Cant digest veggies anymore??

[Pumpkin pie]

Help! I've been raw for nearly 10 years and the last 2-3 yrs. my digestion of veggies has gotten worse.

I use to have salads daily, and even before i was raw i had a daily huge salads full of greens and veggies.  

Now every time i eat Any veggie that has fiber (lettuce, jicama, carrot, broccoli) my stomach goes into knots, pain, gas, constipation etc...

(all i have found that works okay is tomato, cucumber, and small amount of  zucchini)

i take enzymes (for yrs) religiously but it has never helped.

Does this mean i need to cook my veggies again, and avoid lettuce salads too?  

Has anyone had this happen to them? what did you do??

[Pumpkin pie]

Kasey - are you my twin :-)
seriously I just want to hug you! your experience and suggestions are so helpful!
You sharing your diet post 8/1/1 is super helpful!

Kasey, do you find you have to keep even veggie carbs down below 100 to be safe with all the fat in your diet now?

Have you been able to shrink your stomach back down to have less quantity of food at meals after stuffing it with fruits for so long?

So his bowel fomula does not cause dependncy? Which formula number do you mean? I know some have stimulant laxatives. I use to depend on cascara sengrada when I was a lowfat cooked vegan to where I'm still not back to norml from that use, so I stay away from things I have any question about. But that part of my body is In such bad shape I'll do anything to repair it, so let me know which particular one helped you :-)

[Kasey]

Glad I can be of some help ; )  It's nice to hear of others who are going through the same problems so we can help each other figure it out.

I seem to be fine with unlimited amounts of veggies in realistic portions.  I'll have to check how many carbs I'm getting but I do know that even a couple of apples a day on top of all the veggies is too much for me and gives me acne.  My skin was so bad on 811.  People always say it's just detox, so I tried eating boiled potatoes for weeks with no fruit and my skin was just as bad.  As far as I know, boiled potatoes aren't very detoxifying lol.

I'm not sure if my stomach has shrank.  I can fit quite a bit of veggies in there, but I'm sure it's gone down.  I do need a decent amount of volume from veggies to feel satiated though.

As for the bowel formulas, he has said that they are not at all habit forming.  All 5 of his formulas basically soothe and alkalize the entire digestive tract and pull waste out of the body.  The difference between the numbers are #1 has no movement properties whatsoever.  It just heals.  It's meant for people who are moving their bowels a bit more than they'd like, maybe with diarrhea as well.  I found that formula to be a bit too slow moving for me.  #2  was much better for me, it's similar to #1 but it does have  cascara sagrada, but just enough to act as a gentle mover without causing dependency.  The higher the number the formula, the stronger the movement power so it really depends on your needs.  #5 would be for severe constipation and I wouldn't stay on a formula like that for very long, the goal is to move down in numbers until your digestive tract is healed and you don't need any of the formulas anymore. 

I'm taking #2 right now and I'm also curious to see what happens when I stop.  I'm coming from a background of Ulcerative Colitis for like 8 years so I've damaged my bowels quite a bit.  It's so much better now though after 4 years of eating better.  My digestion is better than most people I bet so that's saying a lot.  It seems I am prone to constipation if I'm not careful though and this is primarily a nervous system issue.  That's one of the keys in overcoming constipation.  Regenerating the brain and nervous system along with the adrenal glands will provide the colon with the electrical/nerve energy it needs to function.

[Pumpkin pie]

Thank you :-)

I'm sorry you have had so many issues from digestion to skin.

Yay! you are healing and listening to your body for what it needs/wants.
i saw a lot of people coming from colitis background following davd kleins protocol, not sure how many healed on it. I have a good fiend I made on 30 nana's a day and she has been doing his protocol for over a yr and still is constipated. Yet I know of another gal who healed on his program, but she had colitis diarrhea.

I'm going to get the brain nerve formula b/c stress is huge. I wonder if that will be enough to get my gut working all the way. I know I'm a dreamer!
Im sure bowel formula #2 would help but i just ordered hydro C from " fiber menace"to try for the bowel function that has vit. C, potassium, cal., magnesium.

So you found green juice in the AM, lunch and dinner of Only steamed veg. And non animal source of fat works well? I use to do green juices in the AM, even on 8/1/1, but I was hungry again soon after :-(
so now I'm doing smoothies (no fruit) with coconut oil. I'm actually adding in some animal foods again, not sure how much. I'm just listening to my body...

[Jennifer Ellen]

Hi all, 

I'm wondering if water fasts have helped digestion improve for people?

I'm doing 8/1/1 now (just started a couple weeks ago) and it's helped a lot so far.  But if I come across some of these issues that others have had, I wondered if some water fasting would help as well?

[Pumpkin pie]

It really depends where someone is coming from. Are they even in a condition they can safely water fast?then comes in how long are you planning on doing it? One day, no big deal.
I will use myself as an example, knowing my body, I would not do one more thsn one day unless I was "fat adapted" and I was far from that doing a lowfat diet. My body was in no shape to water fast, I was use to burning sugars all day long , not fats. I know it's much better to go into a water fast as some one who has some reserves (fat to burn, rather thn muscle mass). on a high fat diet the body is use to burning fats rather than carbs (lower carb diets,moderate protein, high fat %), in that case fasting may help more thn hurt.

Yes, giving the digestive system a break can help. So can keeping it to 2-3 meals a day, no snacking. Also proper food combining. Or Blended food fast. In fact I would do a blended food fast of the same food for 3 meals with water or tea inbetween meals before I did a water fast.

it really depends how bad your system is. Is that why you went to 8/1/1?
That was my reason for doing it. For awhile it helped bunches, then it got worse than it was going into it. Like i said i left it needing to eat like a baby again. My friend, i mentioned above, told me she started eating baby food again, literally buying babyfood b/c most things her tummy could not digest without sending her into cramps and pain. Not everyone goes thru this, but some of us do. I don't think we are dying, but it takes us back a few steps in our health status that's for sure.

[Kasey]

That's how I found out about raw foods, David Kleins book.  It helped me to get off all medication and start the healing process but it felt like I was in a perpetual detox nightmare lol.  I never thought it could be the sugar itself that was actually causing me problems.  Even though I would often fall asleep after fruit meals.  I just kept reading books and eventually found out about low carb diets and figured I would veganize them ; )

With the herbs, you will probably need to take them for little awhile to see results, but they do work.  The bowel formula you will notice within a day or so positive results, but I've noticed the other ones are slow but steady.  My blood pressure used to be 85/58 before I started taking herbs for adrenal and kidney function.  Anything below 118 for the first number indicates adrenal fatigue, and anything below 60-70 for the second number indicates kidney weakness.  Last time I checked I was at 110/68 so I've made a huge progress and feel much better!  I've been taking the herbs on and off for like 6 months maybe.  It would probably have worked faster if I had just kept taking them continuously until I was better, but it gets expensive.

I've heard of hydro C but not sure how it works.  I know the guy from Fiber menace can't have a bowel movement without it so I'm not sure if it's habit forming or what.  I'm a big believer that we can regenerate anything back to near 100% function so whatever his diet and protocol is, I'm not sure that it's a very powerful regenerative solution.  That's my opinion.

I still eat 3 meals a day.  I like starting the day off with the green juice because it's delicious and refreshing ; )  I treat it like a vitamin and mineral supplement not a meal to satiate me.  I'm usually eating a meal like an hour and a half later.  Seems to work well like that for me.  It's pretty cool, I ate lunch the other day at 1:30 and went to meet a friend and hung out all day and had plenty of energy and wasn't hungry until I got home and ate dinner at 8:30 so, 7 hours between meals and I was fine.  That would never happen to me before on a high carb diet.  It's a goal of mine to be able to eat more fruit but for now, they do more harm than good so I just avoid them.

What does a typical days food look like for you?

[Pumpkin pie]

Sorry for any misspellings in my postings. I'm on an iPad that does not check spelling while I type super fast
:-/

[Pumpkin pie]

Wow, I use to be so proud of my low blood pressure and low cholesterol numbers! My doctor was too. what a crazy health care (really drug care) system our country has :-(
I'll check my blood pressure and see where I'm at soon.
Yes his herbs are expensive but everyone I know who uses them say they are better than those carried in healthfood store, like you are saying :-)

I'm so glad Klein's program helped you get off med's. That's most important right :-)

That's so awesome how you do not have to eat all day long! I need to work on that still. I think my fat intake is too low still. 8/1/1 fat phobia still a little present I guess :-/. But I actually focus on more fats than protein. I think protein has some filling/satisfied properties as well, just don't have good sources of them yet -that I'm comfortable including.

My daily diet is still evolving, it needs some tweaking to keep me full longer.
Mornings I drink coconut kefir I make myself, don't think it is as potent as Dona Gates though. Later I'll have a green smoothie or hemp protein (with mild tasting veggies added like okra) shake. Sometimes I will add egg yolk or coconut oil to it. I also added in fish oil as a suppliment.
Lunch is usually greens blended into a soup with almond milk base. Sometimes I have an avocado for lunch too.
Dinner varies. Usually more veggies with added fats like EVO but I blend most things b/c my system is still struggling some. I even ate some poached eggs the other night. I also had some bites of my families chicken with skin one night last week. I actually felt pretty good. I've done some raw fish, sushi but no rice, no problem. Actually meats don't bother me as much as veggies. But Im fighting my body a little b/c I keep trying to make the veg. work.

I'll let you know about hydro c, I checked with friends who use it and say it helps. They are on meat diets though. The author says his bowels got messed up and stretched with high high fiber vegan diet and has internal hemmoriods that don't allow him to feel the urge. He now eats a very low residue diet.
I dont want to depend on anything either but it wasn't until I was raw that i got internal hemmoroids myself (tmi) so I'm a little concerned about eating a high plant food diet.

[Pumpkin pie]

Kasey - you are the perfect person to ask! What do you do, or use, to help relax the stress held in the colon/intestines? I hold my stress there ibs results) and bought some magnesium glyconate today to see if it helps relieve the tension. Yet I'm sure there are other things that will help get rid of that. I'm also working on taking more breaks to get outdoors and play :-)

[Pumpkin pie]

Forgot to add, I got back into fermenting veggies. I also use the bones from my families meat stews to make bone broths. GAPS protocol really is big on broths healing the gut. I can't stomach it alone though. I use it as the base in my soup at night.
I think Im on the right path. I'm just taking things from different sources that work with my bodies needs.

Thank you kasey, you sharing how cooked vegetables help you has encouraged me much!
Bummer though, tonight i steamed broccoli added some finely chopped raw sweet peppers and celery to it. Topped it off with "follow your heart" mayo. Afterwords my Stomach was in distress. It could have also been the xylitol I used to sweeten my tea. That can really mess with your tummy if you do to much of it in a day.

[Jennifer Ellen]

Ali,

I got into it, because I was searching for a more "mono" raw version diet for a while.  I was constipated up to 4 days in a row (after having some meat).  Heartburn was happening at every meal.  I was too tired to do anything.  I saw the 8/1/1 plan and read the book, it sounded great for my digestive issues.  

I grew up eating really processed foods, hardly any fruits and veggies.  I've increased my fruits and veggies since I've been aiming at high raw food lifestyle, but I also had a high bmi.  

Well, at the very least I think this will be a good cleanse for a while, but I will watch for signals of things getting worse rather than better.

So far I feel great.  The heartburn has almost completely stopped.  Almost no constipation.  Teeth sensitivities almost gone.  Energy up and very little fatigue.  I think my body is loving the fruits, greens, and veggies increase.

I'm eating around 1400 to 2000 calories a day (I'm not going for the 3000).  Mainly just eating when hungry.

I've found too that cucumbers, zucchinis, tomatoes, and bell peppers digest as fruits and with fruits, so that has helped to not combine them with veggies or salads.  I have no digestive issues eating those now.

[Kasey]

Ya it's important to include enough fats for energy.  I was scared of fat too from all the low fat crew, but there are some pretty healthy looking high fat dieters out there like Lou Corona and Nora Gedgaudas that inspired me to give it a more serious look.  Plus I feel better eating fat than I do eating carbs so there is some personal validation there too.  There are many paths to health so it's reassuring to see people thriving on all kinds of different diets.  I'm open to returning to high carb one day.  I will probably work more on myself with the herbs through the winter and see if I'm ready for more fruit in the summer.  I live in Toronto so it's not like it's a tropical fruit paradise here ; ) 

Apparently protein is very satiating, but I try to keep it to the bare minimum for maintaining my muscle mass and building hormones, which doesn't seem to be very much.  I'll have to measure my intake one day.  What I do know is, if you have any sulfury smelling gas, you are probably eating too much protein and not digesting it properly.  Incomplete carbohydrate digestion produces gas that doesn't smell.  I experimented upping my protein with more almonds and spirulina and it didn't take much for me to start getting gassy again.  Plus there is other anti-aging benefits to restricting protein.  Thankfully fat is pretty satiating, but it's a very fine line between satiated and nauseous for me lol.  I tend to feel better the less I eat anyways.

I don't do anything specific to relax my bowels really.  I find, not overeating helps tremendously.  Peppermint tea used to help a lot too.  I used to be a major pothead and that helped instantly lol.  I could feel within minutes my entire digestive tract just relax.  I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending that though ; )  Maybe if you make a tea with it and don't mind forgetting where you put your keys lol.  Deep breathing is also great!