Question About Water

[CGally81]

Had symptoms for 5 months, went gluten free in early August, and it's been nearly 2 months. I'm still going through withdrawal symptoms. Muscle twitches, but they're not as bad as they were before, and the tingling and itchiness came and went, but what's still there, though it's gradually getting better, is the hunger.

Yes, I have to eat a lot. It started out with having to eat like a full meal's worth every hour and a half or so, and now I can handle going for longer periods of time with a closer-to-normal-sized amount of food, though I still have large snacks.

All my food is healthy, with the exception of gluten-free Chex (well, it does contain tons of vitamins), and ice cream from when the ice cream truck stops by work. The rest of my food is mostly natural stuff like bananas, chicken, fish, turkey, etc. along with rice and popcorn.

Anyway, does drinking a lot of water help reduce the hunger? I'll still make sure to have the same amount of food anyway, since I think what my body mostly wants is calories anyway, but does water help fill you up so you don't "crave" it as much? Does it help you stay alert longer? Or does it really not matter if I go from 8 glasses a day to 16?

[Dada2hapas]

I don't know if drinking more than 8 glasses of water a day helps keep you full. Current research papers do not show benefit to drinking more than 8 glasses of water per day. That can actually cause a lowering of electrolytes, which isn't a good thing.

Drink water when you're thirsty, and drink enough, but even too much of a good thing isn't good. That can be drowning. 2 cents.

[T.H.]

so far, I'm in about the same boat, hunger-wise. I've been gluten free since the end of July. Still hungry all the time, pretty much constantly. I had tons of allergic reactions, so I'm doing the plain, non-processed foods just like you as well.

Water hasn't helped me much. Feels like I have to eat all the time if I want to stay full, and often I'm just too freaking tired to eat that often, or make that much food that I CAN eat. But...although I haven't tried this...I remember a dieters trick some of my friends used to swear by. Adding a little something to your water. A little sweetener, lemon juice, something, and your body's hunger response treats it a bit more like food and it'll affect your feeling of being 'hungry.' that's the theory, anyway. I think lemon juice was the one that was supposed to work best.

Like I said, don't know if it actually works, but might help with the hunger as long as you keep eating what you need. :-)

Had symptoms for 5 months, went gluten free in early August, and it's been nearly 2 months. I'm still going through withdrawal symptoms. Muscle twitches, but they're not as bad as they were before, and the tingling and itchiness came and went, but what's still there, though it's gradually getting better, is the hunger.

Yes, I have to eat a lot. It started out with having to eat like a full meal's worth every hour and a half or so, and now I can handle going for longer periods of time with a closer-to-normal-sized amount of food, though I still have large snacks.

All my food is healthy, with the exception of gluten-free Chex (well, it does contain tons of vitamins), and ice cream from when the ice cream truck stops by work. The rest of my food is mostly natural stuff like bananas, chicken, fish, turkey, etc. along with rice and popcorn.

Anyway, does drinking a lot of water help reduce the hunger? I'll still make sure to have the same amount of food anyway, since I think what my body mostly wants is calories anyway, but does water help fill you up so you don't "crave" it as much? Does it help you stay alert longer? Or does it really not matter if I go from 8 glasses a day to 16?

[Wolicki]

so far, I'm in about the same boat, hunger-wise. I've been gluten free since the end of July. Still hungry all the time, pretty much constantly. I had tons of allergic reactions, so I'm doing the plain, non-processed foods just like you as well.

Water hasn't helped me much. Feels like I have to eat all the time if I want to stay full, and often I'm just too freaking tired to eat that often, or make that much food that I CAN eat. But...although I haven't tried this...I remember a dieters trick some of my friends used to swear by. Adding a little something to your water. A little sweetener, lemon juice, something, and your body's hunger response treats it a bit more like food and it'll affect your feeling of being 'hungry.' that's the theory, anyway. I think lemon juice was the one that was supposed to work best.

Like I said, don't know if it actually works, but might help with the hunger as long as you keep eating what you need. :-)

I just came out of the hungry phase. Lasted over 2 months! I was ravenous all the time! I am still fairly hungry up til lunch, then at lunch I eat a little and I am full. It's nice to know that I can actually feel full! I was getting worried for a while

I tried lots of water, and found that nothing makes that kind of hungry go away. I had to get up several times a night to eat because hunger actually woke me up

Now I eat pretty small meals 4 times a day and feel satisfied.

[ang1e0251]

Your body needs what it needs, feed it!! It's pretty simple. Don't freak out by how much you're eating, it will taper off when it's ready. Just be sure you're eating safe foods.

I would take a look at how much protein you're eating. I try to have a protein with every meal and snack which helps keep blood sugar levels on an even keel, blood sugar out of whack can also drive hunger. Also make sure you're eating enough good dietary fats, they help calm hunger as well and we need them to build muscle, like our heart muscle. Foods like nuts, cheese, meats, avocado, coconut milk and coconut oil are excellant for you. You will come out of the hunger, don't worry about it.

[Generic]

I went through the "hungry" phase for about 3 or 4 years. I would be physically "full". I would feel like like I ate too much, but still have a hunger sensation. It just depends on how much damage you have.