Greetings all, I hope your holidays are going well. I’ve been solid and strict keto for about 2 yrs. with success. I maintain the diet for sports performance. I like it. But during the past 6 mos and the past 2 in particular I’ve experienced rather severe bouts of constipation, very slow digestion, bloating. Best to eat very small quantities. Smoothies suddenly cause issues. I suspected SIBO for a while and still haven’t ruled that out, but am working on it. Tried a low-FODMAP diet for 3 weeks, didn’t change much. Next step in the SIBO side would be either a breath test or an elemental diet (I have all the ingredients here, but held off because it needs dextrose as a base and I’d lose keto with that). So, I’m just reaching out to see if anyone has had an undesirable digestion experience and were able to trace and fix it. I’ll add that, during the past 3-4 mos I did increase my intake of green leafy stuff and omega-3’s, targeting intake for brain health. I do take a lot of supplements, for well-being and longevity, etc. I’m betting that part of my sleep problem is also tied to this gut issue. So, anybody have something to add. Happy New year, soon. Cheers and thanks. JS
Digestion issues
I just posted elsewhere that when I was having some constipation, I started taking Magnesium Citrate before bed. To my surprise, I sleep much better with it too. Is it possible you’re deficient in Magnesium? Do the leafy greens help when you eat them?
Janelle
Where do you get Magnesium Citrate? I haven’t found it locally.
How big are they? All the magnesium I have bought are gigantic horse-pill sized?
I take a lot of magnesium, mostly threonate and glycerinate. 1-2g before bed. Have a note to pickup some magnesium citrate for this purpose. My magnesium levels are good. Seems like the problem worsened shortly after going much bigger on greens, in smoothies mostly. But also was adding cruciferous veggies like cabbage and broccoli, so I’ve dialed that stuff back for now. I have lots of data on my gut, and all the relevant literature. So far nothing.
That’s a good brand. The basic guidance on taking magnesium is to take to your bowl tolerance, ie keep incr dosage until your stools become lose and back off a notch.
Pretty big, unfortunately. This is one next to a Prevacid. My multivitamin is as big as the Magnesium though. I hear you can get Magnesium Citrate in other forms.
Is it possible that your salt intake has declined? Constipation is one of the symptoms of low sodium. For me, it is a good reminder that I need to keep my salt intake up. I also find that keeping sodium at a healthy level (between 4 and 6 grams a day) helps keep my magnesium, potassium, and calcium in balance.
Interesting point. I’m pretty diligent on all the electrolytes and keep lots of salt around, use liberally. But I’ll double check that. Thanks.