Issues with leafy greens

[heb2014]

I am wondering if anyone has had constant stomach issues with leafy greens (lettuce, kale, spinach, etc).

Prior to Whole30, my husband has always complained about eating salad because it causes stomach issues. Knowing that, when I was planning, I only included salads for myself but he has ended up having one Friday for lunch as a side and then Sunday for lunch as the main meal. We are first timers, on day 9. We ate fruits and vegetables before, He doesn't have any diagnosed issue (but clearly this is an issue). Nothing else seems to bother him.

I guess my question is if anyone else has had something like this, does it get better in the later days of Whole30? Or could there be an underlying issue that he should mention to his doctor?

Sorry if this has been posted before - I did a couple of searches and didn't find anything.

[Jihanna]

If it's something that has always caused an issue for him, then he should probably avoid them. It's something he can certainly discuss with his doctor, but it could be something as simple as a sensitivity to leafy greens (though there's potential for other issues that seems less likely if these are the only things that cause problems). I'd suggest that there's no need for him to be miserable just to test whether or not this will improve within the framework of Whole30, though it could be that you could test cooked greens during reintroductions to see if those give him the same type of symptoms that he experiences with salads.

[heb2014]

We haven't tested it yet, but I asked him if he's ever noticed it when eating cooked greens (because I was really wanting to make these twice baked potatoes with spinach that someone shared on here and we had eaten homemade kale chips that a friend made not too long before starting this) - he doesn't think cooked greens do it.  

[scoakley13]

I dealt with digestive issues for a couple of years and ended up reading a book on Traditional Chinese Medicine hoping to remedy the issues. The book said to think of your stomach as a pot of stew. Anything you add to it has to be warmed up in order to "cook". So if we eat things that are cold or uncooked, it takes our stomach longer to heat them up and start to digest them. It really made sense to me because I can eat a steak and be fine. However, if I eat a salad I end up looking like I'm nine months pregnant within 30 minutes or so. Now I limit my salads (and only drink room temperature water as that cools your stew down also) and it has helped me tremendously.  

[chichi]

@heb2014 I don't know how you guys are doing now, but I and my partner experienced something similar,--he wasn't even doing the W30, but our together meals changed. It can be frustrating when one person's body reacts totally differently than another person's, but of course, that was the point of this whole thing for me, to figure out what makes you feel your best, and what's seldom worth making yourself feel crappy. It can be kind of disheartening to find it's a 'good for you' food. My husband turned out to have a digestive allergy to raw carrots, and then, when vegetables became a much more significant portion of our meals, we realized he was always having a reaction to cooked carrots, as well, he'd just never eaten a whole bunch of them. Carrots are like my second-favorite vegetable, and he doesn't like my first-favorite! We are careful with all root vegetables with him, parsnips and beets, and it just means that sometimes, I make a big ole batch of something I like, knowing it's just for my lunches, and we are both eating in a way (mostly) that makes us feel good. 

[heb2014]

Thanks for the comments!  We've narrowed it down a little more for him....it seems to be uncooked spinach and uncooked kale. Lettuce doesn't seem to bother him if he's not eating large quantities - like a side salad is fine.  I think he'd be fine with not eating salads anyway