Digestive Issues

[Reagan Burress]

Hello ladies,

I am on day 21 of the whole30, but I have to confess that on days 15 and 16 I veered from the plan. My husbands birthday was over those days, so on day 15 I had a semi-approved meal (I know some sugar was used to prep) and followed it with a big piece of cake. Not approved, but I know that. On day 16 I also had a little bread as an appetizer before dinner at a restaurant, and because I was eating out I can't confidently say that my Neal was 100% approved. Now I KNOW that I broke rules of the whole30, so please don't berate me about it. I knowingly made these decisions, and for the first couple of days I had no side affects.

But.

Days 19-22 have been miserable. Days 17 and 18 (the ones following my cheatful decisions) weren't problematic at all, but these four days have been bad. I've been grumpy and a little more drained, but worst of all is my digestive tract. I have certainly not been regular, and when I do go it hasn't been healthy. I'll spare you the details, but I'm just looking for some insight. Can symptoms of non-whole30-eating be delayed, or could there be something else that is causing my pain and discomfort?

I am hesitant to post such a personal question, but I need advice/help!

Thanks so much

[HowToBeCrunchy]

I can't speak from experience with Whole 30, but I can speak from experience in having kept gluten free and then gone a binge and with keeping paleo and then falling off plan that yes, you can definitely have delayed symptoms from gluten and any other foods that your body doesn't like. It could still be something else, but if the only thing that has changed in the last few days was your off-plan food then something in what you ate (the sugar, the gluten, all of the above) is the most likely cause.

[jmcbn]

Yes, symptoms can be delayed, and since gluten is a known gut disruptor it could well have been the cause. That said, some changes in BM are fairly common, and so in your case it could well have been from what you had been eating in the days leading up to the gluten episode - compliant or not. Nuts, cruciferous veg, raw veg, & raw cruciferous veg are all known to cause digestive issues. However, because you ingested the gluten it's hard to tell.

With regard to your Whole30, I don't want to sound mean, but it stopped on day 15 when you knowingly ate the meal with the added sugar. There is no such thing as 'semi-approved' - it's either compliant, or not. Accidental sugar ingestion doesn't really call for a re-set. Making a conscious decision to eat a meal with added sugar does. What you did after that was not Whole30, but your own thing. 

If you plan to continue I'd suggest at the very least adding on a further 16 days to your Whole30, making it a Whole46, so that when you go through the proper reintroduction phase you will have had a gut clear of gluten for the recommended 30 days.

If it were me I'd start over.

Read this article & then decide.

[RuthP]

Often on elumination diets, when you start back with a food, it is a single serving of it and then waiting for three days to see if there are any reactions.  I am finding that 3 days seems to define a reaction to eating something off the diet guidelines.