Intense cravings and identity struggles after diagnosis

[celioops]

Hi all. My appetite has changed quite a bit since diagnosis 3 months ago and I've (noticeably) lost weight. I'm satiated and eat nutritious, nonprocessed whole food. I'm running into issues with my identity and occasional cravings and am hoping for some commiseration or relief. I feel lonely and like I can't talk much about this with people in my life. 

Pre-diagnosis, I used to crave and eat all sorts of junk foods and not gain a tremendous amount of weight. This gave me a certain role among my friends/my friends expect a certain pattern of behavior from me. This has changed after diagnosis as I've gone gluten and dairy free. I eat healthy, hippie-type foods now and some of my close friends have made remarks like "what happened to you?!". On top of that, I sense resentment from some of my heavier friends that I've lost weight. I feel tremendous improvement after diagnosis and the comments/resentment are weighing on me. I'm now the hot, skinny, annoying-because-she-can-stick-to-a-diet friend, and my friends and I used to make fun of people like that. 

I also have concerns about cravings. My appetite is normally steady and low, but I'll get crazy cravings once or twice a month for things like ketchup, tomato sauce, gluten-free bread, oil, mayonnaise, pickled onions, etc. I almost always crave condiments! I normally indulge those cravings as I know my gut is healing (only been gluten-free for about 3 months) and I suspect they're the result of nutritional deficiencies. Does anyone know what deficiencies those cravings might signal? The cravings are quite intense and make me want to do socially inappropriate things (like eat ketchup by the spoonful during a work dinner or scoop tomato sauce out of the jar with my hands). I take a multivitamin and vitamin C supplement every day and am not sure why I'm still craving things while supplementing.

Thanks for reading. Any advice or anecdotes are welcome. 

Celioops

 

[knitty kitty]

@celioops,

Hi! So glad you're enjoying improved health with hippie foods!  🐱 I'm an old hippie myself!

The condiments (mayo, ketchup, pickled veggies) you're craving contain vinegar, making them acidic.  Sometimes we crave acidic foods if our stomach acid is low.  Low stomach acid is a symptom of Thiamine insufficiency.  Thiamine is Vitamin B1. 

I understand you're taking a multivitamin, but sometimes multivitamins also contain minerals (calcium, magnesium, zinc, etc.) that compete for absorption with other minerals, Vitamin C, and with the eight essential B vitamins.  Less than ten percent of multivitamins are actually absorbed.  

Instead, you should consider changing to a B Complex supplement before meals and a mineral supplements afterwards, or separate minerals after meals or between meals with snacks.  The fat based vitamins (A, D, E, and K) can be taken in the middle of a meal for best absorption.

Weight loss frequently occurs when the body doesn't have enough thiamine to process carbohydrates into energy, and burns fat and muscle instead.  This happens with some Celiacs prediagnosis.  

The eight B vitamins are water soluble, cannot be stored for long in the body, and need to be replenished every day.  Getting these vitamins from our hippie foods are best, but while our intestines are healing, supplementing with a B Complex is beneficial.  

While wheat based products are required by law to be enriched with vitamins and minerals lost in processing, manufacturers enrich these products with the cheapest (and not bioavailable) vitamins to keep their costs down and profits up and for longer shelf life.  Gluten free facsimile foods aren't required to be enriched at all.  

High carbohydrate diets need more Thiamine to turn all those carbs into energy for our bodies.  A symptom of Thiamine insufficiency is weight gain.  Without plenty of thiamine, the body can't turn carbohydrates into energy and the carbs are taken down a side road and parked as fat.  This has been termed "high calorie malnutrition" by Dr. Derek Lonsdale.  

Adding a thiamine supplement (100mg) with meals (in addition to the B Complex) will ensure you have enough thiamine to make and secrete stomach acid, produce insulin (to maintain a healthy blood glucose level), and maintain a healthy weight.  

You've been a leader in your social circle, and you can continue to be so now.  Encourage your friends to cut down on their high carbohydrate diet and eat more healthy hippie foods. (love that, hippie foods! LOL)

And this addition of Thiamine will help your friends cope with their high carbohydrate diet.  There will be plenty of Thiamine to help them burn off those carbohydrates and extra stored fat.  

Hope this helps!

[Scott Adams]

I also want to add that the condiments you crave are mostly gluten-free, or there are gluten-free versions of each of them, so you may not have to give them up.