Day 10 and WTH was that? *semi-graphic*

[jennycash]

Hey folks,

So, I'm on day 10 and have been loving my whole30. No bad cravings or symptoms...I was fairly healthy beforehand but had some bad eating habits.

My *ahem* bowel movements were normal and a bit better than before. Then today, well tonight, I had some cramps (started my period today). At dinner which was delicious (meat, carrot, snap peas, salad, cashew, oranges), and then had horrible crampy diarrhea. Not to be over the top, but it was reminiscent of a horrible intestinal flu. Any ideas? Is my body just cleansing or what. No bueno. :/

Jen

[Maeva]

I am having a similar experience. It hit me right after lunch. I have no idea why. I am also on day 10 and my menses are due any time (so I am a little grouchy). But my digestion/elimination has been fine until today.

Feel better!

Maeva

[angifi]

Wow! I'm on day 9 and had the very same thing happen after lunch today. I have wondered if it is related to too much fructose (in my case) as I have been eating a lot of sweet potato,and last night ate three prunes after dinner (because til now,on the whole30,I've had the opposite problem-constipation). I know some people are sensitive to fructose,and it can cause that trouble.

But,after reading through the forum, it seems it is a common problem on the whole 30 and can be related to a few things: more vegetables than usual, bacteria dying off and causing gas,bloating and diarreah, raw vegetables, especially broccoli and cauiflower. It could also be related to your hormones.

I hope someone else chimes in,perhaps there is something we are missing?

[Adagio]

I had similar issues. For me, it was stone fruits. Also, cashews and other nuts can somtimes trigger that.

[jennycash]

huh, interesting. i've had sweet potato almost every day EXCEPT yesterday. i've been very light on the fruit except a handful of berries here or there. but i did have two handful of toasted cashews at dinner last night....and i gotta say, there were delicious, so i hope it was a temporary thing :/

thanks for the input.

[Shantess]

I think it's pretty common for digestion to initially improve on the Whole30 and then kinda get worse, particularly if you had any digestive problems, leaky gut, food allergies, etc before. There's been lots of discussion on this in the forums...for most people it doesn't last long, however, like I said, if you had problems in this regard before, it will probably take longer than the 30 days for everything to even out.

[krissylynn]

oh, thank God it's not just me! lol!

[Munkers]

Whole30/food issues aside, diarrhea is a common period issue. The hormones that cause your uterus to contract act on smooth muscle tissue throughout the body--including your bowels. More contractions=more movement=more time in the bathroom.

[Bucket]

The timing of things you outlined line up perfectly with what I've experienced today. However, I did also reintroduce probiotics two days ago, so I chalked it up to those. Maybe not.

[TaraFitness]

I remember reading something in the past (and forgive me if this isn't true) which says that as we store toxins in our fat cells, when we lose bodyfat we release these toxins and this can cause issues with our digestion and *ahem* bowel movements

I guess it makes sense if it's true... it's just not pleasant at the time I guess!

[Bucket]

I am going to hope what you read is true. Thanks, TaraFitness.

[Megan Claydon]

Digestive problems, as you can see, are a bit common in your first whole 30, food is changing, hormones are changing, gut bacteria is changing, there is a lot going on! I wouldn't be too concerned about a few instances. For most people it will work itself out as your body becomes more in balance.

I would however take a mental note of the foods you ate prior to such symptoms and see if there is a trend. If it continues after you eat that food, you could have a food sensitivity. In that case I would limit consumption.