Been Gluten Free For The Better Half Of 2-3 Years. Haven't Gained A Pound, Why? Help Me Out Here.

[fire-chickens]

So About 3 years ago when i was 19 I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I've been gluten free for the better half of those 3 years have haven't gained a single pound, no matter what or how much gluten-free food i eat. I really just am tired of being underweight, I'm 22 and barely at 100 pounds, if my gluten-free diet doesn't work and I havent put on a pound, what can i do to make my body GAIN WEIGHT!??? I've been thin my entire life so I've probably had celiac disease for a long long time.

[cyclinglady]

It's hard to say without more information.

 

1)  How tall are you?  Male or Female?

2)  Are you tracking your calories (e.g. food journal).

3)  Are you consuming enough food to meet your weight goals?

4)  Have you followed up with celiac disease testing to insure you are adhering to the diet?

5)  Do you have any food intolerances?

[glutenfreeliac]

Well (and she's swallowing her jealousy a bit!), how many calories are you taking in versus how many calories are you burning? Are you healthy otherwise? As cyclinglady notes, are there other issues in addition to celiac? Are you working actively to build muscle mass? And, are you the type who is naturally lean? Finally, have you talked to your doctor about this?

 

Eating gluten-free isn't a guarantee of gaining weight. There are a lot of factors. All bodies are different, but if you are worried, please talk to your doctor.

[1desperateladysaved]

Have your villi healed?  Perhaps you are not absorbing the foods you eat.  You could do endoscopy to find this out.  I have my nutrient levels checked to see If they are being absorbed.  Have you also tried digestive enzymes to help break down your foods?

 

D 

[musickep]

On 12/17/2013 at 11:35 AM, 1desperateladysaved said:

Have your villi healed?  Perhaps you are not absorbing the foods you eat.  You could do endoscopy to find this out.  I have my nutrient levels checked to see If they are being absorbed.  Have you also tried digestive enzymes to help break down your foods?

 

D 

 

D - how do you have your nutrient levels checked to see if they are being absorbed? I couldnt agree with you more on your reply. So many doctors are not telling the celiacs/gluten intolerants to heal the villi.  If there is malabsorption, isnt it impt to get a cross-reactive foods test too? Oats, soy, Corn, legumes, can all be irritants and cause issues. There is a lot of info on the SCD diet to heal the gut.... Its pretty sad that most of the GI;s do not talk about healing the villi. or cking for malabsorption because you cannot just go gluten free if that is the case.  Best, kp

[kareng]

15 minutes ago, musickep said:

D - how do you have your nutrient levels checked to see if they are being absorbed? I couldnt agree with you more on your reply. So many doctors are not telling the celiacs/gluten intolerants to heal the villi.  If there is malabsorption, isnt it impt to get a cross-reactive foods test too? Oats, soy, Corn, legumes, can all be irritants and cause issues. There is a lot of info on the SCD diet to heal the gut.... Its pretty sad that most of the GI;s do not talk about healing the villi. or cking for malabsorption because you cannot just go gluten free if that is the case.  Best, kp

Eating gluten free should heal the villi.  You shouldn't need to do anything more.  Some foods might be irritating, especially in the beginning.  If you are still having issues years after you have been diagnosed with Celiac, you would want to re- check your antibodies.  If they are still high, the first step is to really get strict with the gluten-free diet ( called the Fasano diet).  If your antibodies are still high or you are still having issues, they may want to do an endoscopy & colonoscopy and see what is happening.  If there is still Celiac damage, that is called refractory and has its own set of treatments.

There is no science behind gluten cross- reactive foods at  this time.

[musickep]

Open Original Shared Link    a good read in my humble opinion. Ive been strict healthy eating Celiac for 23 years.  I now have malabsorption....and am trying to find out why.  (getting tested, scoped, etc.)  I either never healed my leaky gut in the very beginning, and if so, there were cross reactive foods that leaked and my body was attacking them to the point of not being able to tolerate any grains at all. I am now on the SCD diet to heal my gut and try to reverse malabsorption because a gluten free diet wasn't getting it. I am seeing results...but its only been 2 mos.

[kareng]

9 minutes ago, musickep said:

Open Original Shared Link    a good read in my humble opinion. Ive been strict healthy eating Celiac for 23 years.  I now have malabsorption....and am trying to find out why.  (getting tested, scoped, etc.)  I either never healed my leaky gut in the very beginning, and if so, there were cross reactive foods that leaked and my body was attacking them to the point of not being able to tolerate any grains at all. I am now on the SCD diet to heal my gut and try to reverse malabsorption because a gluten free diet wasn't getting it. I am seeing results...but its only been 2 mos.

How do you know you have malabsorption?  

Open Original Shared Link

"There is not yet reliable data about cross-reactivity. As for the alleged possibility that many gluten-free foods or drinks (such as coffee, milk, orange juice, etc.) would trigger symptoms in celiac individuals due to hidden antigens mimicking gluten or cross-reacting with anti-gluten antibodies, it must be clearly stated that this is all false information, devoid of any scientific basis, and must be rejected as untrue. June,"

 

 

 

 

[cyclinglady]

 

 

 

Karen has offered great advice.  Get those antibodies for celiac re-checked.  It should be done annually.  Don't forget that celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder.  You can develop additional AI issues (e.g autoimune: hepatitis, diabetes, thyroid, crohn's, etc).  

There is new research about Zonulin and leaky gut.  Celiacs tend to have too much of this protein causing the intestinal "gates" to stay open too long (aka leaky gut).  Scientists know about it, but have not figured out how to manage it.  

[1desperateladysaved]

Musickep, I did a Spectra Cell test which checks blood cell levels of nutrients.  Genova Lab is another nutrient test  I have used.  First fix your gut.  Many natural providers have information about that on the web.  Dr. Peter Osborne has information that may help those that are not healing in a timely manner.

 

Dee