Oh yeah ... my parents suffered with it too and I just accepted it as a hereditary tendency for years!
I comfort eat too ... have tried being veggie, food combining, dairy free and detoxing (Carol Vorderman 2wk mini detox), with variable results. Something (beans or potatoes I think) upset my tum really badly on the detox, which was a shame as otherwise I was feeling much more alert and healthy! :?
Best results I had was with food combining -- you don't eat starch and protein at the same meal as they require different chemicals to properly digest them, and try to leave 3-4 hrs between meals (fruit, veg and some things like yoghurt are neutral). While I was hungry some of the time I do remember how comfortable my stomach felt! So why didn't I stick at it? Good question ... it was a big inconvenience to stick to strictly, but I'd give it another go if I went into a real decline.
I think it's partly down to total stress in your life though, counting untreated food intolerance as a stress ... recently my other half went away for a week (and much as I love him he's a very demanding Virgo) and I ate such a load of whatever I felt like, including an entire 15 portion chocolate cake (over 3 days!!), felt great ... and lost 4lb. Figure that one out. (Though I seem to remember Bridget Jones noticed a similar effect!
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