Question For Celiacs

[Dyan]

My 11 year old daughter has Celiacs disease. She is getting a little better after about 2 months of being gluten free. She had a terrible stomach ache for so long that she didn't really have an appetite. And now she is slowly getting her appetite back. Only sometimes she still wants to skip meals. She will say she ate a big lunch so doesn't want dinner or she will skip breakfast. She will say her stomach hurts if she eats too much. While I don't think she is lying, I don't believe her. (If that makes sense). But I also know I don't know what she is going through so I let her decide on her meals. She eats like a bird. I know she needs more food, but I don't know if I should push it.

Did anyone go through this, where as you were healing had to limit your portions? She would eat tortilla chips and potato chips all day if I would let her.

[Guest j_mommy]

You have to remember that if you're not eating a normal amount especially for long periods of time your stomach shrinks. She will not immediatly jump into reg meals three times a day. I know how uncomfortable it is when I over eat, I can only imagine the feeling after not being able to eat reguarly then be able to...she probably gets full fairly quickly.

Concentrate on getting nutrishous food into the amount she can eat.

Good Luck! And I'm glad she's feeling better.

[aorona]

My kids are this way too. They have been gluten-free for 2 1/2 years now and sometimes will skip meals and say they are not hungry. I get so upset and angry that they will not eat. The key is to find something your daughter likes and just let her eat it if she doesn't want the meal you are serving. I know it sounds like giving in, but she needs calories and if she only eats one meal a day, she is not getting the calories she needs to grow and function. My 4 year old son loves nachos (corn chips with melted cheese). When he does not finish his meal, I pop a plate full of nachos in the microwave and he will eat the entire thing. I know this may sound horrible that I let my kids eat chips all day long, but they are very skinny and I figure it is better that at least they are eating something rather thatn not eating all day!! Also, let her eat when she wants to. Almost daily my kids will be hungry again 2 hours after eating dinner, so I fix then a snack. So, I would not be so worried right now about what she is eating (of course as long as it's gluten-free) as long as she does eat something at least 3 times a day. Myself and my kids eat about 5-7 times a day, just smaller meals. This is what works for us. Also, if you are buying the processed gluten-free foods for her, she may not like them. Many are bland and have no flavor. I would also recommend buying a gluten free recipe book. I use "The gluten-free kitchen" on a daily basis. Also, when I first began the diet, everything made me sick including gluten-free food. It took my system an entire month to adjust.

[Guest j_mommy]

Also it's the nature of kids to only eat when they are hungry. They haven't learned the whole eat when their bored ect or overeating.

[Takala]

In the begining I ate very, very strictly, which resulted in my eating a high protein, high fat, and fairly low carbohydrate diet, as I ate no grain at all and mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts, meat, fish, olive oils, coconut milk, and I didn't even go near dairy for awhile. I also took vitamin and mineral supplements, and ate about 4 meals a day, 3 of them were not very large meals. Because of this, I did the classic switch from being a carbohydrate burner to being a protein/fat processor, and I had to remind myself to eat at times because I just didn't get hungry. At all. I'd get tired, and remind myself to eat. I found out that this is typical of a low carb diet so it did not worry me. You do have to eat at regular intervals to function on this sort of routine, or you're going to crash and burn.

Now that I eat a little more carbohydrate and starch like beans, rices, corn, I will sometimes get slammed with regular hunger again and it will surprise me for a second, and then I think... oh yeah, ate carbohydrate for lunch, and it must have worn off.

Since my metabolism is slowing down with age and I'm not skinny, and I eat a lot of the dreadful fruits and vegetables, I don't think that forgetting to eat is as crucial for me as it would be for a growing teenager. Said teenager should be believed that she is really not hungry, but gently coaxed into nibbling on nutrient rich snacks at regular meal intervals to keep up her energy and brain function. If she doesn't want a whole meal she could still have something like a hard boiled egg, some safe peanut butter on veggie sticks or safe rice cake, a small veggie plate with safe yogurt dip or cheese, dried or fresh fruits, nuts, some hot cocoa made with alternative milk product and cocoa powder and honey, etc. My idea of a cold piece of grilled salmon with some mayo is probably not going to sound appealing, but you get the idea... if it's edible, there's never the wrong time of day for any gluten free food group.

There is also soup. I like to take tomato juice (or V8 vegetable juice is even better) and put it in a bowl with some extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of cumin, a pinch of basil, and some ground up almond meal I made myself as a thickener. Microwave to warm up, stir again, and it tastes almost exactly like canned tomato soup, only much better and it's gluten free. Serve this with a small toasted cheese sandwich on homemade gluten free bread, and it's a classic lunch or supper item that still is reminiscent of regular cooking.

Leftover homemade gluten free pizza also tends to be hard to resist when left in a refrigerator. Hormel makes wonderful gluten free turkey pepperoni available in almost all grocery stores which is great on pizza, and the things you can use as a base for the pizza toppings are not limited to a complicated homemade crust.

The starch cravings are typical in the beginning, especially if she is not absorbing her vitamins yet and still a little low on calcium.

[mamaw]

The posters did a great job of answering your post. I agree with them. Kids generally are not good eaters & then they sometimes relate that food makes their tummy sick, it becomes almost impossible to get healthy foods into their bodies or any food at times. Our kids should own the tortilla factory!I try to get the ones with no trans fat.....

I sometimes make celery sticks with peanut butter & add bugs to the tops ( raisins)or the same with cream cheese.. I cut dinosaurs out of bread, pretzels dipped in choc then add nuts, coconut,or whatever I think of. I make breadsticks (carriefaith's recipe) & have dipping sauce for them. Roll rice balls into choc, nuts....

Apples with dip. Banana boats by slicing a banana almost through & putting peanut butter, marshmallow cream, adding a veggie sail, & add celery stick men ......

pizza is a good choice hot or cold.......

good luck

mamaw

[Dyan]

Thank you. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being too hard on her for not eating. I do let her do her own thing, I just make sure that what she does eat is good for her. I have managed to get her to add a piece of cheese to her turkey slices. Thank you very much. It's hard to know when to push and when to back off when I don't know how it feels to be a Celiac sufferer.

[ThatlldoGyp]

Hi, I hope this helps. She probably has a small tum and is slightly fearful of some foods. She prob isn't really that hungry yet, but don't worry, she will be, lol! Chips are like fries... fast, fatty salty foods and she is probably craving them... Personally I would limit the amount of chips she is having. She needs all the healthy food she can get right now! At 11, I would play, "lets make a deal" and be firm about it. Figure out a number of chips she can have per day, and then make her earn her chip snacks by having a healthy meal first.

Try to get her to eat 5 or 6 small meals a day make 2 of them non-chip and totally healthy, and then the others chip based and incorporate/sneak healthy things into her chip meals...

Example: 1st meal- banana and a hard boiled egg earns her:

chips with salsa, add diced cucumber, zucchini, mango, papya, kiwi.

next: tacos for luch. sides are rice, beans for dipping chips into, and all the taco stuff (lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream) (if she can do dairy) she can put the salsa all over everything

next: 3 layer bean dip, add cheddar cheese, cream cheese, diced cukes or zukes to the bean layer. You can really vary this a lot to sneak stuff in.

You can tell where this is going....

Also, try serving kabobs that the makes herself. Kids really like to pick what the want, and if it is on a stick it is fun and convenient to eat. Have her help you prepare/ cook/ grill her meals so she has some investment of time and effort into the food. She will be more willing to eat it.

This also helps her get used to picking out proper food items.. which will come in handy when she is out with her friends and later on her own.

Hope this was helpful!

[kbtoyssni]

As long as she's not losing weight, I wouldn't worry too much. I don't know how long she was sick for, but if it was for any length of time I'm sure she still subconsciously associates some foods with feeling sick. In time I'm sure that will go away (it did for me). I also found there was an difference in what hungry and full felt like pre- and post- diagnosis. It might take her some time to adjust to that, too.