If I do a gluten free diet for my fat tum as I am not coeliac, how strict do I have to be to hopefully get some decent results? Obviously I would eliminate the obvious things but what about, for example, ready made things ie.cup of soup, that have a smidgen of cornflower?
How have others of you managed?
Thanks.....Valerie
Hi, I have not gone gluten free, but have virtually eliminated bread, cereral etc. I am doing SW and I am allowed small amounts of bread, but am choosing not to have it, and I am doing very well. lost 12lbs in 5 weeks! so am delighted, and most of the weight has come off of my tummy x
Congrats!!! SW is great. I did really well on it before I started having real trouble with my thyroid. I am the same as you in that I tend to avoid bread and I do much better. Sometimes it seems to be the bread itself rather than the gluten. This appears particularly true of supermarket breads and I think that is down to the method used to make it.
You have done fantastically well in 5 weeks. Keep up the good work 
I think cornflour is gluten free anyway, although cross contamination in the manufacturing process could be an issue.
I'm doing the same as you as all my research keeps coming back to non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (I tested negative for actual coeliac).
I decided to get used to not having the obvious foods to start off with, but am now getting more picky as I've realised how much better I feel without it.
The supermarket free from ranges have a selection of ready made things (definitely saw some cans of soup!) if, like me, you just can't be bothered to cook sometimes or need something quick.
If you're just doing it for weight loss though I would have thought a small amount here and there wouldn't make a difference? As tingles says, I think bread is the main culprit really...
Hampster
Thank you Tingles and Hampster. I never have eaten bread but do eat a few crispbread or scan bran but mainly try to substitute them with wholegrain ricecakes. Another problem is what to use instead of of All Bran. It seems to be the only thing that works, I eat tons of fruit and veg, drink plenty but still the only food that works a bit is All Bran.....Valerie
Cutting out gluten if you then substitute with gluten free breads, pastas etc wont make you lose weight. Your hashi will thank you for it though! The best way to lose the weight is go low carb and eat less fat and eliminate refined sugar. Re: bran - do you like porridge or oats? It's a good source of fibre and you can get GF varieties.
It's the famous tummy wodge I would like to get rid of. First to come and last to go and supposedly caused by gluten. With normal slimming diets, type Slimming World I do well and get my weight to an acceptable level but the fat on the abdomen just doesn't want to budge. Yes I have eaten Porridge Oats whilst on a SW diet but oats apparently contain gluten and I do need my All Bran which is full of gluten too. Very difficult to decide what to do about that hence my query about how gluten free does one need to go to hopefully get rid of some of the fat on the abdomen.....Valerie
You can get g-f porridge oats from H & B, Sainsbury's etc.
Thanks cinnamon girl, I might give them a go if they aren't too expensive.....Valerie
Stress can affect the hormones that contribute to belly fat. There's a good article about it here: naturalnews.com/037006_bell...
Totally agree with Tingles. This is what I have experienced myself. Bread makes me bloated; homemade bread less so. I do wonder if yeast plays a part here as well as the gluten.
It has to be worth a try even if you are not doing a strict coeliac diet. You may well find that avoiding bread and other cereals (particular refined) helps you.
Let us know how it goes.
Interesting, Carolyn, that home-made bread makes you feel less bloated, because there is evidence that it is the method used to make commercial bread which is the problem:
westonaprice.org/digestive-...
Home baking could be the answer, also the modern strains of wheat are implicated.
MarieXX
Are you sure it's not the soya flour that seems to be in most bread nowadays, even that baked in-store?
I've not thought about that. It may be that and the baking process they use these days.
Hi CarolynB, I'm a bit of a health freak, don't eat bread or pasta, never have and all my food is wholegrain and cooked from raw. Sometimes I go mad and eat everything in sight for a couple of days so I probably undo my good work but am really curious to try going totally gluten free but am not sure about how totally. I'll just have to try and see what happens....Valerie
I'm GF now because I have hashimotos. My immune system is overstimulated by gluten and then attacks my thyroid hence becoming hypothyroid. This is why GF is advocated for us hypos with hashi. It isnt about losing weight. There isn't much point in going GF but nt totally GF!!!! Do you eat a lot of sugar and fat? I had a wonderful health food diet before I went GF but I was still eating way too much fat and sugar of the honey/ agave variety!!!!! When I cut the carbs the weight just melts off but as with all diets it sometimes hard to stick too - I love my potatoes!!!!!
Hi janiebell, no I don't eat sugar and fat though I now realise that no fat diet is not so good after all. It's not so much about the overall weight, I can manage that, it's the hypothyroid fat abdomen that won't budge even if I get quite slim. I have read that going gluten free helps this problem and wondered if anybody has found this to be the case....Valerie
I've been cooking food from fresh since I started on a special programme with an acupuncturist (acupuncture, herbs and nutrition, which I followed for a while before I went on levo), so my diet has been very good. Like you I have that belly fat. Low carb didn't agree with me (I felt very ill) and gf (strictly gf for about 12mos) didn't change anything. T3 helped a lot with the bloating/oedema, which had swelled my whole torso as well as virtually everywhere else.
I think all this stuff is worth a try though because some people feel very much better for it.
Everything should be gluten and wheat free watch out for it coming under differennt names bake and cook from fresh but stay away from too many gluten free products as they can be fattening. You will reep great rewarss but be patient it take 3 months for your body to forget . X
Hi Polly, I can't really afford gluten free stuff but think I will try the oats as suggested on here. It shouldn't be too difficult for me as I already eat mainly fruit, veg and eggs and this morning after just one day gluten free I feel less bloated and clearer in the head.....Valerie
I went gluten free because I have hashis hypoT and was uncomfortable and bloated every day for years before that. I lost 5 or 6kg without even trying by avoiding wheat and gluten. I would never go back. I make everything from scratch to avoid preservatives and additives - even so called 'natural' ones that I react to like sulphates and citrates, nitrates and firming agents. I've not looked back. It's not hard to be GF - it was a fun challenge to find different things to have, especially at lunch times. It's been very beneficial for me. I'd recommend being GF. X
Hi Alit, Well a couple of days gluten free for me has certainly made me 90% less bloated. I tried the Sainsbury's gluten free porridge oats and they are very nice. I've always known that Ryvita didn't really suit me but, as I didn't ever eat bread, it seemed the only choice. I'm eating wholegrain rice cakes now and have left off the All Bran. Those were really the only gluten containing things I ate unless I was on a cake binge!!....Valerie
After reading your post a couple of days ago (or yesterday) I gave up the porridge oats in the morning. I thought i tolerated it well. Everything else ive been totally gluten free since january. I decided to give up the oats as im the same as you Valerie big bloated tum, i look pregnant and ive lost a stone and a half! Anyway, Im less bloated, less gassy and less blocked (ahem) today since having gluten free porridge. I think as Ive cut it out ive become more sensitive to any whiff of gluten. I think if you cut out the bran you'll be fine because the wheat part may be counter acting the fibre. As for the belly. have you had your adrenals checked as cortisol and i cant remember if its high or low can make you keep your belly. I have a book at the mo "fat around the middle" Marilyn Glenville and its an interesting read. Basically give up caffeine sugar and don't count calories. the less calories you eat the more your body holds onto body fat. I found this diet on another discussion here. Anyway she has a website. take a look
marilynglenville.com/womens...
hope this helps and i'll see how i go without the oats now
Hi, haha couldn't bear a third day of porridge so had egg and rice cakes. I never did like breakfast but I have to eat it to take all those supplements. Funny situation not liking breakfast when I am a bit of a pig. Interesting your link but I think the author is referring to the waistline fat around the middle whereas I don't have that problem, my fat is umbilical level and it's more like "pinch 6 inches" and not the famous "pinch an inch". I gave up sugar about 50 years ago and caffeine about 10 years ago but have now been reading that new studies say that coffee is actually quite good for you. Here is one write up in the Globe and Mail:
The Times piece highlights several recent studies linking java to better health – specifically, studies that showed coffee-drinkers were more likely to live longer, ward off diabetes and avoid certain cancers.
“Other recent studies have linked moderate coffee drinking – the equivalent of three or four 5-ounce cups of coffee a day or a single venti-size Starbucks – with more specific advantages: a reduction in the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, basal cell carcinoma (the most common skin cancer), prostate cancer, oral cancer and breast cancer recurrence.”
But perhaps the most jolting good news is this:
“In a 2012 study of humans, researchers from the University of South Florida and the University of Miami, tested the blood levels of caffeine in older adults with mild cognitive impairment, or the first glimmer of serious forgetfulness, a common precursor of Alzheimer’s disease, and then re-evaluated them two to four years later. Participants with little or no caffeine circulating in their bloodstreams were far more likely to have progressed to full-blown Alzheimer’s than those whose blood indicated they’d had about three cups’ worth of caffeine.”
mines down in the umbilical bit too 
I tried one day with no caffeine felt awful. I saw my gut again today trying on swimsuits. it looks worse cause ive lost weight elsewhere. When i exercise its like a rubber ring around me. hate it! one lady posted a photo of herself on fb she had a "pregnant" tummy a year of t3 only and she looks great.
This is so interesting. Will be really good to see how you get on.
Over 20 years ago, I did wheat free - now that made gluten free look like a walk in the park, as wheat is in so much - even baking powder! It was to try and improve my joint pain and mood, but it did not seem to do either, so stopped it after a year. I can't remember losing any weight either, and eventually went to WW, and did the whole gold badge thing - and put it all back on...such is life!
Low carb got rid of 3 (thyroid) stone, but then I stuck for 2 years. Now the 5:2 has got shot of another one. But - here is my caveat - I ate my way though a delicious organic loaf this past week. And guess what? Yes, 3 lbs back on. So now I know.
Best of luck
Jenni x
Hi, I have gone totally gluten free as became intolerant and have been hypothyroid for many years. It can be expensive but Li** and Al** have a good range and are generally cheaper. Also Morr***** have a great range of GF food. I put in the asterisks as wasn't sure if we could name the supermarkets. I always read the ingredients of non labelled GF foods as sometimes they can change. Cooking fresh from scratch and then freezing is best and just have the odd thing if I don't want to cook much. All the best.
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