Diarrhea?

#1

My past few transitions to keto have been plagued by diarrhea. I don’t understand why. The first few I had no problem. But for some reason, the same meal without rice and a little more almonds for example, and I’m peeing out of my butt a few hours later. Has this happened to anyone else???

#2

I’ll mention that I’m not using MCT or coconut oil at all. Definitely not too much salt. No intestinal bug. I’m eating eggs, steak, spinach, macadamias, almonds, broccoli and cauliflower basically. The same foods I eat not on keto! In The previous transitions to keto that this happened, I don’t think it lasted this long, but it’s Been an entire week now.

(Lazy, Dirty Keto 😝) #3

Sorry but I can’t stop laughing at this :rofl:

But yes when I first started I did have the shits…this, too, shall pass :poop:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

Are you eating too much salt, perhaps? Try to stick in the range of 10-15 g/day, including the salt already present in your food.

Another possible cause could be the disruption in the gut biome, caused by the change in diet. @beccs is right, it will pass in a few days at most.

(Edith) #5

Yup, been there, too. It took me several months to firm up. I think it takes time for the intestinal flora to transition to the fattier diet. I’m thinking if you are frequently falling off the keto bandwagon and then jumping back on months later, you are constantly changing the flora.

#6

I almost always worshiped the porcelain goddess after cooking something with olive oil. I’ve learned to cook with butter.

But I was also diagnosed with IBS-D. Olive oil was just a quick trigger. I now take three psyllium husk capsules twice per day to help out.

#7

Thanks everyone. It’s definitely not too much salt, as it happens after a meal with less than a gram of salt. It could be the gut biome thing. It’s hard living life like this because I have to plan my meals in such a way I must be near a toilet for the firehose evacuation about 30 minutes after. Getting tired of it lol.

Becca, I hope you’re right! Hoping this passes sooner rather than later!!!

(Little Miss Scare-All) #8

Cha cha cha.

(Carl Keller) #9

But maybe too much at once? We need 2+ teaspoons of salt over the course of our day and I’ve read here in the forum of one person who was taking a full teaspoon in water, on a full stomach and this was excessive enough to trigger the runs.

The few times this has happened to me, I was slow cooking pork roast because cooking meat slow helps it retain moisture and makes it tender. But once I started cooking pork roast at a higher temp, the problem went away.

#10

I do 1/2 tsp of salt 3 times a day with plenty of water separate from my meals with no issue. And it was happening the first few days I wasn’t even using extra salt.

#11

I have a new theory unrelated to keto. Im wondering if I’m taking too much vitamin C. 2 grams per meal. But I’ve taken this much for years so I doubt it’s it but looking at all possibilities.

(Edith) #12

I’ve read that when we eat low carb our vitamin c needs decrease. If you were previously taking high amounts of vitamin C, it may be true that you don’t need nearly as much.

I’ve been reading “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes. I’m pretty sure I read it in there. There may also be some threads on the forum that discuss vitamin C.

(Alexandra Lawlor) #13

This happened to me and my friend who’s studying nutrition said most likely the gut flora adapting to change. Very yellow etc and not nice, butt don’t give up!! It gets better, keep up fibre

(Natasha) #14

Yep! I had issues with diarrhoea for a couple of months. 10+ months in now and no problems at all expect for the first meal after an extended fast!

(Paul H) #15

Yep a few months and it was over for me except when breaking EF.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #16

Our primary need for vitamin C is for its anti-oxidant properties. When Stefansson and Andersen went on their famous meat only diet in 1928, the researchers studying them expected them to quickly develop scurvy and were disappointed that they did not. So it is possible to get enough vitamin C on a carbohydrate-free diet.

One reason for this is that anti-oxidants in the diet are necessary because chronically elevated insulin levels activate genes that shut off the body’s built-in anti-oxidation defenses. When we enter nutritional ketosis, however, not only does our insulin level drop, but the principal ketone body produced, β-hydroxybutyrate, acts as a signaling hormone that shuts off the genes activated by the insulin, thus restoring our built-in anti-oxidation defenses and greatly lessening our need for vitamin C.

Fresh meat has also been known for well over a century to have anti-scorbutic properties.