Reintroduction debate

[WhereisERM]

My husband & I did the Whole30 successfully together. He basically skipped reintroduction phase, but was happy with his overall results (weight loss, less swelling, found himself eating more balanced meals) and made some positive changes to his eating habits. I am doing reintroduction now, and we are having a debate that I can't really find the answer to. I am reacting to certain food groups by bloating, stomach cramps & swollen fingers (dairy and added sugars in particular). He feels that anyone's body would do this after withholding for a month+ and thinks that you can retrain your body to eat these foods without discomfort. We have several friends who are vegetarian for example, and on the rare occasions they eat meat, they complain of feeling bad. They think that after not eating meat, it is hard for their bodies to process, but not bad for them overall, if that makes sense. I am trying to convince him that this is your body's way of telling you that it has trouble with these food groups, and even if you do manage to "retrain" yourself to eat them, you know your body has trouble digesting or processing them. Can you point me to any studies or scientific evidence to back me up? He's read the Whole30 literature, but it isn't "scientific" enough to help me win this debate. Thanks!

[Jihanna]

While I'd love to say he's wrong, he probably isn't... BUT, it's likely that you're both correct.

Yes, it's possible to have reactions to things you're reintroducing simply because the body is not used to having them. Dairy is tricky, because the body has to produce specific enzymes to break down dairy components to make them digestible -- and when we don't ingest dairy for an extended period, those enzymes can also stop being produced. This means that yes, pushing through what you're experiencing now could lead to a "retraining" of your body, causing it to start producing the appropriate enzymes and therefore lead to easier digestion and fewer (if any) reactions.

However, it's also possible that your body is giving you very explicit feedback. If you thrive without them in your diet and struggle with bringing them back into that "primed environment", then you probably do have some issue/s with processing those foods. Continuing to eat them could retrain your body to produce the necessary enzymes, which could lead to fewer/no symptoms, but that's not guaranteed.

Remember that a great many of us come into this program not even realizing that we were in constant gastric distress due to dietary choices we were making. The difference is that we were so used to it being that way that there wasn't a reason to question it, it's just how it's always been. Because the issues weren't large enough (for many of us) to seek deeper answers, we assumed it was natural and normal. Take those foods away for a month (or more), though, and reduce all that inflammation... and suddenly anything problematic that's introduced into our symptoms causes WAY more noticeable issues than we felt prior to Whole30. This happens because we have a stable and sterile environment, lacking the chaos and constant inflammation that had been present previously, so every little change and reaction is that much more visible/felt.

So could you retrain yourself? Probably. Would it mean an absence of all discomfort? Maybe. Is it worth doing it? That's a personal decision that will vary from body to body, and from circumstance to circumstance.

If it's possible to continue to avoid the things I learn cause discomfort, then it's totally worth it for me to continue to avoid them... but it's also great to know what I should expect if I do make the extremely informed decision to occasionally enjoy it anyway. That's where Food Freedom comes in, when we learn how our bodies react to the foods and decide where to go with that information.

I don't have the science for him, and I'm definitely not a scientist, doctor, etc., so if I mistakenly worded things wrongly when giving an explanation of the enzyme issue, forgive me. I did want to offer some input, though, from someone who learned that certain legumes, gluten, and dairy were all much bigger problems than I ever would've believed prior to Whole30.

[ultrarunnergirl]

Gas, bloating, heartburn, acid reflux and constipation are signs of leaky gut. 

There is an excellent, very detailed description of this (leaky gut and chronic systemic inflammation) and how damaging it can be in It Starts With Food, Chapter 6: The Guts of the Matter and Chapter 7: Inflammation: No One Is Immune.

Even if you didn't have a scientific argument to back you up, isn't feeling bloated and gross reason enough to refrain from eating these foods, except perhaps on special occasions?

 

 

 

[WhereisERM]

Thanks to both of you for your responses. He isn't questioning my symptoms, is totally supportive of me wanting to avoid certain food groups going forward, and I definitely feel the Food Freedom kicking in. Overall, Whole30 for the win!