This probably won’t be quick, so I apologize in advance…
Before keto I was chronically constipated. Then I started keto and became regular. Like daily. Sometimes twice a day. Then about 1.5 months in it slowed down. I didn’t change my fiber intake since starting keto. My diet is pretty much the same. Fiber wise I mix it up between chia seeds, flax seeds, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, pecans, walnuts, and 90% dark chocolate, and feel that I maintain good salt and water intake (although I do not measure those, nothing has changed).
Other foods are eggs, various meats like roasted pork, chicken, turkey, bacon, beef. Pretty much any meat, but eggs and bacon for breakfast are a daily thing. The other meat for dinner varies. (I do two large meals a day, rarely 3)
Now while I don’t go as often, I don’t have hard stools. Quite the contrary. When I do go it’s usually 3-4 days in between and it’s somewhere between regular and diarrhea, but more on the regular side I would say. I feel slightly bloated the day before, as if I’m constipated, then will go in the morning. Usually within an hour or two of waking.
I wouldn’t be concerned if it hadn’t been such a drastic change in regularity, without a change in diet. I’m assuming I should take note of the things I’ve eaten on the day before I feel constipated and the day of? That seems logical. Or is this just normal? (I hate using that word…)
Thanks in advance for any info.
TMI but I have a poop question
I am about at the 3 month mark. I have similar experiences. I may go 2 - 3 times a week, reduced volume, medium consistency, about like you have described. And there is definitely a feeling of “anticipation” prior to “poop day.”
So I don’t know if it is normal or not, but what you are describing is pretty much exactly how it is for me as well.
same, twice a week for me, 3 times, seems on par, your intestines and bowels are just not stimulated in the same way as if you were eating a considerable amount of carbohydrate for some reason.
Going is however, a very cathartic and pleasant experience I’d say for me!
I’m sure digestion has trigger points based on waste volume within the body, and location, so if you’re not in pain / discomfort, stay as you are.
Magnesium helps by the way, half a tablespoon can be enough for me for predictable movements within half a day, I will do full body flushes with larger amounts though when I want to a full top/down cleanse which will last a full day and half with looser / more frequent action down below!
I would say that the decreased frequency of pooing is probably the only downside of keto for me. I definitely used to go every day, sometimes multiple times when I’d get on my FiberOne bar kicks… I’m at about twice a week now. Sometimes I’ll pop some laxatives just to get things moving and have a sense of normalcy. I always feel better when I’m empty; like I could take on the world. I guess it makes sense; more of the food gets used, less fiber to irritate/stimulate bowels, etc. But yeah, I’d say what you’re going through is normal. I don’t in any way (usually) feel bad if I don’t poo for a couple days, but it does cross my mind and it reminds me to drink more water and whatnot.
I figured this as well. I thought that since we are eating mostly fat and then some protein that we are pretty much just eating our energy, and not eating waste basically. The only “waste” I eat isn’t in huge amounts and maybe has to build up. Idk. I haven’t spoken to my dr about it, so all of this is just assumptions. Perhaps on the days I do go and feel full/bloated it’s days I’m overeating and don’t realize. I need to be more diligent and track to see if that is the case.
Also, I got to thinking about this - I’ve always had constipation issues and when I was young my dr told my mom to give me oil, usually mineral oil, to help move things along. Granted this was the late 80s, early 90s, and medical advice has changed a LOT.
But I do wonder if maybe that’s part of it. Here’s what made me think that after this post: I made a turkey on Tuesday night and basted it in olive oil. So the skin was crispy and super super good. So I ate quite a bit of the skin yesterday along with the meat for my second meal around 5pm and felt bloated yesterday evening and thought nothing of it because I’ve had that “constipated/bloated” feeling before. Then this morning is when I went. I wonder if the oil from the skin had anything to do with it. If it was just extra oil/grease that moved things along. Like my body didn’t need that oil/fat so it got rid of it along with the fiber that was already on its way through. This sounds like crazy just made up thoughts, but it’s all I have right now.
I usually make sure to get at least 20-25 grams of fiber a day (that’s with total carbs as I made a rule to rarely eat a carb food that doesn’t include fiber). So I figured since I was getting the recommended amount of fiber for women that I’d be pretty regular. But for all I know 2 times a week could be normal for me in any situation/diet. It’s better than it was before keto. So I really shouldn’t be complaining. And I certainly feel better and go easier because I only feel the full/bloated feeling for about 12 hours before. So I’m probably just complaining for no reason. Maybe the first 6 weeks of going so much was just my body becoming fat adapted and working out the kinks of getting that extra fat. And I also began to get more fiber. I used to be a sugar addict and ate a lot of junk like gummy candy and sugary drinks. So my gut health was trash. So maybe it was just getting that straightened out and now I’m on track.
Btw thanks for everyone’s help and patience on my long replies.
I noticed that it changed over time. I kinda think that’s normal. At 15 months (or so), I have one most days. Some are larger, some are smaller, a lot depending upon just what I did eat over the last couple of days.
In the early days of keto, the size reduced somewhat and it varied in consistency, even liquid for a while. It seems to be a pretty common thing. But that didn’t last. And when I eat closer to a carnivore diet, I tend to have less and less often but still not a problem. When I eat more (keto friendly, mostly) veggies, there tends to be more and more often. But really no extremes anymore.
It’s just not something I worry much about.
Hope you find the relief you need (no pun intended) to be comfortable.
I’m sure I will. I’m still much better than I was pre-keto, so I give keto credit for helping me get things moving. I don’t think I’m going to worry about it much now that I’ve heard from you guys.
I find I’m jealous. Pre-keto, I used to poop within a few hours every time I ate a meal. At the beginning of my switch to keto, I had VERY frequent stools of varying degrees of softness (up to and including diarrhea). Now, I usually poop once a day, within a few hours of waking up.
So, when my stool verges towards “looseness” or diarrhea, I’m starting to suspect food sensitivities that I may have eaten within 2 to 3 days prior to the change. Food sensitivities are much harder to isolate as they can be time delayed and may only occur when certain combinations of foods are eaten in the same meal or in the same day.
Until I can afford some specialized testing (such as MRT - inflammatory food sensitivity testing) I may need to try another approach. I haven’t tracked my food intake carefully since the first few months of beginning to eat Ketogenically. I think I’m going to need to recommit to carefully tracking everything again, if I want to narrow my list of “suspect foods”.
I believe I’m in the same boat. I’ve gotten lazy and relied on the fact that I eat the same things usually so I pretty much know what my macros will add up to. But I could be missing a change or something I’ve done since the change in regularity that I’ve not realized. I’ll go back and see what I was eating in the beginning when I was more regular vs what I’m eating now since I tracked everyday then.
I’ve never been concerned about “regularity.” As long as I don’t have uncomfortable or inconvenient constipation or diarrhea, I don’t care. But I have noticed a similar change: My stools seemed to be softer and more frequent at first on keto, and now not so much.
I do take some fiber and magnesium because of previous conditioning, but some ketoers seem to think fiber is unnecessary or isn’t good.
Bottled magnesium citrate is your friend. Otherwise the keto life is just a crapshoot.
I’m very similar. I’ve been chronically constipated my whole life. Even if I had stomach flue or food poisoning I never had diarrhea except one time once In my life. Now with keto I go more often. First thing I noticed (pre keto) is that breads, noodles and things made me constipated. Now on keto I know for sure I’m one of the people who get constipated and bloated from fiber. I still think I’m generally more constipated than most but before keto I could go a week without going 
. I strongly think people should test their reactions to fiber. Last 2 things for me to test are dairy are magnesium.
I don’t see it as a “downside” at all. For me keto is about letting my body take care of itself, rather than force it to do what I think best. After all, there’s not much percentage in trying to outthink 2,000,000 years of evolution.
Personally, I find that the consistency of my stool has a great deal to do with my salt intake. Too little salt tends to cause constipation, and too much salt tends to make my stool, shall we say, “mushy.”
I definitely have to make sure I get enough water, otherwise it’s a no go even now. But I have noticed that when I eat more meat than usual that I feel much less bloated and go easier. Like if it’s just a little fiber in with a lot of fatty meat, I do best. I’m almost on a carnivore diet, honestly. I eat a lot of fatty meat, no dairy (another constipation causer for me), lots of eggs, few nuts and seeds for fiber, and green veggies for fiber. Then I get the remainder of my fats from oils and butter and such. But I certainly eat all my protein in meat/eggs if I can before going anywhere else for fat. And it works for me. I’ve gained muscle quickly without compromising my workouts. But that was my goal. I wanted to ramp up my run distance and time, and this WOE allowed me to do that. I went from 122 to 125 over the last month and it’s been fat loss and muscle gain. I was skinny fat before. No muscle whatsoever. It’s an undeniable change that I honestly wouldn’t have believed unless I had seen it.
I hadn’t given much thought to this. I’ll keep an eye on my sodium and see if that’s the case. I have a bad habit of not tracking that honestly, so I may be under or overdoing it at times. That’s the one thing I need to get a handle on, tbh. I know when I’m low energy that’s usually the problem, though.
Ever since I have been on Ketogenic diet, to avoid this problem, I take two tea spoons of psyllium husk in a glass of water before going to bed. I do this irrespective of the vegetable fiber intake. I never had a problem (but for the first week before I started doing this :))