Weight Loss

[KathiSharpe]

Heh.

I've lost 12 pounds in a week (and feel incredible) since going gluten-free. I figure if I could lose a pound a day for 80 days I'll be all set tho I do realize that practically speaking that's probably impossible and even if it were it wouldn't be healthy.

I'm not trying to do anything to lose the weight - I'm eating as much bread and pasta and cake and cookies as always - I'm just eating gluten-free.

So all my friends are noticing weight loss and energy gain and saying, "I want to do that too! How do I eat gluten-free?" Some of them have symptoms similar to mine (weight gain/sluggish/alternating d/c) but then some don't, either.

Can anyone think of any reason NOT to try a gluten-free diet for a while just to see if it helps? I would caution people to take a good b-complex vitamin - anything else?

Also, some people seem to gain weight when eating gluten-free. Some folks who do are the ones who need to because they're "classic" rail-thin celiac, but others are already normal or overweight and then they gain more. Is there rhyme or reason to what makes some people gain and others lose? I don't want to tell a friend it's ok to start a great new diet and they gain 20lbs!!

[Jestgar]

There is no reason to eat grains. Just tell them not to eat a lot of the (really expensive anyway) subs for gluten foods and they'll be fine. I think B vitamins are only necessary if you aren't eating meat.

[KJ is G-Free]

When I was first diagnosed with celiac disease, I lost about 10 pounds, mainly because I didn't know what to eat. Now, 8 months post-diagnosis I'm back up the 10 pounds and then some....

[TrillumHunter]

It trivializes an autoimmune disorder and turns it into a fad?

I'm not picking on you but I think this is a real danger that can ultimately have a negative impact on people who don't have a choice to go off the "diet".

My .02.

[jststric]

I'm jealous! When my food intolerances kicked in I lost a good, solid 6 pounds! Like you, I could stand to lose 80 (or more). You would think that suddenly not eating processed, grains, dairy, rice, nuts, eggs.......I could go on, that I would weigh 90 lbs in fast order. But NO! Perhaps you are subconsciously eating less or have changed your eating more than you realize. As long as you are being healthy....good for you!

[KathiSharpe]

I'm jealous! When my food intolerances kicked in I lost a good, solid 6 pounds! Like you, I could stand to lose 80 (or more). You would think that suddenly not eating processed, grains, dairy, rice, nuts, eggs.......I could go on, that I would weigh 90 lbs in fast order. But NO! Perhaps you are subconsciously eating less or have changed your eating more than you realize. As long as you are being healthy....good for you!

The first time I went gluten-free I lost weight too - but wasn't nearly as heavy as I am now (I was maybe 30lbs overweight at the time - now I'm 70-80lbs +) ... and if I start on a normal diet I gain back FAST. BUT... I'm not eating less but I am now eating much less restaurant food, so I'm sure that I'm getting far, far fewer calories than I did before.

[KathiSharpe]

It trivializes an autoimmune disorder and turns it into a fad?

I'm not picking on you but I think this is a real danger that can ultimately have a negative impact on people who don't have a choice to go off the "diet".

My .02.

Trillium I agree with you ten thousand percent.

But (y'all knew that was coming right? ) here's the thing: My primary symptoms are weight gain, sluggishness, d/c and some tummy trouble. Which interestingly describes a lot of the same people who are asking me about gluten-free. How many of them *actually* have gluten intolerance? That would be an interesting question.

A week into the diet I'm feeling like I'm 30 again... and no doctor would have advised me to try this to see if it helped. So what does that say? How many people are running around who have probs with gluten, don't know it, and are either medically struggling or just chalk it all up to "normal"...

Does that make sense?

[shendler]

Trillium I agree with you ten thousand percent.

But (y'all knew that was coming right? ) here's the thing: My primary symptoms are weight gain, sluggishness, d/c and some tummy trouble. Which interestingly describes a lot of the same people who are asking me about gluten-free. How many of them *actually* have gluten intolerance? That would be an interesting question.

A week into the diet I'm feeling like I'm 30 again... and no doctor would have advised me to try this to see if it helped. So what does that say? How many people are running around who have probs with gluten, don't know it, and are either medically struggling or just chalk it all up to "normal"...

Does that make sense?

The problem I see with this is it could be a gluten intolerance but it could also be another food intolerance/allergy. I feel that way just from eating any dairy products or any other of my food allergies. What if your friends wrote down everything they ate and how they felt after? This way they can see if there is a relationship between what they are eating and how they feel. If in fact it is a gluten problem then they can eliminate from their diet, but this way they know they are eliminating the source of the problem.

[TrillumHunter]

Have you ever had a celiac panel drawn? Maybe you have said in the past, I can't remember. I don't think that a negative celiac panel means you shouldn't try the diet, but I do believe it should be one's first step. Honestly, I think celiac should be a standard screen. I believe gluten intolerance is just undiagnosed celiac because drs' don't fully understand it yet. See, that's the problem with diet without testing. Testing isn't perfect but the more people get tested the better our understanding of celiac. Encourage your friends with symptoms to get tested. Encourage your non-symptomatic friends to give up carbs.

And just a fair warning to you: many of us lost significant weight at first only to gain it back and then some. gluten-free replacements are very, very calorie dense.

Like I said, not picking at you here, I just think it's a fairly complicated issue.

[hannahp57]

I agree one hundred percent with trillumhunter. encourage them to get tested. because in the chance they arent Gluten Intolerant, they may gain weight instead of lose (then they might just get angry with you! )

I gained weight because eating gluten makes me shed pounds FAST. if i get glutened i will lose over five pounds in two days. i walk around 5'8 and 125 lbs or so. people who are gluten intolerant cannot absorb nutrients. in some of us this looks like weight loss and others will bloat.. you get the idea. every body is different so you cant really tell your friends "yeah go gluten free! you'll lose five pounds in a week!" because they could easily gain it instead. as previously stated, our stuff has a lot of carbs and calories

[KathiSharpe]

Have you ever had a celiac panel drawn?

Well, yes and no.

Back a number of years ago, our whole family went gluten-free because our son has Asperger's (high functioning autism) and we did the Gluten-free Casein-free diet (which was very helpful).

I'd had lifelong d/c, bloating, tummy rumbles and pains and troubles... I'd always been told it was "normal", tho one doc had suggested IBS. I had been slowly gaining weight for a couple of years (to where I was about 30lbs overweight) too. Within a few weeks of starting the Gluten-free Casein-free, those symptoms were resolving. Then one day hubby and I ate out and I had fried okra. BAM! I was sick as a dog for a week, but not with, say, food poisoning - it felt like I'd eaten glass. A few weeks later we ate out again and I had pasta. The glass returned. (and I did experiments to be sure it was wheat, and not dairy or anything else. It's *only* gluten and millet)

I hopped online, having seen references to celiac with the Gluten-free Casein-free info, and figured out I might very well have it. So I went to the doctor and he actually apologized to me that in all those years, he'd never considered it as a possibility. He was against testing... saying that if my state "with gluten" was so bad and "without" was so good, he'd be happy to save me the expense of getting the tests done. So I carried the dx for several years.

Fast forward a couple years. My son was having a variety of stomach troubles and seeing a GI doc. We told him we were Gluten-free Casein-free and he poo-poo'd the whole thing. He offered to do blood work for celiac and I let him - not realizing that if we'd been gluten-free for that many years it would be negative!! So he came back and told us that we absolutely positively do not have celiac disease. No need for biopsy or any other tests, he said. It's definitely not. Go back to your regular diet. Muppet.

So fast forward a few more years - I've gained 80lbs, my thyroid and female hormones are out of control, and I have d/c/stomach trouble. And sores on my scalp, fingers, and feet. Research was showing me a link between the thyroid and PCOS and gluten, so I said, "Let me try the diet for a couple weeks and just see what happens."

I'm now eight or nine days into it. I've lost a total of 12 pounds. I feel ten years younger (no kidding). There's no sores on my scalp now and my foot is healing.

And, interestingly, I'm starting to build muscle. I've been *very* active for the last few months even when I didn't feel like it - I do worship dance, plus trying to lose weight). In spite of all the activity, three weeks ago my legs still looked like jello. Last night I noticed there's some serious muscle definition starting to show.

So - I have no doubts that gluten is a huge problem. Do we call it celiac? gluten intolerance? weirdness? I don't really care but I probably will pursue a diagnosis IF I can find a doctor who's willing to do so.

[Gemini]

I was sick as a dog for a week, but not with, say, food poisoning - it felt like I'd eaten glass. A few weeks later we ate out again and I had pasta. The glass returned. (and I did experiments to be sure it was wheat, and not dairy or anything else. It's *only* gluten and millet)

This sentence alone got my attention.....for 20 years and then some, this was the biggest symptom for me. I felt as if I were trying to digest broken glass. I had to lie down because I couldn't even stand up straight, the pain was so bad. However, I never had the Big D until a couple of months before I was diagnosed so the doctors always blew me off and told me I should just take the acid suppressants, which I refused to do.

I would have diagnosed you with this sentence alone as no one but a Celiac ever describes the pain as like "eating glass." I wouldn't even bother with an official diagnosis because it really doesn't mean that much and you'd have to go back to eating glass again!

[jabberwife]

I just went through my first real gluten reaction last weekend, and that description of feeling like I'm digesting glass is a great description. For me, before the big D hit, not only did I have rumblings, but it was so weird, I would sit still, and all of a sudden, I'd feel a hard poke, almost as if someone had jabbed me in the gut on the side with a stick. I jerked and exclaimed "oh!" it surprised me so much. Weirdest thing I've ever experienced.

Aside from that, I was gluten-free for about 2 months, and didn't lose weight. I wouldn't tell people it's a weight loss diet. In fact, if you eat a lot of the gluten-free alternative baked products, they tend to be more calorie-dense than regular versions. I don't even eat those, and have added a regular exercise routine, counted calories, etc. in the past 2 months and haven't lost. Not that I'm overweight really, just trying to lose about 10 lbs...and this is the first time I haven't been able to lose it easily. So gluten-free might actually be causing me to gain weight...if it weren't for my exercise routine and watching what I eat!

Besides, calling it a "diet" and suggesting others go on it just to lose weight trivializes the seriousness of the disease. If people are having symptoms, of course suggest to them that they see a doctor and look into being tested, etc...but simply doing the diet to lose a few pounds? That's just not what it's about, IMHO.

[OptimisticMom42]

Why not suggest the atkins induction (10 carbs or less) instead? It is a weight loss diet, it's basically gluten free and it's a lot less complicated than all the CC issues we celiacs have to deal with. What if all these friends of yours take gluten out of their diets and then can not sccessfully reintroduce it? Boy are they going to be PO'd. While I think the whole darn world should be gluten free just to be fair to us .............tricking them into it probably isn't a good idea! I'll think about that some more!

I've lost 15 lbs (5'6" 148) since my dx but it's because I won't stay home and most places I go don't have safe food. I'm very sensitive. So I end up just going hungry for hours at a time. Since the foods I can eat don't have preservatives in them packing food to take along isn't always safe. I left babanas, peanut butter and rice cakes in the car while riding rollercoasters at Michigan Adventure. The bananas stunk up the whole car but I ate them anyhow, I was so hungry they tasted great!

Just some food for thought, RA

[TreEkonomix]

One of the problems with a gluten-free diet is that it makes it much harder to get some of the essential vitamins (particularly the B-spectrum and some trace minerals) that the body needs. While it is certainly possible to get them with supplementation and the right balance of gluten-free grains, the ease of just including some whole wheat bread products, oatmeal, and standard vitamins (as opposed to those with the gluten-free fillers/binders that generally cost more) seems unnecessary. Additionally, it is hard to find good sources of soluble gluten-free fiber, at least for me. Many gluten-free products are made with rice flour or corn flour, which do not have as much fiber. Some products have buckwheat flour, teff flour, quinoa flour, etc., and those I find to be a better source.

Because of our allergies, we have to pay close attention to our diets. Although having a certain macronutrient balance (carb/fat/protein) can affect weight, I would think in the long term just paying attention to what is going into our mouths probably is the most significant reason for weight loss.

A good, balanced diet that regulates blood sugar and provides an adequate amount of vitamins/minerals, protein, and essential fatty acids should produce weight loss in anyone who is in need of it (in conjuction with exercise, of course). The American Diabetic Association (www.diabetic.org) has a lot of information on how to use diet to control blood sugar (and therefore hunger), how to portion foods correctly, etc. I'm sure the friends could lose weight just as easily on oats, ww bread, and couscous with olive oil as they could on cream of rice, rice bread, and brown rice stir fry!

Oh, and when it comes to weight loss, after my diagnosis, I stayed about the same weight, but instead of having a bloated belly, I guess I started to absorb nutrients better, because I was finally able to see the results of my workouts in the form of muscles. Go absorption!

[TreEkonomix]

One of the problems with a gluten-free diet is that it makes it much harder to get some of the essential vitamins (particularly the B-spectrum and some trace minerals) that the body needs. While it is certainly possible to get them with supplementation and the right balance of gluten-free grains, the ease of just including some whole wheat bread products, oatmeal, and standard vitamins (as opposed to those with the gluten-free fillers/binders that generally cost more) seems unnecessary. Additionally, it is hard to find good sources of soluble gluten-free fiber, at least for me. Many gluten-free products are made with rice flour or corn flour, which do not have as much fiber. Some products have buckwheat flour, teff flour, quinoa flour, etc., and those I find to be a better source.

Because of our allergies, we have to pay close attention to our diets. Although having a certain macronutrient balance (carb/fat/protein) can affect weight, I would think in the long term just paying attention to what is going into our mouths probably is the most significant reason for weight loss.

A good, balanced diet that regulates blood sugar and provides an adequate amount of vitamins/minerals, protein, and essential fatty acids should produce weight loss in anyone who is in need of it (in conjuction with exercise, of course). The American Diabetic Association (www.diabetic.org) has a lot of information on how to use diet to control blood sugar (and therefore hunger), how to portion foods correctly, etc. I'm sure the friends could lose weight just as easily on oats, ww bread, and couscous with olive oil as they could on cream of rice, rice bread, and brown rice stir fry!

Oh, and when it comes to weight loss, after my diagnosis, I stayed about the same weight, but instead of having a bloated belly, I guess I started to absorb nutrients better, because I was finally able to see the results of my workouts in the form of muscles. Go absorption!

[luvs2eat]

I was diagnosed very quickly. I'd only had tummy issues and diarrhea for a few months. I didn't have any weight loss before diagnosis and gained about 30 lbs. after going gluten free!! I sort of OD'd on foods I COULD have to ease my psychic pain for all the foods I could no longer have.

Ugh!!