Rosacea-friendly diet - how to keep weight on?

[flemmo]

Hi,
Since I realised I have rosacea (last september) I have had to change my diet to ease the symptoms. I now eat mainly loads of veg, fish and white meats and very occasionally red meat. Because I also have seb derm I have had to cut out dairy and wheat. I feel I do eat really well - very health food, 3 good size meals a day (then a small supper) and snack on pumpkin seeds/almonds between meals.
The problem is since eating this way I have lost a lot of weight. I'm 5' 10" (178cm) and have always weighed 11 stone (154lb). I'm now down to 9.5 stone (133lb) which is a bit of a worry.
Any ideas how I can gain weight without compromising the rosacea/seb derm side of things?

[domo2727]

hey man....when i used to work out on a regular basis and eat normally, when my rosacea wasnt bad i was about 175 lbs or so.....now i eat much healthier like yourself, with lots of vegies and white meats and fish like salmon. I Don't eat all the junk and carbs I used to which probably put weight on me, although not healthy weight. Now, I work out 6 days a week and weight about 160-165. Its hard for me to keep weight on, but I eat tons of chicken, turkey and salmon. I also take protein shakes. I buy this organic product called Greens Whey. 20 grams of protein and tons of organic greens like wheat grass, alfalfa powder, spirulina, and tons of other healthy stuff. try to google it. Its made by Biochem and its called Greens and Whey. All different flavors but i prefer vanilla. I take it after workouts and in the morning....usually 2 times a day, sometimes 3.

[flemmo]

hi, thanks for the reply.
Excellent idea - As I have seb derm I think I'll try and find a protein powder without milk/lactose. Seems to be a huge range, so I'm sure I'll find something! Cheers.

[flemmo]

Can't find Greens & Whey in the UK, but I did find this:
http://www.detoxyourworld.com/acatal...p_protein.html

The ingredients sound fine but I'm not sure it will help weight gain as it doesn't say how many calories it has. Is high protein enough to gain weight?

[milton]

When I started having problems with my skin I realized that it was mainly my diet that was effecting me. I cut out dairy, fried foods, alcohol and pretty much any other junk food you can imagine. In April 2006 I weighed 195 lbs, today I am 165 lbs.

I eat constantly what I can, but I think I found my target weight. I simply can't gain weight. I am 6'0 tall.

[flemmo]

I've bought some Greens & Whey and I'm about to give it a go. However I was wondering if the whey will cause any problems with my seb derm. I avoid diary because it makes it worse. Is whey protein considered to be diary?

More information can be found here:
http://www.biochem-fitness.com/pages...in.html#greens

[glamormom]

If the issue is keeping weight on, a high protein diet will cause you to lose (the basis of the Atkins Diet and it does work). A very high fat diet (most of your calories) according to a German study will do even better if that is your goal.

I noticed just eating more fats in general in my diet will cause me to gain weight. Olive oil and walnut oil and the 2 best heart healthy oils, and only 1 tablespoonfull is 14 gm of fat, which is a lot. by adding that to your salads or cookied veggies you could add plenty of calories and see if that helps you. Don't go overboard, you could raise your cholesterol, but it's worth a try in moderation.

Taking fish oil as a supplement, which helps reduce inflammation, and also good for the heart, is another source of healthy fat. I use Pharmax brand, take it in bulk by the TBL-full. It's flavored with essential oil of orange, deodorized and refined so there is almost no fish smell at all and not burping it up all day. Amazing really. i get it on the internet. My friend's holistic MD started her on it, which is how I found out about it.

HTH
;o) Bridget

[flemmo]

Hi Bridget,

Could you provide a link to the fish oil? I'm just wondering what fish it's from/ingredients etc.
The weight-gain/loss thing is very confusing. I've read before that high protein diets help reduce weight AND gain weight... From what I understand those diets help people loose fat hence weightloss, but help build muscle. As muscle weighs more than fat the result can be weight gain. It all depends what build you are to begin with.
At the minute I'm pretty much skin and bone so I presume I need both more protein and fat intake. I wonder if eating lots of chicken, fish, eggs along with olive oil and fish oil is a better approach than protein shakes?

[Firefly]

That definitly must be a better approach!!! And maby you should eat more of everything. I used to be a vegetarian but began to eat meat to help me gain some weight. As I tend to just eat meat and veggies OR carbs and veggies (for better digestion: you can feel a big meal not being heavy) I didn't manage to gain the weight, in fact I lost some. Now I try to eat more meals like four or five times a day. And to be honest: I just finished a whole bag of potato crisps . I shall be punished for that tomorrow...

[Froggirl]

It still comes down to how much energy your eating everyday. So one approach would just to keep eating what your eating but just up overall amount, either by eating more meals or eating bigger amounts.

I think high protein and low carbs can make you lose weight if your dieting and still not eating huge amounts overall. Diet like the atkins diet make you lose weight because without carbs which give the body energy, the body has to turn to it's energy stores, ie fat and muscle. But if your working out and wanting to put on muscle then an increased amount of protein is needed, as it provides the building blocks for the body to develop muscle, as well as carbs and good fats.

Protein shakes might work really well, just as long as they don't contain anything than's a problem for you, like dairy. I had a ulcer in my oesophagus a while back and couldn't eat solid food for two weeks, and i was amazed that one concentrate glass of hospital sustengen mixed with icecream instead of milk , which is all i could manage a day, kept me from losing any weight.