Constipation and zero carb


(Dan Dan) #21

what? :thinking:


#22

to what? Eric Berg counsels against fibre, the other video doesnā€™t. Who to believe and why?


#23

Some people, inclduing Dr Berg, maintain that lactose and dairy and something called casein can exacerbate the problem.


(L. Amber O'Hearn) #24

Zero carbers just waste less. I wonder if thereā€™s an environmental argument thereā€¦ :thinking:

Not feeling the need is very different from constipation, so youā€™re probably fine.


#25

Well, no. I donā€™t think so. Regularity isnā€™t the issue, having strained movements is.


(Chris) #26

Been predominantly carnivore for almost a month now. I go usually once a day or every other day and its totally not like constipation of regular SAD or even Keto. If I have anything of substantial ā€œmassā€, I can almost directly link it to anything non-carnivore consumed.

I actually think its a big reason why people notice shrinking midsection right away. Your just not filled with ā€œchitā€


(Dan Dan) #27

Get a squatty potty it might help :wink:


(Chris) #28

OP, have you removed veg since this thread was posted? Or only for the few days you mentioned? That could be part of it.


#29

No, I am not comfortable going zero carb and Iā€™m not convinced eating veg is the problem. That doesnā€™t really make sense to me.


#30

Investigating this Iā€™ve read that hard stools can be caused by slow motility and/or the colon absorbing too much water from the stool.

Given that bowel movements can be less frequent on keto Iā€™m wondering just how to avoid this, without perhaps eating more fibre, which Iā€™m going to try by adding flax and chia.

The standard dietary requirements list around 30+g fibre a day which seems way beyond what you would get eating real food (as opposed to things like fortified breakfast cereals and the like).

I drink a lot of water as it is, I find it hard to imagine this is a problem of dehydration. In fact I drink so much I pass a lot of water.


(What The Fast?!) #31

I have very similar issues - I think Iā€™ve found a solution - a LOT more salt. Iā€™ve tried everything - more fiber, less fiber, loads of magnesium, squatty potty, MCT oil, coconut oil, fasting, chia seeds, psyllium, etc.

The last few days have been better than the last 6 months for me and I think the big difference is salt. Iā€™m going to eliminate the chia seeds and MCT and just go with added salt for a few days to see if Iā€™m still seeing the improvement. Iā€™m not sure right now if itā€™s the combination or just the additional salt thatā€™s making the differenceā€¦but my hunch is itā€™s the salt. Iā€™m taking a couple of these guys 2-3 times a day, itā€™s easier for me than eating 2-3tsps of salt throughout the day.


#32

How much salt/sodium in 1 tablet?


(What The Fast?!) #33

1g of salt, 394mg of sodium. 2-3 tsp of salt is recommended daily on keto. A tsp of salt weighs about 6g. I salt my food and eat salty foods like bacon, so Iā€™m taking like 6-8g a day on top of my regular eating. I also work out and do hot yoga, so Iā€™m playing around to see how much more I need and if it keeps me regular. I want to see if I increase salt and decrease magnesium, if it has the same effect. :crossed_fingers:


#34

People have made claims they do not go regularly, not daily.

Iā€™m wondering if this is a problem. I would like to know whether, if the longer the waste/material remains in the body, the more dehydrated it becomes and thus the harder to pass. So perhaps going daily (at least) is optimal because of this.

So perhaps for this reason we should eat more foods like fibre.


(What The Fast?!) #35

I asked a gastroenterologist about this topic. She said a couple interesting Things:

  1. 75% of women are constipated.
  2. Your body absorbs the same amount of nutrition from food no matter how long it takes to go through you.
  3. Soluble fiber draws water into the stool, she recommended Miralax daily. I told her I didnā€™t want to treat the symptom but rather fix the problemā€¦and she said to refer to Point #1 above.

I would venture to guess that most women with constipation issues are undereating in general. A naturopathic doctor said to me once - if not enough is coming out, itā€™s likely that enough is going in. Eat enough and your body wonā€™t hold so much in.


(Ted) #36

I have had similar issues and so far found that adequate water (5 -8 glasses/day) and a daily dose of 1 tablespoon of coconut oil has be most helpful at reducing the strain if dry/hard stool.


(What The Fast?!) #37

Ha! I drink lots of water and can eat loads of coconut or MCT oil without any improvement!


(Chris) #39

Iā€™m really starting to wonder why this thread is even here in the Zero Carb sub forum to begin with. OP admittedly only gave it a few days. @richard would it make sense to move this elsewhere?


(Richard Morris) #40

I think the OP was trying to pick apart problems with ketogenic diets. But I left his posts up all around the forum as a good teachable moment as the community responded. I think thatā€™s similar here. The Subject is a little inflammatory, but the responses were been pretty good I thought.


(Chris) #41

Pun pardoned, hahaha.

(poo jokes, anyone?)