Nauseous after eating

[GinaH]

I was diagnosed with celiac three weeks ago. I've been eating a gluten free diet since. I am having nausea after eating, not every meal but most. Why is this? I really sucks.

[trents]

Were you having this nausea before you started on the gluten-free diet?

[GinaH]

No, not at all

[trents]

1. Your body is still adjusting

2. You may have added some gluten free food item to your diet that is not agreeing with you. Are you using gluten-free processed foods? They contain ingredients that are not normally found in the diet of those not on gluten-free diets such as xantham gum and other weird stuff. I would suggest restricting yourself to simple, basic naturally gluten free foods such as meat, fresh fruit and vegetables.

[GinaH]

Oh I had no idea! And yes I have been eating gluten free processed foods. Thank you for your advice, this is so hard/ confusing. 

[trents]

gluten-free processed foods are largely empty calories. Wheat flour in the USA is fortified with vitamins to offset this and this is mandated. Not so with gluten-free flours. I encourage you to read the labels on processed gluten-free food items and note the ingredients that you are not familiar with or haven't heard of before.

These days food manufacturers are adding a lot of "sugar alcohols" to things like tortillas, energy and protein bars in order to increase their fiber content. Many of them are advertised as "gluten free" since eating gluten free has become popular these days. Sugar alcohols go by many names such as sorbitol and xilitol. Many people cannot tolerate them well. Chicory root contains large amounts of sugar alcohol and is a popular ingredient in health food snacks. Emulsifiers are also a common tummy upsetter.

Most celiacs find that over time they develop intolerance to other non gluten foods. Common among them are dairy, soy and eggs. The "leaky gut" caused by celiac disease allows larger than normal protein fractions from our food to cross into the blood stream where they may be falsely identified as harmful invaders by our immune system. Your nausea may be an immune system reaction trying to purge something from your gut that is being falsely detected as harmful.

It takes around two years for the small bowel villi to completely heal once the gluten-free diet is begun. Many of us find that once that happens we can reintroduce some foods that initially were causing us problems.

[Scott Adams]

Some people are also sensitive to the amount of xanthan gum, guar gum, etc., that is often added to gluten-free breads to make them not crumble and all apart: