Bloating from sundried tomatoes? Almond meal?

[Anita]

I'm on Day 23 and the last few days I've had bloating. Which of course is not comfortable. In trying to figure out what is causing the issue, the only things I've had that were out of the ordinary were Trader Joe's sundried tomatoes in olive oil and some almond meal I used to make a sort of fried chicken. I'm tempted to blame the sundried tomatoes because I have been having small amounts of almond butter and that hasn't bothered me, so that would seem to eliminate the almond meal.

Do any of you experience bloating with sundried tomatoes? Any ideas? Perhaps it's normal for me to have a flare-up of digestive issues at this point with my history of candida overgrowth. Any input greatly appreciated.

[Anita]

hmm, maybe it's because I started taking probiotics.

[Beets]

hmm, maybe it's because I started taking probiotics.

Definitely could be probiotics. Or tomatoes. Or almond meal. Sorry. Maybe the almonds in your almond butter were roasted or soaked, which would cut down on offending ingredients, versus the almond meal. Some ppl are bothered by nightshades (tomatoes) so that unfortunately could also be a culprit.

I'd been eating kimchi, drinking slurps of coconut water kefir, drinking kombucha. I am on AIP now and not eating nightshades so that nixed the kimchi, ran out of kefir and didnt but kombucha.

Then I drank 1.5 bottles of it in a night and I got so bloated.

Maybe slow down on the probiotic or cut the dose and slowly build up. I would start there. If you have a history of candida your gut is damaged. Some ppl advise healing the gut before even starting probiotics, but in any case too much too soon will likely cause problems.

[Guest]

Dried fruits are on the fodmap lists. Maybe tomatoes would be, too. I have discovered all kinds of sensitivities since about day 19 and it has been a roller coaster. Other than the puffy belly, I have felt great, so it has been worth it to do the detective work. The ahrdest parts for me have been to only have one suspect food a day.

[Anita]

Thanks for your input. I have been eating fresh tomatoes and they don't seem to bother me. I suppose sundried could have some nasty bacteria or something (or some weird ingredient). I'm going to stop the sundried tomatoes, almond meal, AND probiotics entirely for now. I remembered a moment ago that when treating with my acupuncturist for candida years ago, she told me there was no point in putting the probiotics into the mix when you're trying to kill the candida. Maybe I need to wait until I get back down to normal size (which is a good indicator of my gut flora) before I take it. Such a delicate balance, these digestive systems.

Hope you're feeling better now!

[Anita]

Thanks, Nico. It is difficult to have only one possibly offending food a day. I hope to figure this out!

[Beets]

Have you read the Michael Pollan gut bacteria piece? Very interesting. He implies that it's very difficult to repopulate gut bacteria with probiotics (v "bad" bacteria).

http://www.nytimes.c...iome.html?_r=1

It's long but fascinating. (If annoying and reductionist in points.) Most of the microbiologists he talked to for the piece have given up probiotics and turned to fermented foods to heal the gut.

[Guest]

Beets,

That is really interesting. Last week my doc gave me what she claims to be the only clinically studied probiotics. Compared to the ones recommended in the Whole9 blog, they meet the criteria and also have way more live organisms. I figured I'd give them a try. She says my problem is not digestion...huh? And, she would not talk enzymes with me even though I have no gallbladder. She said the these probiotics will not repopulate and that I will probably never tolerate raw veggies. I have had great experiences with her in the past, but this was frustrating. Very sad that the nearest person who practiced functional medicine is moving away.

Since I saw her, I decided to try to take out all coconut products except the oil and things are markedly better. I have increased my enzyme intake based on what I read in the blog. Previous biopsies have shown inflammation throughout my GI track for no apparent reason. Makes me think I need to be both gentle and patient as I heal from something no one ever knew I had.

Thanks for sharing!

[Beets]

Yeah, according to that piece something like 1 out if 100 probiotic products contained the bacteria it claimed to contain. There is zero regulation of that industry. I know Chris Kessler rec'd a couple brands of probiotic (Jarrow was one) but said most do not contain nearly enough live culture to be effective.

The other piece is that your gut flora is more or less settled when you are less than three years old!! It can be disturbed by antibiotics or major periods of stress but it's not as simple as "taking probiotics will force out the bad bacteria" as we have been led to believe.

There's all sorts of gut info. Definitely worth reading. Like fearful mice will change personality after getting "fecal transplants" from adventurous mice. Crazy stuff.

[Anita]

Whoa. I have to read that when I have time. That mice comment is wild. Thanks!!