[sillyyak]

I was wondering if anyone has experienced weight loss with Celiac? I have been on the gluten free diet for 1 month now and am not gaining weight with the foods I am eating. I am concerned about become malnourished since the diet seems to be a high protein diet but not really a putting on the pounds diet. Has anyone experienced anorexia as a symptom of the celiac?

This post has been edited by sillyyak: 18 December 2005 - 08:41 AM

[mightymorg]

I think many of us have experienced the *symptom* of anorexia, in that we can lose our appetite.

HOWEVER, please be aware that anorexia, the loss of appetite, is not the same as the eating disorder of anorexia nervosa....which is a mental illness that results in the obsession of weight loss and the refusal to eat. I had the eating disorder years ago, which I feel set off these GI symptoms, so I feel it's important for people to be able to distinguish between the two.

[sillyyak]

I guess my question is: has anyone ever experienced malnourishment from being on this diet? How does one prevent that in the context of anorexia being a symptom of celiac, apart from eating lots and lots?

[key]

I used to struggle with anorexia in high school. Would just not eat for days, had wierd food things, like only eating one bowl of cereal for the whole day. Did that for three months. I never got severely thin and didn't lose my menstrual cycle ever, but my family definitely worried about me. I was the worst in high school for sure and it went on and off. Then college I was better, but still worried about getting fat and would cut calories and exercise alot. Then now, I have celiac. Been diagnosed for about 8 months. Anyway, I eat anything I want, but sometimes I skip a meal here and there. NOt breakfast or lunch, but supper(more of a light supper). I don't over eat ever, but do snack some. I am thinner then I was when I was trying to be thin. Now I think I don't try to be thin, that I just am. I have three kids and ever since my son was born six years ago, I have been eating everything or all the time and stay thin. I assume it is the celiac or I just am busy. I am also vegetarian though and gluten free and then I try to not eat alot of sweets, because I don't like getting alot of colds, etc. Being sick alot from too much sugar. I find being celiac and with all the restrictions, I have to really make myself eat sometimes. I get where I don't really care to eat when the food isn't that great or it is the same things I eat all the time. I just don't feel very tempted by food anymore. Anyway, I have realized I need to make a big effort to work on my food being more exciting and changing the variety, so I don't become malnourished. I need to be healthy for my family. I don't know if this is how you are feeling, but hopefully some of this has helped. I do feel that somewhere in my brain I want to stay thin, I don't want to be heavier then I am, but really my weight is very normal for my size. I am 5'2 and weigh 106lbs. I have a muscular build too though. Make sure you are making your meals appealing and not eating any gluten.
Good luck,
Monica

[tarnalberry]

Malnutrition can happen on this diet the same way it happens on other diets - by not choosing a wide enough selection of food (or enough food). The diet needn't be high in protein at all - fruits, vegetables, non gluten grains, beans and legumes all contain lots of carbohydrates, and there are plenty of fat sources out there! :-)

Not everyone gains weight on the diet, though, if you're underweight to start with, AND if you eat enough food, you should gain weight once your intestines start healing.

If you find you have no appetite, you may need to make sure you eat enough by checking the clock or the like for a while. There's a lot of psychology involved in hunger, sometimes, and if we get too busy to think about it, we may not eat. Additionally, and this is probably a big contributor to some celiacs cases, if food used to make you not feel well (even in subtle ways), your body may not really send out hunger cues.

So, make sure that you're getting enough food (whether that's lots and lots depends on what your definition of these things is - to some people 2500 calories a day is just right, for others, it's rather a lot). Make sure that you're getting a wide variety of food that provides the macronutrients (fat/carbs/protein) and micronutrients (vitamins/minerals) that you need. Consider taking a multivitamin, as a safety check. And - most importantly - make sure you are 100% gluten free, so that your intestines can heal and you can absorb the food you're eating. It may take a few months of being 100% gluten-free for you to really start putting the weight back on; you just gotta be patient.

[Rachel--24]

I'm having alot of trouble gaining weight on the diet. I'm really restricted with what I can eat so that doesnt help either. I'm 5'2 and have been staying around 103 lbs. but today I'm only 99 lbs. after having a rough week...not sure if I was glutened or what. I ate the same amount of food...have actually been exceptionally hungry this week. I've definately never experienced anorexia where I wanted to be thin. I'm actually the opposite and have always wanted to gain weight...I'd rather be chubby then weigh what I'm at now. Its frusterating. The only time I didnt want to eat was when I was extremely sick before going gluten-free...during that time I had totally lost my appetite and had to force myself to eat.

[key]

I too had lost my appetite while I was eating gluten. In fact, I never ate supper. Just wasn't hungry and then if I did, I would feel sick and not be able to go to sleep at night.
SO like someone said. I think the reason I don't overeat and forget to eat, is that I don't like to feel sick. I still have certain foods that seem to not agree with me totally. I can't stand having any kind of indigestion. I find that beans or some beans bother me. I am very limited in what I can eat too. So getting sick of what I eat is a huge factor. NOt wanting to eat unhealthy foods is another problem. I don't want to fill up on empty calories. For now I have decided to eat alot of yogurt(I love the Stonyfield Farms Fatfree lemon), not trying for fatfree, but it is just my favorite one. Also I eat almonds. I really like Kinnikinnick pizza crusts and love their English muffins toasted with Peanut butter. Also I make fruit smoothies with tofu, OJ, Flaxseed oil, frozen bananas and frozen strawberry's. I like baked potatoes with sour cream and green onions. I eat alot of corn tortillas and mexican foods, beans and brown rice, fruits and make soups. Giving up breads though and not eating meat won't make anyone gain weight I don't think, unless you ate all day long!
Rachel, I am sorry you can't gain weight and want to. I don't think that is horribly skinny, but if you don't feel healthy then that is what is important. THe way they make sizes now days though, I am sure you have a hard time even finding clothes to fit you. I wear a 0Petite and it is hard to find clothes to fit in womens. I think the celiac caused me to be much thinner. I used to be about 117 in college. I weigh about 10lbs less and I don't try at all, but I do try and eat healthy foods. More so I don't get sick all the time. Sorry you got gluttened. WHen I get gluten, the next day I am starving to death! LIke I haven't eaten in a month. I have to eat right then or I feel like passing out.
Well, hope you feel better soon.
Monica

[barry]

sillyyak, on Dec 18 2005, 11:40 AM, said:

I was wondering if anyone has experienced weight loss with Celiac? I have been on the gluten free diet for 1 month now and am not gaining weight with the foods I am eating. I am concerned about become malnourished since the diet seems to be a high protein diet but not really a putting on the pounds diet. Has anyone experienced anorexia as a symptom of the celiac?

I am also dealing with weight loss. I was diagnosed in Jan with biopsy of flattened cilia and have been on the gluten free diet since Jan - I was 170 when I started with the weight loss due to diareah and dehydration .I now weigh 115 pounds and am skin and bones. I have no muscle mass. my 32 pants now are too big
I eat voraciously anything i want and dont seem to gain any weight and if I get glutoned by err - i begin again with the runs. I also am trying to get off prednozone - which i have been on to keep the inflamatory natrure of my small intestines in check. . I am on 7.5 mg from 60 -
It has been trying and I also look foward to gaining strenght. After almost a year - i still have a hard time walking up stairs without pulling myself up.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be more than welcome
Regards,
Barry

[key]

Barry,
Sorry you are still not gaining weight and not feeling well. How long have you been gluten free? HOpefully you will start feeling better and gaining weight soon. I am sure if you weighed that much before and only weigh 115lbs, that you don't feel very well. Make sure you are gluten free completely, so you can heal quickly. Checking all products. I am sure you have read that here before. I wish I had more suggestions about what to eat to fatten you up, but I think it will take some time to heal.
Good luck,
Monica

[barry]

barry, on Dec 18 2005, 09:31 PM, said:

I am also dealing with weight loss. I was diagnosed in Jan with biopsy of flattened cilia and have been on the gluten free diet since Jan - I was 170 when I started with the weight loss due to diareah and dehydration .I now weigh 115 pounds and am skin and bones. I have no muscle mass. my 32 pants now are too big
I eat voraciously anything i want and dont seem to gain any weight and if I get glutoned by err - i begin again with the runs. I also am trying to get off prednozone - which i have been on to keep the inflamatory natrure of my small intestines in check. . I am on 7.5 mg from 60 -
It has been trying and I also look foward to gaining strenght. After almost a year - i still have a hard time walking up stairs without pulling myself up.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be more than welcome
Regards,
Barry

Thanks Monica for the reassuring words.
Being 100 without getting gluten is so hard -
I am aware of soy sauce being a hidden source.- what about wasabi and miso soup the fofu i heard is questionable when they take the bean and make it to the block of tofu ??/
any good exciting products that you found an d love
Regards,
Barry
I am weak - I can walk for miles but slowly and get tired - more so than i used to - i ran 4 miles a day - was extremely active
be well
are you part of our ny monthly dinner meetings.?

[key]

Barry,
I don't know about the wasabi and miso soup. I am vegetarian, but don't eat these things. As far as tofu goes, it is gluten free. I use the block of it. It better be! HMMM! Why would it have gluten in it? Lachoy makes a gluten free soy sauce. It is very hard to stay gluten free. I still have to cook for 3 families that eat regular food and then my one son and I eat gluten free. My son can't have as much dairy as I can eat. I don't give him much at all.
No, I am not a part of the ny group. Sounds like fun. I need to join a support group though. THis group is wonderful. It is very active and helpful.
Give it time and do your best. SOon this too shall pass and you will have gained weight again. THere are alot of people here that were very sick and doing well now. Not all I suppose. Anyway, I don't eat out. I got sick too many times. THere is one restaurant here in town that I get a baked potatoe from. Pretty boring, but it is nice to go out once in a while.
GOodluck,
Monica

[tarnalberry]

Miso can be fermented on barley, so you have to be vary careful to find out what kind of miso you have.

[nikki-uk]

barry, on Dec 18 2005, 06:31 PM, said:

I also am trying to get off prednozone - which i have been on to keep the inflamatory natrure of my small intestines in check. . I am on 7.5 mg from 60 -
It has been trying and I also look foward to gaining strenght. After almost a year - i still have a hard time walking up stairs without pulling myself up.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be more than welcome
Regards,
Barry

My husband was in a similar position,-
after 6 months gluten-free ,no improvement,still 120lbs and so very weak he could hardly stand up unaided.
My husband is now down to 5mg prednisolone from 40mg.
It's been 14 months since dx,and very slowly he is now beginning to put some weight back on,and his energies have raised.He too get's very tired though.
I guess for some,it's a very slow process,it's only recently for my husband that he's got his appetite back to near normal.Still a way to go
Good luck!

[sillyyak]

I am actually losing a bit of weight since I have been on this diet and have decided to drink an Ensure - maybe two per day - one with breakfast and one with dinner. Each is about 350 calories and is gluten free

Other than that I am not sure what to do about the pretty rapid weight loss. It is scary to me because I do not want to look like skin and bones. Maybe I am just loosing muscle mass? I have started to lift weights because I need to strenghten my bones as well so maybe that will help

Has any one ever experienced rapid weight loss on this diet? I feel like I could be the poster child for Jenny Craig, or Atkins

[par18]

tarnalberry, on Dec 18 2005, 12:42 PM, said:

Malnutrition can happen on this diet the same way it happens on other diets - by not choosing a wide enough selection of food (or enough food). The diet needn't be high in protein at all - fruits, vegetables, non gluten grains, beans and legumes all contain lots of carbohydrates, and there are plenty of fat sources out there! :-)

Not everyone gains weight on the diet, though, if you're underweight to start with, AND if you eat enough food, you should gain weight once your intestines start healing.

If you find you have no appetite, you may need to make sure you eat enough by checking the clock or the like for a while. There's a lot of psychology involved in hunger, sometimes, and if we get too busy to think about it, we may not eat. Additionally, and this is probably a big contributor to some celiacs cases, if food used to make you not feel well (even in subtle ways), your body may not really send out hunger cues.

So, make sure that you're getting enough food (whether that's lots and lots depends on what your definition of these things is - to some people 2500 calories a day is just right, for others, it's rather a lot). Make sure that you're getting a wide variety of food that provides the macronutrients (fat/carbs/protein) and micronutrients (vitamins/minerals) that you need. Consider taking a multivitamin, as a safety check. And - most importantly - make sure you are 100% gluten free, so that your intestines can heal and you can absorb the food you're eating. It may take a few months of being 100% gluten-free for you to really start putting the weight back on; you just gotta be patient.

I agree with this post exactly. I ate a lot of calories in the beginning with absolutely no appetite. You cannot gain weight if you don't eat. I spaced the meals out rather than try to eat a huge amount once or twice a day. The RD I went to put me on 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. I tried to balance the protein, carb,fruit etc. If you completely avoid all gluten and heal properly you should gain. I was put on a diet in the beginning consisting of the calorie intake of someone 30 pounds heavier than myself. It worked but not overnight. I did not miss a single meal for almost 2 months. After I put on about 10 pounds I started to become active which contributed to the return of my appetite. For the first time in my life I am at a healthy weight.( 6'1" 180 pounds).