<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> ........................................................ : : : Excerpts from the Southeast Florida CS Support Group : : ---------------------------------------------------- : : newsletter: Mar. 2000 Renee' Culver, editor : : 2523 Jardin Drive : : Weston, FL 33327 : :......................................................: The Doctor Says --------------- The question was asked to Peter Green, MD, of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center of New York: Why do I, as a celiac adhering to a strict gluten-free (GF) diet, seem to gain more weight now on my GF diet than the average person? I seem to eat less, certainly a lot less junk food, and yet I've gained 25 pounds since my diagnosis in March of 1997. Also, I've recently learned I have hypoglycemia. Is there a relationship? His answer: On a GF diet, patients may gain weight for several reasons. First, GF food tends to have more calories than the gluten-containing food it replaces. For example, GF bread has more calories per slice than gluten-containing bread. More importantly, your intestine is acting more efficiently than it was previously, so you are able to absorb more calories. Prior to diagnosis you were absorbing a fraction of the calories you ingested. Since the amount of food eaten is usually fixed by experience and habits, you are now probably ingesting more calories than you did previously. For similar reasons, celiac patients may find their cholesterol count rising to a level that may require medication. Prior to diagnosis, the bulk of the ingested cholesterol was not being absorbed. On the GF diet, all of the cholesterol ingested may be absorbed. As for hypoglycemia, it is a common manifestation of early diabetes and should be checked out. Many physicians label a set of nonspecific symptoms as "hypoglycemia" without good documentation. Very rarely, hypoglycemia may be a manifestation of an insulin-producing tumor.