Has anyone else with a gluten and wheat intolerence found that they put on weight easily?

[SophieLouise]

I was told that gluten free products can be more fattening so I try and eat as much fresh and healthy foods as I can, but I still put on weight. Any ideas on how to combat this?

[Hidden]

you need to remember that your body was panicking before and behaving in starvation mode -scraping every last bit of good out of the food that it could with such a damaged gut. I don't know if you can reset this - I'll be interested to see what others say.

[barny in reply to Hidden]

yes me to was eating all day was sarving but now after nearly 12months is ok went to see my dietiction and she said it was normol some days am not so hungry x

[Lexy]

I don't think I've gained weight since cutting out gluten (coming up for 2.5 months now) but I'm certainly NOT losing weight, which seems to be a common result for many others... I was wondering if this meant that I needed to cut out more things from my diet, such as corn, rice, soya...?? I too try to focus on fruit, salads, fresh vegetables (not in order to lose weight but just to eat healthily and because I'm fortunate enough to enjoy them!)...I hope some more people comment here to see what they have to say!

[barny in reply to Lexy]

i have gained 12lbs in a year so trying to cut down not easy lol

[NorthernSoul]

I lost around a stone before I was diagnosed and I'm slowly putting it back on (I think- although it's been a few months now and I'm still not back to normal!) but I've attributed that to the fact my gut's beginning to absorb stuff properly again.

I think once your gut has healed, the only way not to lose weight is to do it the old-fashioned way- healthy food and lots of exercise. You're right in that a lot of GF pre-made stuff is high in fat too, so being selective with those is a good plan.

It might be that even the naturally GF parts of your old diet are simply too calorific and the only thing that was keeping you from gaining weight pre-diagnosis was the coeliac damage to your gut. Perhaps you could mention the problem you're having to your dietician- they should be able to help you out.

[barny in reply to NorthernSoul]

yes think thats best i gained the same had lost a stone befor i was diagnosed lol

[Penel]

I lost weight when I first went gluten free about 10 years ago (OK for me as I needed to). How easy you find it to lose weight will also depend on your age and sex (hormones play a big part). I find that foods high in sugar/carbs will make me put on weight, so I avoid supermarket 'free-from' food, and just make myself a small amount of bread etc. I do not eat 'low fat' as I am old enough to remember the days before fat was demonised!

I found this article in Scientific American very interesting, I hope it might be helpful scientificamerican.com/arti...

[Fifitricks]

When I went totally gluten/wheat/barley and malt free I lost a stone in weight and it was fine because I needed to but same as some others now my weight has crept back up. I am 50yrs old and have an under active thyroid also going through the Menapause so I know it's not going to be easy so I have at last joined WW but thankfully I cant not eat many of their ready made meals because they include many of the above. So will be doing it the old fashioned was lol. I have said it before and will say it again I get much more info off this site than any where else thanks folks.

xxx

[Wendi8]

Thanks for the link Penel, very interesting. I adopt a modified Atkins diet for myself and my son Matthew. He has Lennox Gastaut syndrome, a severe epilepsy syndrome. Matthew has had ulcerative colitis for 11 years and couldn't eat at all. He had an ileostomy in 2010 and his gallbladder removed last year. As a result of this he has piled on the weight because he is enjoying food so much. We are both Gluten and dairy free and I bake all cakes and biscuits myself. Something I came across by accident to help with my weight was a tablet I was given to take with pain killers. Lansoprazole. It reduces my stomach acid and that really has cut down my desire to eat. You can get a similar result by taking a quarter teaspoon of bicarb in a small glass of water half an hour before eating first thing in the morning.

[donnyclifffan]

I have been gluten, wheat, dairy, celary and nut free for nearly 12 years and i am having a lot of difficulty with my weight, my doctor is refering me to a nutrisionist now. i eat lots of fresh fruit and veg only 2 slices of tesco fresh free from bread a day. i only buy one packet of biscuits a month and rarely bake cakes, every body is baffled by it. i am on a lot of medication which could be part of the problem. i take 2 lansoprazole a day and it makes no difference. it is very frustrating, i am over 50 and gone through the manopause. if anybody has answers that would be great

[Wendy-j]

I lost 3 stone in no time at all when I first went gf, maybe it could of been because my under active thyroid corrected its self eventually after years of having Meds increased every 3 months. I strongly recommend having a blood test for thyroid if you are putting weight on easy. Good luck x

[anniet in reply to Wendy-j]

Hi wendy,

Its nice to hear that there is hope. I take thyroid meds for hashimotos and stuggle with 1.5 stone excess. awaiting results but all pointing coeliac.have started GF diet today as was still being tested till now.

annie

[tug_6]

I wish i COULD put on weight. i was diagnosed coeliac when i was 30 (although i had all the symptoms of the condition from the age 10) nobody would listen to me at that age, i have always been thin becaust of it and at 30 it took a grip on me and i went down to 7st. when i first went on the diet i went on a eating binge eating anything in sight and shot up to 12st and it settled at 11st for years. now i have been cursed with cancer although it seems i am going to get through it ok and have gone back to 8st. apart from the "binge" days i cant for the life of me put on weight.. I try to eat anything that is full fat and i even fry food in fat rather than oil. (watched over by a doctor) nothing seems to work so i jog on through life happy that i am as well as i can be at 64.

[Jacks]

I lost a lot of weight over the past decade or so before diagnosis and haven't put any of it back on although I'm trying. I'm constantly eating so ironically people ask me if I'm always at the gym! I suppose when this situation improves I can imagine healing to be taking place.

[bettyboo]

I was rediagnosed when i was 42 year old which i weighed under 7 stone and now at the age of 58 i am 10 stone and trying to diet,so yes you can gain weight .I was a super skinny person.Because our bodies get better the diet we are on allows our bodies to heal.

[HazelG]

before I was diagnosed wheat intolerance lost 5 stone on diet. Even then found had to cut back on all starchy foods. Now IBS makes worse because of severe constipation. Not sure if it is starchy food doing this but suspect it might be. not seen dietcian yet will let you know what advice is given. level of gf bread taken now down to max (with care on other starchy foods) of four 400g loaf slices of W per day and 200g potato. Rice appears not to matter. Weight has slowly crept up (8lbs in three years) but had to deny quite rigorously not to put weight on. hope questions get resolved

[meanioni]

Was always a fat boy and still am, despite not eating badly. My father was Irish and the whole family are little, round gnomes (my wife says stick us in a row, put a hat on us and give us a fishing rod and we'd be there... hmmm)

Anyway, one interesting thing to consider, I know there has been research done on dieting and one of the recommendations is eating little and often. I am told that having big gaps between meals, skipping meals or starving makes the body switch into "famine mode" and it stores more food as fat on your body.

The idea being from our hunter-gatherer ancestors, they would have "seasons" for food or gluts/famines of food so the body adjusts, when it detects hunger, more food is stored as fat to act as a reserve. If course with modern lifestyles few of us ever get true famine so the long term result of having a lifestyle that could trigger this is for the body to lay down more fat.

So, little and often!

[jackieO]

Appetite regulation is a really complex process involving hormonal and neuronal pathways in the gut and the brain. It can take a lot of self will to reprogramme your settings once you have got used to eating frequently which may have been the case before diagnosis. It is part of the global obesity problem that the human system is so programmed to extract all energy if possible as you do not know when your next meal is coming that now food is readily available 24/7 (to the developed world) we eat without really being hungry or needing to and therefore put on weight really easily.

Even a HEALTHY diet can make you gain weight if your calorie intake is greater than your calorie expenditure as I regularly find myself trying to explain to parents of overweight children. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie whether it comes from an apple or a packet of crisps.