If you believe some people, they only have to look at a calorie laden dessert to put on 10 pounds. I don’t believe them. But even if it were true, they’d still have it easier than 23 year-old Kerri Dowdswell.

Normally a svelte UK size 10, Kerri’s belly swells to gigantic proportions shortly after a meal. In fact it gets so bad, that people often mistakenly assume she’s pregnant!

Kerri’s problems began shortly after she hit puberty but became worse as she got older. Though she’s seen numerous doctors, and spent years scientifically excluding foods from her diet in case she had an allergy, no-one’s been able to get to the root of the problem.

‘There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind what causes my stomach to expand. Sometimes it’s when I eat a big meal but other times I can just nibble a biscuit or a piece of fruit and my trousers suddenly don’t fit.I’ve almost given up hope that I’ll ever find a cure. It’s not painful, just uncomfortable and embarrassing.

‘I’ve learned to live with it and I really have to see the funny side. My friends and family call it my “food babies”.’

‘I decided as it wasn’t actually causing me any pain, I might as well eat the foods I enjoy, so I eat what I like now and don’t deprive myself. Sometimes it comes up instantly, within about 15 minutes of eating, but other times it takes a few hours, and always takes a few hours to go down.

‘If my friends plan to go for a meal before going out for the night, I always have to skip the food, because I don’t want to go out in my maternity wear.’

Source : Metro