p>

<p>To substitute for icecream – check out a Whole Foods or other health-type store. You’ll find Tofutti (soy icecream substitute) which is very good, as well as other non-dairy icecream substitutes.</p>

<p>If you go to a small, privately-owned health food store, sometimes you can just tell the proprietor your situation (no dairy, these are my favorite foods which I want to replicate, I’m not trying to lose weight, etc. etc.) and they might be able to steer you to exactly what would be most useful for you.</p>

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<p>I love P3T’s suggestions.</p>

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<p>BP–reread your post–my son gave up dairy a few months ago to (helped his skin a ton). He did the same thing – didn’t substitute, just gave up the 3-4 (!) bowls of cereal a day, dishes of icecream almost every night. Amazingly, he really did fine. He said he’d rather not have a substitute because it reminded him of what he was missing. Just as encouragement–he really adjusted & has kept it up for months & months. We keep all that stuff (cererals & milk, icecream (for the most part)) out of the house. That helps a lot.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the responses thus far. I’m going to try to respond to each of them as best as possible.</p>

<p>

I only order a lot when I’m at school because of all the take-out restaurants nearby. I wouldn’t be able to get bean burritos delievered when i’m home or walk to any place that makes em around where i live. what are textured proteins? tempeh? seitan? i’ve heard soy cheese is pretty bad, and around where i live i’ll be very hardpressed to find any place that will use soy cheese (i live in new york city). I don’t mind trying different foods. I’ve done that quite a bit here at my school because of all the different dishes they’ll serve in one week. Just one thing to note, while I’m vegetarian in that I don’t eat meats except fish, I’m not all that big on vegetables. For example, if I get a dish which contains a lot of vegetables I will probably end up leaving most of them on the side. Some vegetables aren’t all that good here (in the school). What are hummus and stuffed grape leaves?</p>

<p>Thanks for the recommendations thus far. I haven’t been exposed to many different dishes. I don’t mind trying them, but just curious as to what they contain.</p>

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<p>

I don’t have friends who are lactose intolerant. I requested some information regarding the school nutritionist. I will hopefully get to see her next week, but there’s no guarantee since it’s so late in the school year.</p>

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<p>

Well I only drink milk with cereal so I don’t get too much protein from that since I don’t even eat cereal when I’m at school, mostly at home. Unless you mean I need to find protein substitutes for all dairy products.</p>

<p>Anyways, I believe the doctor thinks I’m lactose intolerant. I say bullocks, but whatever. I’ll follow his instructions as best as possible, though not sure how long I’ll last because I’ve heard that if one lays off dairy products for a long time, they can truly because lactose intolerant.</p>

<p>I don’t know any vegans unfortunately. I don’t cook. Add the reason I very reluctant to use substitutes is because those foods will only remind me of what I once was able to eat. Needless to say I don’t want to be reminded of good food I can no longer have. I’ll look into some of the replacements you mentioned though. They don’t seem all that bad. Though I’m not sure about the baked zit, to me it’s not so much about the baked ziti itself, but the parm which makes it so damn good. I’m not very big on desserts, I only eat ice cream so much because it’s readily available at my school. Same thing with soda. When I’m at home, I don’t drink or eat either.</p>

<p>I like the last comment you make. I can see where that does make a difference and will try to shift my focus. Maybe there are some dishes I used to eat that I stopped eating for whatever reason and could maybe continue eating now to make up for the lack of dairy products I can consume.</p>

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<p>

I do not suffer from diabetes or high cholesterol. I have normal blood pressure and my cholesterol as far as I know is normal as well.</p>

<p>The doctor believes I may be lactose intolerant. I don’t think that is the case. Most of the symptoms I’m having now come from antibiotics (ceftriaxone) I took for a month to combat lyme disease last November. I am no longer on the treatment and fully cured. However like I said in my original post, one problem is solved but another one is created. The neurologist said I would suffer from indigestion for a short time after coming off the antibiotics because of bacteria that the antibiotics may kill off in the digestive tract. He recommended actively cultured products like yogurt and that did not help. If that didn’t help I had to go see a GI doctor. So that’s where I am now. He gave me a couple of tests and saw some minor abnormalities with acid reflux but that’s about it. What gets me frustrated is that he sees those minor abnormalities and seems to shrug them off as if that’s ok and not the real problem here. I’ve been suffering from GERD which has caused conker sores. So basically he’s given me Zantac which reduces acid production in the stomach. However his main workaround for all this is putting me a non-dairy diet. I’ve read that can contribute to indigestion, but like I said before the treatment it wasn’t a problem. Isn’t there some medication to treat indigestion and get rid of it completely?</p>

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<p>

The pizza here (nyc) always has cheese. I could ask for split pies and all that stuff but no matter what you order it’s going to have cheese in some shape or form. I may consider eatin more fish, however, tuna while I can eat it, doesn’t sit too well on my stomach. I don’t eat soup much. I will look into the middle eastern and indian suggestions you have made.</p>

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<p>

You’re kidding, right? There’s no place that you are more likely to find all sorts of places that use soy cheese than New York City! I know for a fact that there are vegan restaurants (including pizzerias) in NYC. You just haven’t yet found them because you haven’t looked for them.</p>

<p>You say you don’t cook? Not yet you don’t. Start at home. When you have limitations on what you can and cannot eat, you must begin taking responsibility for your diet. You can find inexpensive cooking lessons in NY, and possibly even vegan cooking lessons. </p>

<p>If you don’t like the advice you got from this GI specialist, find another. Get another opinion.</p>

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<p>Jolynne Smyth: The idea of different flavored milk doesn’t sound to bad. I’ll look into that. Much like your son, I’m reluctant to use substitutes because it’ll only remind me of what I can’t have.</p>

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<p>Your doc was on the right track telling you to eat active cultures, but that doesn’t go far enough. You’ve effectively killed off all the bacterias in your body when you take antibiotics for a month and to restore the ones you need for proper digestion, you should take a probiotic. You can get them at any healthfood store.</p>

<p>Along those lines, for lactose intolerance I take a once-daily enzyme/probiotic called Lactose Intolerance Therapy by a company called Digestive Advantage. It is drug free and I highly recommend it. It works. </p>

<p>As far as cutting out all dairy…it sounds like you’re doing this partly because of lactose intolerance and partly because of weightloss. I would suggest that you do as the doc says and cut out all dairy for a period–say a month or however long you can do it–and see if that “cures” you of your digestive problems. (That was what my doc initially advise–it took less than a week for me to notice a drastic difference). If you’re lactose intolerant there’s no need to give up dairy because you lack the enzyme required to digest the lactose; just supplement with the enzyme.</p>

<p>For weightloss, my husband is on a doctor-imposed zero cholesterol diet for coronary artery disease. We take it very seriously. He does, however eat dairy, but only the fat free kind. When he started on this diet (the Ornish Diet) he experienced dramatic weightloss. It’s not too tough to manage. Lots of the suggestions folks have posted are a part of it: legumes and whole grains, soy products (do steer clear of anything that says “hydrolyzed vegetable protein”–it’s loaded with MSG and will, at the very least, cause you to retain fluid). Pizza without cheese is actually very good if it’s good pizza to begin with. Using kalamata olives as a topping (which is always done in small quantities in restaurants because they’re expensive) does a nice job of providing a bit of saltiness in lieu of cheese.</p>

<p>Also, Weight Watchers has a vegetarian version; we do it online. You can buy 3 month’s membership for $65 and that should be enough to learn the ropes. You can just do it on your own after that. Good luck!</p>

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<p>

I never said soy cheese isn’t used in new york city, but when it comes to pizza i have yet to encounter one shop that uses soy cheese regularly, at least not I’ve heard or know about. In the Bronx, where I live, I’ve gone to good portion of all the pizzerias here. Maybe in Manhattan it may be different. I wasn’t referring to vegan restaurants. I don’t go out to restaurants much. Maybe 3-4 times a year, and they are usually to eat seafood.</p>

<p>I won’t comment on the cooking. I plan on getting other opinions from other GI doctors.</p>

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<p>Here are two vegan restaurants in the Bronx that I found with two minutes of Google searching:</p>

<p>The Bronx
H.I.M. Ital Organic Restaurant (vegan)
Organic Carribean.
Counter service only.
754 Burke Ave (map)
Daily 10am-9pm
718-653-9627 </p>

<p>Vegan’s Delight (vegan)
Organic Carribean.
Counter service only.
3565C Boston Rd (@ Tiemann) (map)
M-Sa 8am-6:30pm. Closed Sundays.
718-653-4140 </p>

<p>And here are some more:
[Friends</a> of Animals | New York Vegan Restaurant Guide](<a href=“http://www.friendsofanimals.org/programs/vegetarianism/restaurant-guides/new-york-vegan-restaurant-guide.html]Friends”>http://www.friendsofanimals.org/programs/vegetarianism/restaurant-guides/new-york-vegan-restaurant-guide.html)</p>

<p>There are vegan pizzas on that list. </p>

<p>Now, if you just want to whine, that’s one thing, but if you keep putting up roadblocks to suggestions made to you - yes, you will be very hungry.</p>

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<p>I know for a fact that most pizzarias around here (NYC suburbs) will do what I want if I order a whole pie. If I say no cheese. I get no cheese.</p>

<p>Hummus is a spread made out of ground up chickpeas, sesame paste and garlic. It’s usually served on pita bread. In supermarkets it’s usually in plastic tubs over in the general area of the olive bar. Grape leaves are usually stuffed with rice, pine nuts, lemon and some other spices. Something else you might like is falafal. Another chickpea dish. I’ve seen it sold by street vendors in NYC and there are mixes if you want to make it at home.</p>

<p>I sympathize with you about not really liking vegetables. It’s why my younger son isn’t a vegetarian, even though he’d like to be one.</p>