Seeds no more

#1

Hi everyone. Today I blew my entire total carb allowance on pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and almonds. The reason was I thought it would help with my digestion. But I felt totally rubbish after eating them. Surely I can’t have lost my ability to digest them after merely abstaining from them just two or three weeks? The flax seeds were the worst and they tasted awful.

I realise my body would happily just eat meat and fish and eggs at this point, but the problem is I have been suffering from chronic constipation. I don’t feel any pain or discomfort anymore like I used to whenever I ate gluten, but I am about as regular as once in a blue moon, which is worrying. I am drinking plenty of water. I also drink coffee, perhaps that’s the problem? So far the sort of things I’ve been keeping in my cupboard to ward off constipation are seeds (pumpkin/chia/flax). And today they just didn’t feel right for my body anymore. If I only ate the carnivore foods though I highly enjoy them I fear my chronic constipation would only get worse.

I have read about various supplements you can take, like magnesium citrate and phsyllium husk, and it says they should be fine to take for a healthy individual. I am not sure I am that healthy individual, but I will have to give it a go now, as I don’t see I have any other choice. Perhaps once my body has healed more it could manage on its own. Well that’s the hope. Right now, I feel the only thing standing between me and success on keto/carnivore long term right now is the constipation.

#2

unless pain and bloating or worse in any way you probably are not constipated truly. Normal adaption. Alot of people have big changes in gut adaption. You are eating protein which is digested in ultimate fashion, not much ‘to come out’ and also you are literally going thru healing and more when we start zc.

Unless hurting and more, don’t worry on this just yet. It is a very normal change many experience. We ‘all know’ our bathroom schedules cause we all have them :slight_smile: and when they change ALOT we think…omg what is wrong? Nothing on carnivore unless you are in pain etc.

So hang in there. One thing is eat a bit more fat. Don’t be eating seeds :slight_smile: be sure definitely to drink alot of water and be sure to take some salt in your day. Also another thing some do is take a small dose of magnesium cause this can get ya moving to but not needed if you don’t want supps.

but yea no panic time just yet :slight_smile: I think you will be ok. gut adaption is a real deal transition and all carnivores find ‘new and wonderful’ bathroom routines in zc. Where I was re: bathroom and what I am now is a super ultimate wonderful and amazing experience for me now LOL yea TMI but honestly, it is mindboggling the diff. of great I have with my guts now.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #3

This sort of thing often happens to people, and the best we can figure is that we were having this sort of reaction all along, but it was lost in the general mass of problems caused by the standard diet.

#4

Hi Fangs. Thanks for your reply. I had chronic constipation on my HCLF diet too, and back then I experienced a lot of bloating and abdominal discomfort, though I still went fairly regularly to the bathroom. On keto/carnivore I’ve had a lot less bloat, if any, and no abdominal discomfort at all, but, like I mentioned, I seem to go now ever once in a blue moon. I will try eating more fat, I certainly don’t mind the taste of fat, when the meat is nice and hot. Ate a cold pork chop this morning I’d saved from yesterday and I definitely have an aversion to eating fat when it’s cold. I will also up my water and salt intake. Yes drop those seeds lol, I agree, they certainly do cause bloating and generally don’t make me feel all that good, but for the longest time they’ve been my go to source for fibre. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

#5

Hi Paul, thanks for your reply. It could be then because my body has begun to heal it has become more sensitive to foods that might have been inflammatory all this time. I ate a bunch of seeds, and just didn’t feel good. I had noticed I was losing interest in them and the nuts as well a while before. Perhaps my body’s way of steering me away from them and the other plant foods as well. Tastewise and in every other way, besides for my argumentative digestive system, I am loving keto though it’s more carnivore now. It is the last puzzle piece to fall in place, to fix that problem somehow. As Fangs suggested, I will up my water, salt and fat intake and see if that helps.

#6

oh yea I walked that path also. til that one day you crave some meats cold and fatty and you think…WTH? WHO AM I now? :slight_smile: :slight_smile: a ton of changes come on carnivore truly but on our own timeline.

yea gut health is a very important function of our bodies, not a doubt on that one. Most times it is veg causing issues, or seeds, or grains and we ‘get so off balance’ from the guts yet they effect so much of our overall well being.

Sometimes it can take a bit for it ‘all to combo up into good’ cause as one changes into zc ya can get maybe some ‘big dreaded D’ or ya don’t go alot but feel ok but wonder ?? or ya think ‘what now?’ ya know and get worried LOL

Let time show you the way on this one ya know.

I ‘am assuming’ you ain’t quite zc just yet but walking that way ya know, as I did…but when ya go full on carnivore and drop all plants, we change alot more and faster and we transition thru easier, but of course as we are all very individual beings, each of us has to walk that adaption path personally.

sending best wishing on getting better and feelin’ fine :slight_smile:

#7

see, this is one of those…big hmmmms, as many ‘try to say zc’ makes ‘us less able to eat plants’ but when in truths when one eats way less, like your walk into the zc realm of lifestyle, your body is showing you more hard truths.

ya know back in the crazy eating days of us all we ate xyz and abc and felt off and sluggy and more icky and we think, oh that piece of pork did that to me when it coulda been the tacos we had for lunch, or that ‘sugar snack’ we had later or those teeming cups of coffee with fake sweetener creamer crap ya know…we guess.

but more ya cut things out…which is why the carnivore menu is ‘called an elimination diet’ to find what our bodies don’t like when they are added back…shows us alot of truths.

ain’t the same for each of us. never will be. I do very fine on some dairy easily and can use it but others are NO GO point blank on dairy ya know…so what goes down the gob shows us alot of hmmms but that will vary for each of us of course.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #8

As far as constipation is concerned, there is a difference between not needing to move our bowel and being constipated. The latter condition is when you have to strain and have difficulty eliminating; the former is perfectly normal.

Constipation can be caused by insufficient sodium, so keep an eye on your salt intake and be sure to get enough. Also, fat helps with elimination, in fact MCT oil is notorious for causing "disaster pants "

But the idea that we are required to move our bowel every day was first promulgated in the early 1950’s by laxative manufacturers to stimulate sales of their product. Before then, it was a non-issue

#9

It’s definitely not every day or every second day or even every third day, it’s more like … once a week. It’s crazy. I don’t actually have any abdominal discomfort or bloating when keeping only to carnivore foods. When I add in veg or seeds I get the bloating, accompanied by flatulance. Even when I in desperation have been adding in veg previously, however, it just hasn’t worked. I will try the MCT oil you mentioned, I have a coconut block that I could shred and put in my coffee, would that do? Also is butter an MCT oil as I eat plenty of that. I am going to throw the remnants of the seeds (flax and chia) in my cupboard away.

#10

About the fat actually, I did discover one thing with it that worked, even when eaten cold. Which was to eat it together with some leaner bits of the meat and add plenty of salt. My body is definitely desiring to be carnivore and the only thing that’s been stopping me in giving into its wishes has been the issue with constipation. But my main food now is meat and fish. My very simpe menu today: A plate of bacon for breakfast. Smoked mackarel fried in butter for lunch. Beef burgers for dinner. And the body is more than happy with this. First thing it wants in the morning used to be green tea and dark chocolate. Now it’s bacon.

(Allie) #11

More likely that they always gave you issues that are now more obvious due to avoiding them for a while.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #12

Seriously, is that actually a problem, or are you just worrying because it’s a change? As @Fangs points out, meat is digested much more efficiently and completely, so there is much less waste to dispose of.

#13

I do get that, but then … how long would you say one could go without a bowel movement before it should be considered a problem? As I am sure sometimes it’s longer than a week. It’s all the information I grew up with as to what was healthy in that arena and what wasn’t.

#14

I definitely consider once a week a problem, that’s what sloths do, not humans. But I have no idea what is normal for humans. Only at least once every day is normal for me personally (it’s less and even less frequent on carnivore but still at least once per day, my body is stubborn. and coffee has that trigger effect as well) but I wouldn’t get worried until some noticeable problem, I am not the worrying kind. Though a week is super long…
Okay, don’t mind me, I just don’t know but I DO consider it too long.

#15

when ya hurt. fart bloat gassy or literal pain or just feeling ‘plugged’ up and something won’t come out.

always access your poop status in that am I bad? I feel horrible. I am SO OFF, I am getting worse and more. What gut troubles are attacking me?

If one is not that, one has to wait and see what goes down but remember the old dieting baggage and stupid azz info on the net…WE MUST poop this or that…but nope, not on our lifestyle change as we are cleaning the body to find real 'path in that direction.

as one walks less plants one guts are gonna change and we can say this thru experince from many of us.

again I think you are literally fine, just wait. but if any pain etc then actions kick in but if not that, just eat up all ya want, all the good food and forget the ‘butt’ at this point and I say that cause I had to accept it to as I changed!!

#16

No I don’t feel any discomfort or abdominal discomfort, least not when I am eating strictly carnivore. But this morning when I added in the seeds I did get bloating and discomfort so I am doing away with them. I will try eating strictly carnivore again as that’s what my body seems to prefer and at the same time up my fat, salt and water intake. And keep a digestive journal. I will also look into MCT oil. And if nothing helps I’ll have to look into pshyllium husk or magnesium citrate.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #17

My mom received her nursing training in the 1940’s, before the advent of commercial laxatives, so she was a big believer in letting the body take care of itself. She wasn’t big on fixing what wasn’t broken. On the other hand, I once knew a guy who freaked out if his bowel didn’t move at precisely 10:00 every morning. So do what works for you. You’ll figure it out.

#18

hey there ain’t no easy way for this to go down for ya.

if one wants to ‘experience’ zc as the ‘elimination menu’ it is for our bodies we gotta eat full on zc point blank.
I was SO IN AND OUT like you til I hit ‘my enough’ and my enough was ‘try all in carnivore’ and SEE if it was me but ya know as we all know, hard to do, we can say it can we do it :slight_smile:

you are right there N!!! right there on that change that suits you
Make your decision and push hard forward in what you think might give best to us but in the end, you can always change that up truly but THE FIRST push forward into big change is the darn hardest any of us will do.

if after ain’t right backtrack a bit to find you again cause after all this we all try, it is 1000% about you only ya know :slight_smile:

#19

Why, that has anything to say about poop? It’s easily possible, I just never heard about it.

Sounds good to me… They often affect these things. Not in my life but my body is super stubborn and anyway, it works well while you need to fix an old potential problem.

Why at 10:00? :smiley:
Isn’t it expected in the morning, in the little time between waking up and weighing ourselves? I always found that super odd as it never happened to me in the morning (even if we consider it “before noon”). We surely have it all over the place (okay it sounds bad), not every even remotely healthy ones do it first thing of the day!

(Laurie) #20

As a child I had a bm just once a week, and I survived. In those days I’d be on the toilet for half an hour.

I had to stop eating most plant foods a couple of years ago, because of gut pain. Now I’m not 100% carnivore, but close.

My bowel movements have settled down to approximately once a day. They’re perfect (according to some standard) and take just a few seconds.

@never2late You’ve been through a lot of changes and seem to be doing really well. I hope that with a bit of patience, this will sort itself out soon.