<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for the many responses to my post on Hungry!  I received well over 50=

responses and thank everyone who sent an e-mail.  Many who responded
experienced the same feelings of hunger much of the time.  Others offered
advice on diet or suggested looking into other maladies as the cause of the
hungry sensation. Many requested a summary and I apologize for the delay in
posting the summary.  We recently returned home from a trip to southern
California.

Here is my summary of what I learned from the responses:

1.  Many of those who responded suggested consuming too many carbohydrates
and the resulting low blood sugar/hypoglycemia may be a problem (suggest
eating six small meals a day, protein and fruits; avoid sugar, processed
flour, rice, potatoes, bread and other high glycemic foods).

2.  Several asked, "Are you sure you are gluten free?" and thought hidden
gluten may be a problem; urged following the GF diet carefully.

3.  Check for possible anemia, consider seeing a nutritionist

4.  Two suggested checking for diabetes

5.  Two said to check for gastritis and excess stomach acid; also cut down on
sugar

6.  Check for possible peptic ulcer

7.  Two suggested insufficient stomach acid and taking a digestive enzyme
with every meal (pancreatic acid enzymes - Solgar makes a GF one); check into
leaky gut syndrome

8.  Check for candida yeast infection; also eliminate refined carbs and take
a pro-biotic

9.  Three said your body is trying to make up for the food it has been
lacking (in my case I've been gluten free for 1 and A1/2 years)

10.  Two found it helpful to eat a filler at each meal; potatoes are good,
nut butters, etc.

11.  Many urged drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day -- thirst may be
confused for hunger.  In my case I drink plenty of water, however one
listmate wrote the following and it seems like very good advice:  "Do
you drink adequate fluids throughout the day?  A nutritionist I see told
me that sipping water all day is the best way to get the fluids we need
to actually go into our tissuesa | I find that if I'm hydrated, I do not
have many hunger pangs at all. Another thing is to get adequate amounts
of protein in your diet. Proteins stay with me longer than bread, fruits
and vegetables."

12. There is a food group you have not satisfied your taste buds for and are
craving

13. You may be craving vitamins, nutrients which are lacking due to diet
restrictions/eat variety of foods and lots of fruits; try sports drinks

14. "The sensation of hunger developed as the CD developed, since you were
absorbing less and less food."  Resist temptation to eat in order to avoid
obesity.

15. One found relief giving up all dairy

16. One suggested the following web site and to post questions there:
http://forums.delphiforums.com/celiac/messages/ "There are kind &
knowledgeable people there, and moreover, I have voluntarily posted
thousands of GF recipes."

=====================

One of the responses I received on my query on why I was hungry almost all
the time was from Heidi S.  Because it was such a thoughtful response and
included so many good ideas, I wanted to share it with everyone:

"I have a theory that when your villi get damaged, and you aren't getting
enough nutrients, your body just keeps wanting more! Actually probably
eating low-nutrient foods does the same thing, and it wouldn't surprise me
if anemia or other shortages did too. If you are always hungry, your body
is signalling SOMETHING, but exactly what may take some experimentation.

I had this problem a LOT when I was pregnant. From that experience, and a
lot of reading and experimenting, here's the summary of what I've found:

1. "Liquid" food -- it absorbs faster. Soups particularly have been studied
in this regard, they really fill you up! My homemade chicken soup (chicken,
vegies) is so filling that even my 6'5' hubby can only eat one bowl.

2. Some foods are just more filling than others. Protein content seems to
be part of the key, and fiber content: but I just experiment, keep a log,
and see what fills me up the best. Beans, peanut butter, apples, protein
shakes (esp. EAS Myoplex, which seems to be gf though they make no claims
to that), milk, cheese, brown rice is good.

3. Take a multivitamin with your main meal.

4. Drink a glass of water before and/or with your meals, and between. Your
body can translate dehydration into hunger.

5. Eat small meals, 3 hours apart. "Body for Life" has a good summary of
a "good" simple diet (and it doesn't actually recommend wheat: it's
based on the bodybuilder's eating philosophy, and the bodybuilder's,
interestingly enough, don't eat wheat much, though they eat lots of
oatmeal). You can eat the "body for life" way whether or not you need to
lose weight: mainly it's 5-6 meals a day, 3 hours apart, with protein
and fruits or vegies in each meal. It really does regulate your blood
sugar and generally make you feel better: it's a way of eating that's
actually recommended by lots of people for lots of different reasons,
but "Body for Life" has the easiest-to-understand summary of it that
I've seen. If you follow it for a week or two, I can't imagine anyone
still being hungry.

6. Get more exercise, and sunlight.

7. Drink green tea. I don't know why, but it seems to stop hunger pangs
(and it's generally good for you too).

8. Don't use appetite suppressants. They work, but they are lousy for your
body.

Thank you again to all who responded.  I certainly am trying to incorporate
some of the suggestions I have received and will also check into a few of the
other possible physical causes.

Best to all,  Roselyn