Grains & Digestive Issues (not for the faint of heart)

[Joniebaloney]

I finished my first whole 30 April 23. I took one day off and had one free meal where my husband took me out to eat to celebrate and then I was back in the saddle for another Whole 30 with the exception of adding a few healthy grains to my diet (Ezekiel bread and old fashioned oats). Towards the end of my first whole 30, I was experiencing some mild constipation so I started taking fiber supplements. As I've added the grains to my diet, the constipation has gotten unbearable. I went from going twice daily before whole 30, to once every other day during, to now- days and days with nothing. I had gained 5 pounds since my weigh in on day 30, after being so proud to have lost 13.  I finally took some laxatives to help, and all 5 pounds and then some came off (out); however, the next day I am back to feeling plugged up.

Is this the sign that my body can't handle grains? Or is my body getting used to processing them again? What confuses me the most is that I was constipated before the grains came into the picture. I'd hate to label them as something I can't handle when grains are something I really enjoy. But if they are the true culprit, I'm willing to cut them out.

 

This has been a super frustrating experience for me. I'm eating super healthy and working out like I never have before in my life and all I see is the scale increasing due to this problem. (I know whole 30 is all about non scale victories, so please don't shame me. I am still struggling to break up with my scale) Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[ShannonM816]

If it's worse now with the grains, the obvious thing would be to cut out grains and see if you go back to like it was at the end of your W30 -- even though that wasn't ideal, it sounds like it was better than now.Then you'd know if they were contributing or not. Of course, if you only get back to less bad, and not really good, you'll still need to do some troubleshooting to figure out the rest, but you might have narrowed down something.

 

It's kind of hard to offer suggestions without a little more information. If you list a few days' worth of what you typically eat and how much water you consume, someone may be able to help you figure out what you could tweak.

 

You might also want to google Whole30 constipation and read through some of the past discussions and see if anything sounds like it might apply to you. Off the top of my head, typical suggestions are to make sure you're drinking plenty of water, and make sure you're eating at least a serving of starchy vegetables every day, and plenty of vegetables in general. You might also look into probiotics, either as pills, or through fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, other fermented vegetables, or kombucha.

[Tom Denham]

I get a little stuck when you say you have added a few healthy grains to your diet. There really is no such thing as a healthy grain. By sprouting grains you can make them less bad, but there is nothing about grains that are especially health promoting. 

 

You said you suffered mild constipation towards the end of your Whole30. That is not normal. Taking fiber supplements to deal with constipation when you are eating a Whole30 menu is probably not the best choice. You can consume too much fiber and make things worse. Unlike the standard American diet, the Whole30 menu automatically supplies you with plenty of fiber, so adding more when you are not going smoothly can make the problem worse. Basically adding bulk to a system that is not flowing already. The extra bulk provides more "congestion." Taking laxatives is a double edged sword. They can provide quick relief, but tend to postpone resolution of the issue... setting you up for "needing" laxatives. 

 

The answer for you may be going back to a strict Whole30 and then let us troubleshoot with you what is going on if you experience any constipation.