Floating stool -> not-floating stool -> fasting?

[gangelo]

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been eating between 150g and 200g of fat/day for the past 2 weeks or so, and only up until the past 2 days my stool has been floating (which usually means I am not absorbing fat like I should?). In other words, my stool has only now started to sink over the past 2 days.

My question is this: It finally looks like my body is starting to adapt and ramp up my fat absorption/digestion; should I go into a 24 hr. - 72 hr. fast like I was planning today, or should I hold off? I want to give my body the chance to fully adapt to absorbing/digesting fats and I don’t want to undermine that with a fast/extended fast at this point. What would you suggest at this point?

Thank you much!

[atomicspacebunny]

As you already know:

“…Floating stools are often an indication of high fat content, which can be a sign of malabsorption, a condition in which you can’t absorb enough fat and other nutrients from the food you’re ingesting. When your poop (stool) floats, it is associated with celiac disease or chronic pancreatitis. …” …More

Is it chronically floating stool?

You could still be adapting to a higher fat diet and you need more bile from cholesterol to breakdown the fats in your diet.

Example: I eat the bitter peels of certain fruits like grapefruits, oranges and lemons and eat raw dandelions or caplets and also take an occasional Ox bile caplet… (e.g. bitters activate taste buds and stimulate enzyme production and bile flow and prevent acid reflux by stimulating the production of stomach acids in the parietal cell proton pumps and reduce the the sodium bicarbonate being kicked out by the pancreas with time…)

[gangelo]

Thanks @atomicspacebunny,

It doesn’t seem “chronic” to me, as my stool over the past 2 days has not been floating really, so yea, it seems more of an adaptation phase than anything else. That being said, my gastro has me on PPI’s 2x/day because of an esophageal ulcer, esophagealitis and gastritis that I caused myself by failing to take Potassium and Bentaine HCL Pepsin supplements on an empty stomach on occasion. Ironically, I was doing this because I was trying to boost my stomach acids while trying to simultaneously get off my PPIs I’ve been on for 25 years. Consequently, I need to be careful what supplements I take during this time of healing, and whatever malabsorption/fat digestion issues I currently have, are probably the result of the PPIs I’m taking that are seriously reducing my stomach acid quantity and acidity levels. I’m not a Dr., so I’m not 100% sure.

I guess my question really is, whether or not I should do my 23-72-hour fast as I planned to start today, or, continue eating to give my body the chance to further adapt to the fat I’m eating.

[Keto6468]

Floating stool is frequently caused by air in the stool and not by fat. Of course sometimes as described above it is caused by fed, but consider are you eating foods like nuts that might be causing more gas, or fibers

[gangelo]

“ear,” “fed?” But no, no nuts; although I was eating some veggies, not much, and a lot of avocado which is high in net carbs and 15g of fiber per avocado, and I’d have 2 per day pretty much.

[PaulL]

I don’t remember how long you’ve been eating ketogenically, but we generally advise people to wait until they are fat adapted, before they start fasting. It’s just easier that way.

As your appetite adjusts to eating to satiety, you may find yourself so satisfied that you forget to eat a meal, and just naturally slip into eating only one or two meals a day (what we call “intermittent fasting”). This is perfectly natural, and a sign that you might be ready for intentional fasting (over a day in length, what we call “extended fasting”).

[pamplemousse]

Yes, similar to what @PaulL said, I was going to suggest waiting until fasting comes naturally. Begin with delaying a meal simply because you are not hungry. Eventually you will be fasting simply because you are not hungry enough to eat. I do not think that there is a need to ‘white knuckle’ [let me know if this American idiom is not understood] fasting unless you are in a desperate situation to heal from a disease such as diabetes, cancer, etc.

[RobC]

I would think it is best to start fasting when the weight loss due to Keto plateaus for a while and you’re stuck. It is a great tool for that and you may want to save it for that.

Remember there are downsides to fasting - sleep can become disturbed and it is a stress that can mess up progress you have made so far in changing your hormones.

After a long time (many months) on Keto, you’ll be in a much better (stonger) position hormonally to take risks but, right now, a fast could easily throw you off of the wagon.

Even if you stay on the wagon - sleep issues and cortisol spikes might keep you from good fat loss.

[KetoCancerMom]

“ear,” “fed?

I think it was meant to be “air” and “fat” (autocorrect does funky things).

[Keto6468]

Yes… air

[gangelo]

It’s helium when I eat broccoli.