Reason for reintro symptoms

[rachieleah]

I'm curious... Is it possible that the reason for symptoms during the reintro period is not necessarily because those foods are harmful but because I've not eaten them in so long? I ask because several of my friends used to be vegetarians and when they began eating meat again (obviously a W30 compliant food) they had digestive problems for a while until their bodies got used to having meat. So is that dairy, legumes, etc.can cause problems because of the fact that they are dairy, legumes, etc., or is it because our body just isn't used to them when we reintroduce?

[Tom Denham]

Yes and no. Your body defends itself against foods that irritate it by developing a thicker mucosal lining in the gut. When you stop eating irritating foods for 30 days, the excess mucosal lining sloughs off leaving you less protected. When you reintroduce these foods again, you may feel more discomfort than you did before because you have less protection against them than you did before. If you keep eating them, you will grow the thicker lining back and have the same level of protection that you did before. 

 

It can be difficult to distinguish between feeling worse and simply noticing how you feel more accurately after going a period without irritation. You may think you feel worse, but really you just notice how you feel; your feelings feel new and not business as usual. 

 

When people begin to eat meat after months or years of not eating meat, their guts do not have all the correct bacteria needed to digest the meat. It takes time for our bodies to grow the correct bacteria, so vegetarians require an adjustment period. This adjustment can be supported and sped along by taking digestive enzymes and probiotics to get the gut to where it needs to be faster. After a period of weeks or maybe a few months, the gut should be ready to operate on its own without extra assistance.