[steve-o]

Hi all,

I weighed myself this morning, and almost died when I saw that I weigh 127 pounds (I'm 6 foot tall). Before going gluten free about a month ago, I weighed in at a brawny 140 pounds. If I loose any more weight, I'll probably disappear.

I imagine the problem is that I'm not getting enough calories on the gluten-free diet. It's been tough, because I'm also avoiding dairy (I have a nasty lactose intolerance), and it seems like anything that’s fatty or greasy, give me nausea.

Does anybody know of any good gluten & dairy free weight gain supplements? I've read that some people here use ensure or boost. I haven't tried ensure yet, but I have a hard time tolerating boost...I think it has milk proteins in it, even though it's technically lactose free?

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

[lucky28]

I saw that there has not been a response to your problem yet well- I don't have your problem but hopefully something I suggest will be helpful.
1- I have seen recipes for rice flour pancakes-you can buy rice flour in the "mexican" type food isle if you have a good grocery store, or at an asian food market. here is an address to a good recipe-http://www.colitiscookbook.com/pancake.htm I think a big stack of pancakes with syrup at least once a week may help.
2-if you can tolerate nuts, try smuckers natural peanut butter with jelly, sometimes I use rice crackers, sometimes I just put a little of each in a cup and eat it like it's icecream or something, at least for me the peanut butter packs on the weight.
3-I also like to make potato and cheese dishes--I'm lactose intolerant too so I buy kraft reduced calorie cheddar cheese, it is labeled as lactose free-I like to put it on everything-veggies, boneless chicken breasts, potatoes, I even make a rice and cheese to replaces mac and cheese.
Well I hope one of these sound appealing enough to try. Since I don't know anything about you or your lifestyle (cooking ability, budget, food preference, etc.) it's hard to give good advise. but good luck and hang in there!!!

[lucky28]

oh, I'm not sure if slimfast fruit flavor is gluten-free but i know from before going gluten-free that it is (or was) lactose free. If you can add at least 1 or more to your diet in addition to your meals it may help. even though it is slimfast the calorie and nutrition levels are almost equivalent with protein/ensure type supplements.

[Jnkmnky]

This will make you fat....it made my husband fat--

Breakfastmany eggs any style
lots of bacon
gluten-free toast (butter may be ok even if lactose intolerant, was for my son)
Juice (coffee too, but juice will boost calories)

LunchTuna salad/chicken salad, cold cuts/peanut butter whatever, on a gluten-free Kinnikinnick bagel *have you seen how many calories are in one of those!? Have two sandwiches on those bagels. They're small, but calorie full
Lundberg rice drink smoothie. Add banana, Ice chocolate syrup

DinnerMeat
Potato
rice
toast

Snacksnuts
chips
salami
rice drink smoothies

I don't like soy. It can hurt your thyroid among other things, so I use rice milk.
http://tuberose.com/Soy.html

This is high calorie eating. You will gain weight if you eat more. Have your thyroid checked in the meantime. And your gall bladder. Nauseous after greasy food may be a gall bladder issue.

[tarnalberry]

Yep, you need calories. Which means you need calorie dense foods. and it doesn't get any denser than fat. Eggs are a good choice, but can fill you quickly, and keep you filled, becaue they've got good quality fat and protein, so just be aware to have enough. Coconut milk, avocado, nuts and seeds are good way to get more calories in you in a sneaky way. Cooking with plenty of oil is helpful as well.

Can you give us an idea of how you generally eat?

[steve-o]

Thanks everyone, for all the advice. I'll definitely be trying some of your suggestions in the coming weeks.

As far as how I eat, most days are like this:

Breakfast: Gluten free corn flakes with silk soy milk, banana, orange juice

snack: planters mixed nuts

lunch: Slices of Boars Head turkey lunch meat, bowl of rice or potatoes, gluten-free cookies

snack: some fruit, and/or potato chips

dinner: always includes a serving of some meat (chicken, beef, pork), a carb (rice, potatoes, or rice pasta), and a salad or vegetable.

I also drink a ton of water throughout the day, so I'm well hydrated.

So it seems (as far as I can tell) that I eat a pretty decent diet, but I guess I just need to eat more. I think I have a malabsoption issue, particularly with fat, because if I eat high fat meals, my stools become more frequent and show signs of steatorrhea.

I also have to be very careful to avoid dairy, or I get nausea. I must have a super sensitive lactose intolerance, because even butter makes me ill. So I've been using gluten-free, dairy free margarine.

Thanks again for all your kind advice,
Steve

[Jnkmnky]

Steve-
You have a very "Atkins" style of eating right now. Meat roll-ups for lunch are very Atkins style. The bread will increase your calories and your carbs. You need to do both to gain weight. Also, water all day is usually great, but you're looking to put on some weight. You should cut your water consumption in half and start having some drinks with calories. You can find gluten free bagels, breads, buns, donuts and more, that are VERY tasty, at www.kinnikinnick.com I'm eating a bagel right now! They're great! Kinnikinnick has removed soy from most of their products and will be removing soy from all of their products in the next four months. (I asked them). Soy can disturb the function of your thyroid. If your weight issues are connected to your thyroid, eating more will hurt you further. Check out the link I posted earlier. Consider rice milk!

[KaitiUSA]

Jnkmnky, on Jul 10 2005, 12:18 PM, said:

Steve-
You have a very "Atkins" style of eating right now.  Meat roll-ups for lunch are very Atkins style.  The bread will increase your calories and your carbs.  You need to do both to gain weight.  Also, water all day is usually great, but you're looking to put on some weight.  You should cut your water consumption in half and start having some drinks with calories.  You can find gluten free bagels, breads, buns, donuts and more, that are VERY tasty, at www.kinnikinnick.com    I'm eating a bagel right now!  They're great!  Kinnikinnick has removed soy from most of their products and will be removing soy from all of their products in the next four months.  (I asked them).  Soy can disturb the function of your thyroid.  If your weight issues are connected to your thyroid, eating more will hurt you further.  Check out the link I posted earlier.  Consider rice milk!

I thought that soy will slow down your thyroid. I have hear people with hyperthyroid like me(who have a tendency to have trouble gaining weight) should have soy to slow the thyroid down. Have you heard differently?

Steve-There are some really good brands of gluten free bread you can get that have alot of calories. Since you are also lactose free I can't recommend anything really specific because I don't know that area to much.

[Merika]

Hi Steve,

I understand about the fatty foods not digesting well. It's the same for me. I find a digestive enzyme really really helps. It also allows me to get hungrier sooner after a meal. So, for example, now I eat 2 lunches. One at noon and one later in the afternoon. They're not big lunches, but I can only eat til I'm full. I find myself eating about every 2 hours now.

Also, celiacs have a tendency not to eat enough calories. So push yourself to eat a little extra, and find the limit of where it makes you feel blech.

After my diagnosis I lost weight too. I'm 5'8" and went from maybe 120 to 110 over the course of a year. Mind you, I was nursing a baby too, but that's still a lot to lose in a year, when I really didn't want to lose any. In the last few months, I've finally gained a few pounds and am back to my pre-celiac symptom, pre-pregnancy weight of 112 or so. Clearly, I was on the underweight side already.

Have you considered adding in physical activity like weight lifting? I have started this and for the first time ever gained muscle in my arms. I've weightlifted before - in school sports, etc - but it never made a difference. (of course, now I know why). It is a nice change to see how a little effort actually makes a difference now that my body isn't always starving.

I got some cheapie weights from Target that work great. Dh is trying to get me to go to the gym with him now.... Physical activity will also increase your appetite.

.02,
Merika

[Jnkmnky]

You're right about the Hypothyroid part. I think that will all the problems soy causes, that they're only now just starting to take serious note of, it's best not to mess with it. The fact is, soy disrupts thyroid function. It may someday be proven that 100% of the time--for every person--, this leads to gaining weight. But every individual is different and may react differently. I think anyone having issues with weight, should avoid disrupting thyroid function.

I don't trust soy after doing a lot of research on it. I should have said, "May hurt you further" rather than "will hurt you further".


Protease Inhibitors
Perhaps the best known of the soy toxins are the protease inhibitors (also referred to as trypsin inhibitors) which, as the name suggests, are able to inhibit the action of proteases (including trypsin) which are enzymes that are involved in the process of dismantling proteins for use by the body. Isoflavones belong to the flavonoid or bioflavonoid family of chemicals, and are considered endocrine disrupters--plants or other products that act as hormones, disrupting the endocrine system, and in some cases, this disruption involves acting as an anti-thyroid agent. (The grain millet, for example, contains high levels of flavonoids, and is commonly known as problematic for thyroid function). Flavonoids inhibit thyroid peroxidase (TPO), which disturbs proper thyroid function. The March 1999 issue of Natural Health magazine has a feature on soy that quotes Daniel R. Doerge, Ph.D., a researcher at the Food and Drug Administration's National Center for Toxicological Research. Dr. Doerge has researched soy's anti-thyroid properties, and has said "...I see substantial risks from taking soy supplements or eating huge amounts of soy foods for their putative disease preventive value. There is definitely potential for interaction with the thyroid." Dr. Fitzpatrick believes that people with hypothyroidism should avoid soy products, because, "any inhibition of TPO will clearly work against anyone trying to correct an hypothyroid state." In addition, he believes that the current promotion of soy as a health food will result in an increase in thyroid disorders.


How Much is Safe?
According to the Soy Online Service, for infants, any soy is too much. For adults, just 30 mg of soy isoflavones per day is the amount found to have a negative impact on thyroid function. This amount of soy isoflavones is found in just 5-8 ounces of soymilk, or 1.5 ounces of miso. The USDA launched a website that is promoting the health benefits of the use of soy foods. The site lists the isoflavone content of a total of 128 foods, including foods such as vegetarian hot dogs soybeans, chickpeas and tofu. This might help you in deciding how much soy to include in your diet.

[tarnalberry]

steve-o, on Jul 10 2005, 06:30 AM, said:

Breakfast: Gluten free corn flakes with silk soy milk, banana, orange juice

snack: planters mixed nuts

lunch: Slices of Boars Head turkey lunch meat, bowl of rice or potatoes, gluten-free cookies

snack: some fruit, and/or potato chips

dinner: always includes a serving of some meat (chicken, beef, pork), a carb (rice, potatoes, or rice pasta), and a salad or vegetable.

lol! it looks like you're on a diet, unless those are really big servings! you're definitely not getting enough calories, unless you're eating a whole canister of those planters nuts. ;-)

can you sneak in at least one more snack (~200 calories) between each meal? an apple with peanut butter is around 250 (if you don't use oodles of peanut butter), and not to weighty...

[steve-o]

My servings actually are pretty big...but obviously not big enough, so I'll be adding some more calories to my meals & snacks, as suggested. I have huge servings of rice and potatoes, because I haven't found a gluten-free bread I like, so these are the only carbs I get. But I'll definately have to check out those Kinnikinnick bagles. Even if I don't find a gluten-free bread I particularly like, I guess I'm going to have to just eat it for the calories, regardless of the taste.

I had my thyroid checked by the doc a couple months back, and all was normal.

Merika, can you tell me what brand of digestive enzyme you use? I'm definately interested in giving them a try. I have a hard time eating as many calories as I probably need to gain weight, because I get full quickly, and am not hungry enough to eat 5 or 6 meals a day. So hopefully enzymes will help me to digest food quicker, so I can eat more meals per day. I've also just started a weight lifting program, which as you said, has already started increasing my appetite.

These are all great suggestions which I'll be sure to try...thanks everyone for your responses.

[tarnalberry]

I wasn't sure about the portions, but it's good you're keeping them large! I would encourage you not to rely too heavily on bread/pasta replacements to get plenty of carbs if you have the time to get them elsewhere as well. they're a good thing to include if you're working on your weight, but you want to be careful about insulin issues as well. adding other sources of calories - sweet potatoes, other grains (like amaranth, millet, teff, quinoa, buckwheat), beans and lentils - that won't have as big an effect on your blood sugar as white rice, sorgum, or potato flour based breads/pastas can be useful as well.

don't forget to cook those vegetables with dinner in oil (olive/canola is a good choice), and if you've got room, have vegetables and a salad!

[Merika]

Hi,

The kind I take are by Standard Process Inc and they're called Cholacol. Their HQ is in Wisconsin and are generally sold only through nutritionists/chiropractors/etc but sometimes you can find them in an alternative medicine pharmacy such as Capitol Drugs in West Hollywood, CA (you may be able to order online from them).

The ingredients are very simple (just 4), are obviously gluten-free, they work, and they don't cause irritation (sometimes papaya-enzymes do). I take one with each meal. The box says to take 2.

Merika

[drjmarkusic]

Hey everybody, thanks for replying to Steve and thanks Steve for the question. I'm 5' 11" and did weigh 158# but not I'm at a whopping 125# and fearful that I'll weigh in less this Fri with my pcp. I'm going to consume these foods and more of them. Maybe in a month or so I'll look more healthy. Thanks again eveyone . Jim