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Help For A Friend

CH16

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CH16 Newbie
CH16
Posted

Hello,

I'm writing on behalf of a family friend. She is 89 years old and has had Celiac Shrue for many years. While she has been careful to maintain a gluten free diet for years; with her advancing age she is having trouble maintaining her weight. Not being computer savy she has asked if I could find any information (particularly any new information) on this disorder and maintaining weight or diet advice. A higher calorie diet that would be tolerated by a celiac patient (and an older lady) would be most welcome. I should note that she has had excellent medical care and seems to have no other known complicating factors, beyond her age. This woman is a dear friend to the the family, and a strong old gal; I would be thankful for any information, suggestions, links to articles, etc. that anyone could provide. Thanks in advance for any information.

CH

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Jnkmnky Collaborator
Jnkmnky
Posted

Open Original Shared Link

All of these bread products are tasty and filling. There are even donuts! Adding carbs to the diet may help her gain weight. We like the white tapicoca rice bread. Make sandwiches, french toast, etc.

Open Original Shared Link

Chebe is nice because she can make anything bread related she'd like. Even "hot pockets"-- stuff with cheese, ham, turkey broccoli, pepperoni, mozzerella, and on and on ....

gf4life Enthusiast
gf4life
Posted

It would be helpful to know what her diet consists of now, so we don't suggest too many things that she is already eating.

Is she mainly just needing help with eating more calories, and a wider variety of foods? Or does she think she might be getting some gluten in her diet accidentally and needing help to find the source?

I am glad that she is maintaining her health and that she has good medical care. If she is loosing weight then she must not be eating enough.

God bless,

Mariann

lbsteenwyk Explorer
lbsteenwyk
Posted

Since she was diagnosed years ago, she may be over-restricting her diet. There are some ingredients that celiacs can use that were once restricted - vinegar for instance. Here are a few links to current diet information.

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

I agree that it'd be helpful to know what she's eating now. If the main problem is not getting enough calories because she's not hungry or fills up fast, then she'll want to go with foods that don't cause her to fill up fast and are very calorie dense. Many store-bought gluten-free bread items are this way, because they may have a lot of fat, but I've found they also leave me VERY full for a while - especially if I'm drinking enough water with them to not get dehydrated - so it may work, but you'll want to be careful what items you go for. (The Kinnickinnick stuff I've tried isn't as "keep you full for half a day" as the Enjoy Life stuff I've had, for instance, and still has plenty of calories, so I'd second taking a look at the link for them that was already provided.)

Other things to go with are good sources of fat - like avocado, coconut, nuts, and oils. Eating frequently throughout the day can help too, as can getting low-intensity exercise. (For instance, if she's up to a fair amount of walking, doing that quite a bit in the day - slow walking, strolling, really - it can help stimulate the appetite. Though, again, it's important to see how it works for her.)

nettiebeads Apprentice
nettiebeads
Posted
Hello,

    I'm writing on behalf of a family friend. She is 89 years old and has had Celiac Shrue for many years. While she has been careful to maintain a gluten free diet for years; with her advancing age she is having trouble maintaining her weight. Not being computer savy she has asked if I could find any information (particularly any new information) on this disorder and maintaining weight or diet advice. A higher calorie diet that would be tolerated by a celiac patient (and an older lady) would be most welcome. I should note that she has had excellent medical care and seems to have no other known complicating factors, beyond her age. This woman is a dear friend to the the family, and a strong old gal; I would be thankful for any information, suggestions, links to articles, etc. that anyone could provide. Thanks in advance for any information.

            CH

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Does she have a dr that specializes in geriatrics? Has she been tested for diabetes? Weight loss is a symptom of that too, and at her age it could be a possibility. I'd like for her to be able to rule out other factors before focusing just on the Celiac aspect.

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      By cristiana · Posted

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      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Katht -  I sympathize with your struggles in following a gluten-free diet and lifestyle. I found out that I had Celiac Disease a few months before I turned 70. I just turned 89 and it has taken me almost 20 years to attain a fairly normal intestinal  function. I also lost a lot of weight, down to 100 lb. down from about 140 lb. What Trents wrote you was very true for me. I am still elimination foods from my diet. One person suggested you keep a food diary and that is a good idea but it is probably best just to do an elimination diet. There are several ne and maybe one for celiacs. I used one for a while and started with plain rice and zucchini and then added back other foods to see if I reacted or not. That helped a great deal but what I did not realise that it would only very small amounts of some foods to cause inflammation in my intestine. Within the last few years I have stopped eating any trace amounts of hot peppers, corn and soy(mostly in supplements) and nuts, (the corn in Tylenol was giving me stomach aches and the nuts were causing foot pains). Starting an elimination diet with white rice is better than brown rice that has some natural toxins. In addition it is very important to drink sufficient plain water. You can find out how much to drink for your height and weight online. I do have difficulty drinking 48 ounces of water but just recently have found an electrolyte supplement that helps me stay well hydrated, Adding the water and electrolytes may reduce muscle cramps and gag spams you wrote about. . Also buy some anti-gluten enzyme capsules to take with meals. I use GliadinX advertised here. These are a lot of things to do at one time as they reflect my 20 years of experience. I hope you do what you can manage to do over time. Good luck and take care.
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