Negative effects of partial whole30?

[Gallop]

I started my first whole30 on 8/1 mostly for weight loss. I am feeling good and have found that it makes my meal planning so much easier. However, ever since I started my whole30 my boyfriend has been experiencing more gastric distress. He isn't doing the whole30 with me, but he has allergies to gluten, eggs, soy, and dairy so his normal diet isn't that far off. I've been preparing whole30 dinners, and we take them for lunch the next day, so he has been eating whole30 for those meals. We ate pretty clean before, but would always have some type of carbs with dinner (rice, potatoes, quinoa, etc) and less fat. He will still have his own snacks (kettle chips, rice crackers, fruit, lara bars) and eats gluten free ceral and almond milk for breakfast.

If you eat a partial whole30 like this, can you put yourself in a perpetual state of carb-flu? Do you think my whole30 meals are causing his discomfort or is it something else?

[Tom Denham]

So he's been eating slightly different foods for 10 days and he has some gastric distress? Sounds like he may be adjusting to the changes. There is no reason to think the adjustment period would last any longer for him than someone doing a complete Whole30. However, if he decides to do a complete Whole30, his body would have to make more adjustments.

The issue is that our guts get used to whatever we eat and develop/grow gut flora that facilitates digestion. When we change what we eat, the gut flora don't fit at first and it takes some time for the right ones to grow and handle the new program. You don't need new gut flora when you eat broccoli instead of cauliflower, for example, but if you go from low fat to higher fat, or little meat to lots of meat, that takes some time to work out.

[Gallop]

Thanks Tom, that makes a lot of sense.