Gluten Free - Wallingford,CT

Updated on November 16, 2011
L.B. asks from Berwick, ME
10 answers

I started a gluten free diet over the summer. I have celiac disease. I have gained so much weight since starting the diet. Is this normal? How can I manage this diet and loose weight? What is causing the weight gain? Is the gluten free flour more fattening? I make most of my own food, I don't care for the gluten free bread on the market. Are some flours more fattening than others?

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A.L.

answers from Las Vegas on

Check out wellnessmama,com << good articles on there about going gluten free and the adverse affects of grains/sugar in general. which leads me to.. while you are cutting out gluten, perhaps you stepped up something else in its place such as sugar? I wonder because sometimes we trade something out to get more of another... kinda like when a person gives up cigarettes but starts making something else a habit.. maybe keep a journal to see what your daily patterns are. additionally, maybe you are consuming too much fruit. as natural as it is, too much of it can make a person gain.. especially with the more high glycemic choices such as Bananas...

either way, check out the website, I found it very helpful.. also, be sure and include exercise. to me, that is what works best... gotta get the body moving..

my best to you and yours

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J.L.

answers from Chicago on

I would be talking to your doctor about this. I don't think it is normal to gain when when you've gone gluten free. However, many gluten free products are higher in sugar and calories!! Have your eating habits changed? Make sure you are keeping a journal of what you are eating and the portion size. This is probably the time to incorporate more veggies, fruits and lean proteins.

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J.W.

answers from Lexington on

I lost weight when I went gluten-free. I did not just substitute gluten with processed foods or baked goods. I changed my way of eating (I also had to get off dairy... did they tell you to do that for a while? Also, I can't have eggs due to it giving me a severe intestinal reaction :-( )

Yes, it is possible to be gluten-free and still eat high carb baked/processed foods. Yes, all flours can be high carb and thus high calories. Yes, I do think some flours are more fattening then others - mostly because the final product can be really dense - therefore high calorie, rather than the light fluffy stuff of the wheat... it really depends on the final product and denseness, carb (and straight sugar) content.

My older daughter is so sensitive to glutens she eventually realized she needed to get off all grains (not sure about quinoa, and remember-buckwheat is not a grain), and she feels much better.

Anyway, I eat a mostly whole foods diet now. Sure, I can eat gluten-free pancakes made with no dairy, no eggs, but I only make that once in a blue moon as a treat when we have guests staying over that really need the extra calories.

If you are worried about the weight gain, try simply doing without the baked goods for a while, and change to whole foods. I am NOT perfect about it, and I still need to lose ten pounds, and I get cravings and so have my dark chocolate in the freezer I sometimes get a square out of, and I have my brown rice cakes I love to melt Daiya "cheese" over. And OMG - if someone made me gluten, dairy- egg-free brownies, I most probably would eat them ;-) But, my every-day core foods are whole foods.

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G.L.

answers from Portland on

I have been GF for over 2 years and I lost 8-10 lbs. I know that many GF sweets have a lot of sugar -- to the point that my teeth hurt eating them. I still am not crazy about any of the bread unless it is hot out of the oven. Most of the time I try to go without those things and it has worked. At first it was tough...but worth it. When I eat hamburgers I actually prefer it lettuce wrapped than in the bun.

The snacks I reach for most are nuts, fruit, veggies and dried fruit.

What makes the situation worse is that I also am dairy-free. I miss dairy more than gluten. :( What I would do for some real yogurt.....soy almond and even coconut based yogurt just doesn't cut it for me.

I forgot to add that perhaps you should get your thyroid rechecked if you haven't done that in the last few months.

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D.B.

answers from Madison on

My daughter is gluten free, she's 14 and started to be concerned about her weight . . . she's always had people telling her, oh, your gonna be so thin eating gluten free - but she wasn't (she wasn't fat, but wasn't thin either). She was eating a lot of gluten free bread (udi's is a good brand and believe me, we've tried them all), gluten free donuts, gf granola bars, etc . . . carbs are carbs, doesn't matter if they are gf or not. The heart of gluten free eating is eating non-processed foods - real food - meat, fruits, veggies. She's limited her carb intake and is doing great on her weight (not that she had to lose, but she feels good now as well).

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S.E.

answers from Wichita Falls on

Gluten Free should not be more fattening, but celiac causes damage to your intestines. Over time your body is less able to absorb the food your are eating (this includes nutrents not just calories). Your body is just healing from a lifetime of damage and using more of what you are eating.

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N.L.

answers from Chicago on

I know that when my husband started eating gluten free, he simply ate more because he didn't get the "full" feeling that he got from foods with gluten. Are your portion sizes staying the same?

I agree with the other posters as well. Carbs are carbs, and you also have to make sure you're not replacing the gluten with sugar (seriously, why are there some many gluten free sweets out there and less of the "healthy" stuff)?

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S.O.

answers from Chicago on

Many people who have Celiac put on weight because as the body heals your body begans absorbing more. You will need to adjust your calorie intake.
Be careful of any packaged gluten free foods because they are generally higher in calories.
I buy Udi's bread and I bake with almond flour.

Give your body time to heal and adjust your diet as needed.

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T.O.

answers from Minneapolis on

We are gluten and dairy free at our house. The GF flours are not more fattening, they are just high on the glycemic index, so basically your eating pure sugar. We do not use any GF flours or buy the processed box meals. We eat whole foods, grass fed beef and organic chicken. Veggies and fruit. We use coconut flour, almond meal, chia seed, flaxseed, GF oats, etc. to make the treats (brownies, cookies, etc.) Almond meal/flour is perfect because it adds so much protein without the carbs. Google Elana's Pantry......she has awesome recipes that don't use those GF flours.

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J.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Sorry to hear that! I am not too familiar about gluten free anything but am trying to change that and I came across this list of some gluten free websites and they are pretty good resources that you may be interested in checking out > http://www.skinnyscoop.com/list/greentalk/great-gluten-fr...

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