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Digestive issues


FatDave

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Hello all,

 

Quick background - did my first Whole 30 a year ago, and since then, my wife and I are generally paleo eaters; however, while she was pregnant with our second child, we went full board off the wagon.  After he was born, we did another Whole 30, and now I'm in the 'maintenance' phase where I'm still eating 99% paleo, but, added back some alcohol, socially, and I'm not cringing if there's a small amount of dairy in something.  Still not eating any grains, legumes, processed foods, etc., and the majority of my food comes from local, organic CSAs and co-ops, or the local farm up the street.

 

My question for anyone with any real knowledge on digestion - I've continually had diarhea or at least very loose BMs for so long, I cannot remember the last time a solid, single BM happened.  It's not painful, and it's not repetitive - like, I'm not running to the bathroom all day, or anything like that - in fact, my body is on a pretty steady schedule.  It's just I start to wonder, is something wrong?  Does it even matter? 

 

'Try eliminating x' doesn't seem to be helpful advice for me, because it just seems to happen no matter what I eat or don't eat. So many people have credited paleo with helping their digestion, but, it doesn't seem to do anything for mine.  Does anyone have any advice, or, can anyone tell me if this even matters?  I also tend to get gassy in the afternoon, regardless of what I have for lunch.

 

For example, yesterday I ate leftover pork kebobs with red potatoes (yes, I am eating red and white potatoes, cooked responsibly) and today I had leftover ground pork, apple, cinnamin one-pot recipe with green beans.  Both afternoons, I'm hoping no one walks into my office with a question... (and while I recognize that both days had pork, again, this is universal - another day is chicken drumsticks, another day is salad with steak, etc., etc.)

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

-Dave

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Like you, I have a history of loose stools. As in years of frequently loose. Nothing to see a doctor about, but rarely firm. Things have been generally better for me now with more than 3 years of Whole30-style eating under my belt. For me, I don't think it was what I stopped eating as much as what I eventually started eating. Probiotic-rich fermented foods. I still have loose stools occasionally, but rarely enough that I wonder what is going on when I do. So, I recommend adding good sauerkraut with live cultures (found in the refrigerated section of grocery stores), kimchi, kombucha, and coconut kefir. All of these may make loose stools looser at first, but my experience was that my digestion improved inside of a week and my bowel movements too. 

 

I tried taking probiotic pills on 3 of 4 occasions, but they always made me have looser stools and I gave up on each attempt after a week or two. Actual fermented foods have been kinder to me.

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I have a similar story, with everything starting 1.5 years ago when I cut gluten/dairy/soy/eggs/peanuts out of my diet for 5 months. Reintroduced everything but gluten and dairy, then slowly reintroduced those too after 11mos of avoidance. one reason I started this whole30 was to try and determine what on earth the problem was. If I limit my uncooked veggies and keep coffee to 1 cup/day or less, so far I'm doing good. I think it actually might be avocados--weird right? going to test my theory in a few days. I absolutely need to get some good fermented foods in my diet as well--thanks for the suggestion, Tom!

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Are you taking digestive enzymes? They can help with digesting food so it doesn't cause problems further down the line. Fermented foods can also help. Usually gas and diarrhea is a sign that something is not getting digested properly because you lack the right enzymes or good bacteria in the gut.

 

Also Avocados are a FODMAP, foods that some people have trouble digesting.

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I have been having the worst, stinky, clear the room, gas. (Day 18) (also, daily BM has always been to the hour regular and healthy consistency.)

I have known for about 8 yrs that onion and garlic powder in processed foods cause this issue, so I have been reading labels to avoid them for a while now.

During whole30, I have been using fresh garlic, green and red onions. But stay away from yellow and powders. But now I am thinking I need to stop using them. Since I know beans can't be the issue. I just hate to drop them, since they add to much to the flavor of the veggies. I guess I had thought whole30 would reduce not add to the gassy times. Are there other veggies to have in moderation that might be the culprit?

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Oh Dave, I felt like you were describing me!  My husband and I both experienced lack of solidity with Whole30.  The first time things got better was when I traveled and began eating rice.  It makes me wonder if that would be a healthy part of my diet, but for now, I'm beginning a new Whole30 and I'm going to continue on with digestive enzymes (which help me feel a lot better in my gut), try to incorporate more fermented foods on a more consistent basis (maybe every other day?) and start taking some probiotics once I'm a week or two into the process.  

 

I've wondered if it's because I'm eating too much fiber or too many raw vegetables or have some reaction to coconut oil, but I think I'm going to just "give it time" so my gut can improve and see what happens.  I do take a half teaspoon of natural calm at bedtime and I might start taking natural calm with calcium in the daytime since I have thinning bones.   I'm sure glad you posted - it's nice to see that others are having the same experiences!  

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Raw veggies can be tough on your stomach, especially if it's kind of weak to begin with. If you must have raw veggies, have a cup of tea with them to help "cook" them, and take the burden off your digestion. 

Or just lightly cook all your veg for a while, see if it helps. The enzymes should help greatly.

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Same issue except add urgency to those BMs! I bought some sauerkraut and fermented beets but I couldn't even eat one whole bite without gagging! I have tried kombucha, not a fan but can force it down. I got "live" probiotics but have just discovered they contain milk even tho the bottle says vegan. Ugh!! It's very frustrating. I am a massage therapist and am stuck in a room for 1-2 hours at a time, I have had to leave the room to use the bathroom! It's very embarrassing and bad for business. I now eat nothing at or before work for the fear of this happening again. I hope it improves with time.

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Hi, I'm a little concerned as I have had chronic wind for the last 24 hours. It's easing up, slowly. I just cannot stop belching! I was in so much pain yesterday I considered going to the doctors but I am 99% certain it's just trapped wind and constipation, as I've had this before though not on a Whole30. I normally get this bad when I've had too many grains, but I haven't had any for 12 days. I eat very slowly (in fact, my family tease me about this actually :) ), and I know it's not a good idea for me to drink in between bites of food, so I leave it a good 15 mins after eating before I have a drink to avoid any intake of air by accident.

 

Before I broached this subject on the forums I did a quick search on the Whole9 website under 'bloating' and found the article about digestive enzymes. Could I perhaps have issues with digesting food regardless of what I put in my mouth?

 

Thanks,

Lois

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Before I broached this subject on the forums I did a quick search on the Whole9 website under 'bloating' and found the article about digestive enzymes. Could I perhaps have issues with digesting food regardless of what I put in my mouth?

 

Digestive enzymes made a huge difference for me.  I ordered the NOW ones listed in that article and take two with most meals.  I felt so much better that I stopped noticing and when I went off of Whole30 I was immediately aware of an increase in bloating and gas.  I think the digestive enzymes got me through those weeks a bit more gracefully than I would have otherwise.  

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