Can You Gain Weight On A Gluten Free Diet?

[looneymom]

This is a stupid question but I need to know. Tyler is unable to exercise right now. On a normal diet to maintain weight a person usually consumes 2000 calories a day. I'm trying to figure out if I need to count calories while doing this diet with him. He wants to lose some weight but I don't want him to feel like he is starving. Do you feel like this in the beginning? Does this diet change help speed up your body's metabolism? I plan on doing this diet with him to see if it will help with my allergies and pain. I just want to try to be prepared as much as possible. I have been looking at some old post on Gluten Free diets. Sounds like many of you have been successful and had some relief with symptoms. Please share any good advice.

Rachel

[Katybug]

There are lots of things you can eat on a GF diet. And, yes I am someone who gained on a GF diet. Although, we think my weight gain is a combo of exercise intolerance and one of the meds I'm on that's known to cause severe weight gain. And, no one warns you, so I will....the processed foods that are gluten free often have surprising other bad ingredients like MSG in then, so if you are buying processed foods for snacks, etc., you have to be careful to read the labels so you don't end up consuming something else thatwill causes a problem.

[Hope]

I lost a lot of weight while eating gluten free, but I had started losing it before I went gluten-free. Although the doctors blame my weight loss on my gluten free diet. I don't buy too much processed gluten free foods. I use Pamela's baking mix for a lot of things. I buy the big bag I eat a lot of chicken, fresh and frozen veges, rice, and rice products (like DeBoles GF pasta). I eat a LOT of potatoes. So much that I have started to cut back. Nightshades are not suppose to be good for pain, you should look that up. Potatoes and tomatoes are nightshades. Bisquick makes a good GF baking mix. I use that for chicken pot pie. The recipe is right on line. I alter it a little though to fit my needs. My main diet staple is homemade chicken vege soup. I make at least one pot every week and eat it through the week. Also Progresso's chicken rice soup is gluten free so I keep those on hand when I can't cook anything.

I don't know if it did anything with my metabolism. I think the weight loss was probably dysautonomia related. I was close to 170 and within about 2 years I was 120 and I eat all day long. Mind you, I was down to 140 before I even went gluten free, hence I think my docs are off on blaming the diet. Now I'm up to 130 again. Who knows how I gained 10 pounds either. I haven't done anything different that I can think of. I hope he finds some relief with his diet changes. He's so young to have to go through this!

[yogini]

It sounds complicated - you may want to talk to a dr. Recommended calorie intake would depend on height/gender/size/age/etc. No gluten means limited junk food options (cookies, cakes, etc.), so may help with weightloss. But you could easily measure out the calories he eats now and eat the same number of calories with gluten free foods.

I will admit I gained a couple of sizes when I first had POTS. It came off again over time when I got back to a more normal level of activity. If you can improve the POTS it will be easier to resolve the weight, or may resolve on its own...unless you think the weight is causing the POTS, that would be a different story.

[yogini]

By the way I lost weight too when I tried gluten free for a month!

[Mydoggielovesme2]

Hi Rachel, when I first started the diet in April, I lost 10 lbs in two weeks. This was not a good time for me though. I had just found out I had celiac disease, and was almost afraid to eat. You also start to detox--that's what it felt like anyway.

Now that I have been GF for 7 1/2 months my weight is very stable. I am a very healthily eater though. A word of caution, many prepared GF foods are high in sugars. I think they substitute sugar for the gluten.

Betty Hagman has some great GF cookbooks. Also the Gluten free grocery guide is a big help with shopping.

I just posted on another thread about checking for gluten in medications. Glutenfreedrugs.com is a fantastic help. Most Drs don't know about the gluten in meds.

Hope this next step helps for you and your family. Shona

[thegron]

You can definitely gain weight on a gluten-free diet. You can gain weight on any diet because in the end, it all comes down to your caloric intake. It is probably easier to lose weight on a GF diet though.

Good luck!

[badhbt]

I have been on a gluten free diet for 4 weeks. I have not lost any lbs, but I know from experience that doesn't always mean anything. So I took measurements of my waist, hips, and thighs. I have lost an inch in the hips, inch in the waist, and .4 inches on the upper thighs. This is good for me, especially since I have had pretty much no exercise.

Before I went GF I was on a really low fat diet with moderate carbs and high protein. This is when my POTS started, I was also exercising twice a day.

Now I am eating plenty of fat, good fat from avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, animal fat, nuts, seeds. I was always under the impression that fat = fat. I am learning now that our bodies need lots of fat to absorb vitamins, and it is so good for the nerves and brain.

I am going to give it 3 months before I consider Gluten my trigger, but I am definitely leaning towards it.

[kayjay]

I didn't lose weight on a gluten free diet. My teen is also gluten free as well.

Neither of us are trying to lose weight though. We eat carbs, protien and fat. If I drop weight (which has happened to me before) I increase the amount of cheese and nuts I eat. Milk shakes are not out of the question either. With growing children keeping up caloric intake is important. Remember to that a lot of gluten food (breads and cereals) are vitamin enriched. Most gluten free foods are not. Vitiamin supplimentation is often recommended for those going gluten free.

So yes- you can gain weight on the gluten free diet. I'm not trying to lose or gain and I've been able to stay pretty steady gluten free.

We eat rice and potatoes instead of pasta and use gluten free bread.

[E Soskis]

I've tried all sorts of diets - the last one being the gluten free diet. I am convinced that I can gain wait on any diet - even a food-free diet! I'm with Katybug: I think it more of the medications I take and the lack of exercise due to intolerance......