gas and bloating

Tree Woman, have you tried stopping the Miralax to see if the gas/bloating are relieved? - Surviving

If you are all of a sudden eating lots of fruits and veg, your digestive system is going to respond. Cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc. can especially cause gas and digestive issues. Try adding them in slowly. One at a time, to see what is causing the most problems for you.
Fruits and veggies are the best things you can put in your body, but too much at once with the addition of miralax can be an explosive combination.
Hope you feel better soon.

Hi tree woman! I just wanted to let you know that broccoli always gives me SERIOUS gas! ALWAYS and sometimes worse than beans!!!! I had to stop eating broccoli when i was breastfeeding because it was giving my baby bad gas as well. Also, miralax has always caused a great deal of digestive upset for me as well. I cant use it at all because it causes so much discomfort in my G.I. tract! I integrated prune juice into my daily diet and it keeps me regular and gives me no discomfort. Also if i do get backed up I find olive oil VERY helpful. I just put about 1/4th a cup on a fresh salad and it cleans me right out.

Dear Tree woman,
I have had issues with gas often.
This is my experience & what I do or need to remind myself to do.
I have reduced sugar in my diet down to less than 3% per 100g if anything is packaged, & nothing else with sugar added.
I limit fructose ( fruit sugar) to about 10g/day. Fructose is the dangerous part of sugar in that it negates appetite control, & can contribute to many modern illnesses, & more than 1 piece/day can give me gas.
If I have fruit & porridge for b/fast I limit or have no milk as it gives me gas in that combination.
Wheat does also ( wheat b/fast biscuits )
I had some sweet potato soup last night & was expecting a reaction this morning & had a good b/movement. I don't have onion often anymore, though there was some garlic in it & fresh chives along with cream & sour cream. Garlic & onion together was not good.
Reducing fructose /sugar has settled my gut down to almost calm & my general health is better.
I have to remind myself to CHEW slowly & EAT much more slowly as I tend to eat food as if it is going to run away. Doing this is a simple way to increased & more effective digestion & much less swallowed air... I used to drink glasses of water in one go several times a day & now sip during the day - much less swallowed air.
I used to eat a lot of prunes, but they were not effective after a while & are very high in fructose, so I have increased fats like butter, sour cream, & other full fat products ( low fat are full of fillers & sugar & inulin.) I eat other good fats like avocado & eggs, animal protein.
I am looking at eating more vegetables & soups so that I can maintain good B/movements as with rectocele that is a primary concern, & reducing white food like pasta, white rice, white potato, white flour, limit milk, no table sugar, (& fruit to 1/day). Artificial sweeteners are toxic & honey, agave, dates are very high in frutose. Fruits like grapes, watermelon, mango, pineapple, dates & other dried fruit are high in sugar (fructose) could = gas. I find apples, pears, (grated or lightly cooked) raspberries, blueberries I limit to (one serve /day as = to about 10g of fructose), more soothing & much less gassy - I have a bit of banana sometimes too. Chew slowly.
I find Whole Woman Posture is very helpful also to reduce abdominal discomfort.
Unfortunately, our gut is termed as our second brain, so stress seems to translate into digestive issues. I am affected by that a lot, so I try not to stress, & watch my diet as at least that is a bit easier to control.
I can see from posts here that there are different experiences, so try what you think with our experiences in mind & see how you go as we are all individuals in different stages of this journey.
Best wishes & (((hugs)))
Aussie Soul Sister

I did not know that prunes had a lot of fructose!!! Thank you so much for the information! I actually was consuming way to much table sugar in my diet with coffee and at the advice of the wonderful women here I decided to cut out all of the table sugar and the coffee. I have lost 18 lbs in 2 months just from cutting out the table sugar in my diet and eating mostly veggies and some fruit! I wonder how much of a difference cutting out the prunes will do!? The prune juice has ALWAYS helped me have a bowel movement, ever since I was a child. I drink 4-6 oz. every morning. I could try replacing it with fresh apples! Thank you for the information. I love this forum, every day I learn something new and great!

Yes, it does sound like you are adding a lot of gaseous food to your diet at once. It might be wise to take it more slowly. I love lentils! A good tip for lentils and other types of beans is cook them with a bay leaf or piece of kombu sea vegetable to take some of that gas inducing effect out.
For me, taking out a lot of the processed carbs helped a lot. I also grind a tablespoon of flaxseed just about every morning which I add to yogurt. 2 tablespoons is suggested, but I find I get too bulked up in the bowels preventing smooth bowel movements. Everyone is different in what affects them, but I believe there are a lot of variables that are the same.
I too have been recently trying to cut out the sugar. My hubby loves my bakery, so I have been experimenting with some different sugar substitutes. Brown rice syrup has been the latest. I have also used dates with great results, but they seem very sugary in themselves. And it goes on....

girls!! Since I started increasing my intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as baked beans, my bowels have been very unpredictable.

I trust that my system is 'clearing itself' and that eventually my body will handle all this stuff properly.

Having increased the fruits and vegetables, I do not crave sugar any more!! I have lost 8 lbs since I started this a month ago!!

By the way -- any time I eat an apple & drink water at the same time, I get horrible stomach pains, gas and bloating. The same thing happens if I drink water with a salad.

:-)
w2k

Ohhh, YES! i love a tablespoon of ground flaxseed in my yogurt as well! I too have found out if I use the recommended 2 tablespoons it bulks me up too much! Isn't it amazing how 1 tablespoon can ease constipation but 2 tablespoons can add to it!?

Yes, that is funny!! Lol! We live and we learn!

If you soak and sprout the legumes before cooking them, they are a lot easier to digest.
In the web are many sites that teach the procedure and it is very easy to do.
Have a good week!
Solita

The last few days I have been feeling quite ill... and I'm wondering if I'm overdoing the fresh fruit and vegetable juices.

I almost felt feverish yesterday, and yet was shaking as with a chill.

Would this be a normal response if my body is ridding itself of toxins??

Although I had my fruit-and-kefir smoothie this morning, my body seemed to reject the idea of drinking my fresh vegetable juices tonight.

I also seemed to be suffering from gas and bloating.

Any suggestions??

Thanks
w2k

P.S. It has been a little over a month since I changed my eating habits so drastically, so I'm wondering if I'm now feeling the effects of a 'slow purge'

w2k, don't overlook the possibility that you just have a touch of something. Did you take your temperature?

I tried doing one of those juice only diets, buying a top of the line juicer and drinking 3 juices a day. I lasted 3 days before becoming deathly ill. I had horrible headaches and felt like I was going into diabet shock. I ate an egg salad sandwich and instantly felt better. I know some people are very successful with juicing, but I wasn't one of them.
I still have that juicer, although I have been recently trying to sell it! Lol! I think I would still add some nice green juices back in my diet, but I personally like the whole veg and fruit better. Besides, I think I read somewhere that the nutrients in some vegetables are more easily accessible to the body if they have been slightly cooked instead of raw.
It is hard to change a eating routine when you are so used to old eating habits. I am definitely a work in progress myself.

I was actually wondering if it was a touch of the flu, whether my period is making an unexpected early appearance again, or if this would be a normal result of detoxifying.

Aging Gracefully: I chose not to do a total 'liver purge' with just juices for the very reasons that you mentioned, but I've been drinking a fruit smoothie in the morning and about 12 oz of fresh vegetable juices at around supper time. Although the smoothie seems to be a good substitute for breakfast -- including fruits, kefir & hemp seed hearts -- I have been eating a normal lunch (sandwich, or baked beans & toast) and meat, potatoes and a salad with the vegetable juices for supper.

My system, over the past month, has experienced lots of 'explosive diarrhea' and I have lost about 8 lbs, but this hot/cold and constipation/bloating is different.

The only change I made in the last couple of days was to add a bit of raw cabbage to my juice. Would that cause me such trouble??

:-)
w2k

The problem with fruit juice is you are eating a large volume of fruit and consequently fructose. Too much fructose is bad for you, it interferes with the insulin responses. If you stick to eating whole fruit, you would only manage maybe two whole pieces as it has its fiber intact and so is filling. Has it given you diarrohea as well as feeling too much of an insulin spike? I am more in line with Graceful's comments. I rarely eat raw vegetables now even as salad. Washing and peeling and cooking vegetables also means that any traces of fertilizers or insect sprays are gotten rid of. I think there was some discussion on another thread about fruit/vegetable juice as a morning thing to get the bowel moving. I myself would not be drinking any more than the one glass. In fact, I would find an alternative way to keep regular as even one glass does not suit me. Also, it is possible with a mixture of fruit and veg to have an intolerance to one which can make yo feel ill.

I'm actually only including parts of fruits + some berries in my smoothie.

My difficulty is that I can't seem to eat enough vegetables & fruits unless I do them this way. I'm looking at the particular nutrients and healing qualities in each of the fruits and veggies etc that I'm taking.

Perhaps I'm overdoing it, but it's nice not to have the sugar-cravings any more and to feel sufficiently full on healthy stuff.

My hubby suggested that I have the fruit-smoothy one day and the vegetable juices the next day. Maybe that would work. But then again, maybe it would be best to just cut each drink in 1/2 and try having a piece of toast with my smoothy in the morning and supplement my supper vegetable juice drink with some cooked veggies.

I think I'll cut out the cabbage to start with .... and then go on with the reductions in juices.

:-)
w2k

like we were writing at the same time; baked beans, salad vegs, bread and cabbage are all notorious wind/bloat producers without real evidence that they help form good stool. If you have a lot of fiber then it is recommended you have a lot of water and this gets you onto a roundabout that does not particularly resolve easily. Maybe, cut the fibre a little and introduce just a little fat. My favourite is whipped cream in my cup of coffee, but for others it could be salad dressing etc. Another recommendation is fermented foods (as with your kefir) so maybe have sauerkraut rather than cabbage. Hopefully, it is just a matter of juggling things, but if it should prove to be some inflammatory disease then you need to get serious. After you have juggled your diet anew, you could always try a course of probiotics and magnesium.

it again. It looks like a good plan you have laid down from where I am sitting.

at suppertime. I am avoiding processed meats and trying to have red meat at least 3 times a week. Other than that, we have fish or chicken.

Possibly I just have to do a few adjustments as you suggested. I'll keep working on it. If it continues or worsens, I'll definitely get it checked.

Thanks
:-)
w2k

so I am blessed with really good veggies -- no sprays --

You could very well have a flu bug of some sort, but you say you have been having explosive diarrhea for a month? That is not good. I am with Fab on this one. What are all the fruits and veg you are putting in your juices? Maybe, starting simpler would be good, and then add them back in one at a time to see what is affecting you the most. And yes, cabbage, especially raw, is a very gas producing veg.

I am putting 1/2 an apple, 1/3 of a banana, a handful of raspberries & about 1/2 cup of pineapple juice in my smoothie.

My veggie juice is 1 carrot, 1 small beet, 1 stick of celery, possibly some spinach and asparagus

Until my system gets used to fruit daily, I know that apples and pineapple juice give me explosive diarrhea. I passed this way about 12 years ago, and then quit the regular fruits, so I was just expecting my system to get used to it.

However, 12 years ago I did not combine the vegetable juices

rid of the pineapple juice as it usually has lots of added sugar. Asparagus makes me piddle, but does not do that to everyone. There should be sufficient fat in your protein intake. Lucky you having an organic farmer husband, it would make a veg/fruit diet irresistible.

The beets were especially harsh on my system when I was trying the juicing bit. They have a very high sugar content I later learned. There was a green juice that I did particularly like. I don't remember all the ingredients, but it did have a green apple, celery, spinach or kale, and I think ginger root in it. It was tasty and didn't give me that sugar rush that the other juices did. I really do have to find that recipe and try it again.
Hope all goes well for you!!

I'll see what I can do with all this information. Hopefully my system will settle down soon.

:-)
w2k

I was looking at the iron content in the beets. My doctor tells me that I'm low in iron. I know that there are vitamins and minerals galore in spinach as well. Maybe I should try varying my daily juice. Sometimes when you have the same same thing daily you can develop an allergy to it.

Something to think about....

w2k
:-)

I think I read somewhere you said you were going though peri-menopause. Me too! I also have low iron. Didn't know that it was in beets though! Learn something new everyday. Personally, I like my beets roasted in the oven rather than raw; they definitely don't give me that sugar rush that way.
So jealous you have an organic farmer husband!!

Actually the highest content of iron is in seafood -- oysters -- sardines -- shellfish -- salmon

So we try to have some of that each week too.

:-)
w2k

P.S. Yes -- I am in peri-menopause -- so am experiencing all kinds of things -- feeling my way through

Hi want2know,
I have read that a very safe & natural remedy for iron deficiency is to eat some parsley with every meal.
It is one of the finest sources of safe iron, as well as natural calcium,
easily assimilated by the body.
Best wishes,
Aussie Soul sister

Thank you, Aussie Soul Sister. I had also been adding a bit of parsley to my juice the first few weeks that I was juicing vegetables. Perhaps I should continue adding it.

:-)
w2k

Parsley? Cool! I am actually growing it in my garden. Definetly going to add that more to my diet as well!!

I take Ginger Powder (half tea-spoon) in my tea in the morning.

my period!! Two weeks from the last one. ((sigh)) perimenopause and all its uncertainty and surprises.

I guess I'll live :-D

I still don't feel like drinking my veggie juices tonight, but perhaps by tomorrow I'll figure out what combination to try -- and get on with it again.

:-)
Thanks for all your help, girls
w2k

Great news w2k! (Well, great in the sense that you figured it out). Hope this roller coaster ride doesn't last too long for you.... - Surviving

Thanks Surviving. I think the mention of a bit of 'fat' helping to make bms more regular is going to be helpful too. When I used to get diarrhea, as a teenager, I used to eat a chunk of cheddar cheese. I think I'll try that as well.

:-)
w2k

P.S. I'll be so thankful (I hope) when this perimenopause is all over with --

Tree Woman,
I discovered peppermint tea is VERY soothing for a gas issue.I apparently ate something I should not have ,and I tried the peppermint tea with a tsp. of honey and I feel almost 100 % better.Now I can figure out the culprit!!
Wish you the best,
Cloudbliss

from gas and bloating, hot, cold, extra pain..... I thought that perhaps I was going to have another unscheduled period this week. However .... it didn't happen this time. What DID happen is that my body began to refuse to accept vegetables .... cooked or raw. I could still take in my daily smoothie and a couple of very light meals, but the veggies -- no!!

Perhaps I was overdoing the veggies. I believe that my system was 'flushing' because I definitely have more energy and I have lost weight (over 10 lbs in total weight-loss in 2 months)

As a precaution, I am going to the doctor to ask him to regularly send me for blood-checks, urine samples and pelvic ultrasounds.

I plan to continue with the fruit smoothie, and maybe a couple of times a week do my veggie juice. We'll still be eating fresh garden salads and other in-season veggies (to stomach tolerance), but I think perhaps my 'flush' is complete for now.

Instead of explosive diarrhea a couple of times a day, I am experiencing a normal-looking bowel movement once a day.

Hopefully I'm on the right track

:-)
w2k

As a follow-up to my question, above, I want to let you know that fever & chills are symptoms of kidney/bladder stones!! The body, apparently can have a mixture of fever and chill as it reacts to the stone(s).

The interesting thing is .... that the stone had already moved from the bladder to the urethra. This causes me to think that my form of 'slow kidney cleanse' with extra raw veggies & fruits this last 2 months may have caused the stone to move.

:-)
w2k

All you smoothie lovers and drinkers... beware with the sudden increase in greens. My dear friend got a terrible kidney stone as well and the sudden increase in calcium can cause that. Add lemon juice to your diet for sure especially if you are going to juice or do smoothies every day. I too have gas and bloating. the stomach vacuum yoga breathing thing is helping as well as using the first aid for prolapse video and drinking water. God be with you all. Prayers and hugs.

Hi DG and welcome. I'm not a smoothie drinker myself, but I wish I was! Imagine getting too many greens. In any event this sounds like good advice to me. Thanks for posting and I hope the WW work continues to reap rewards for you! - Surviving

Just read through this thread again. Seems so long ago!! DeoGratias brings up a good point about the greens. It seems like when we hear if something is good for us, even more is better! Balance is always the best practice, and I can see a place for smoothies and juices, but not as a mainstay.
It has been 3 weeks since I cut out the dairy and started making rejuvelac. I always had bloating after eating and have been working on dietary causes, so dairy was next in line, although I have been fighting it because of my love of cheese. Well, it was the culprit! The inflammation in my body has gone away almost completely, and that heavy after meal feeling and bloating has too.
The rejuvelac is awesome! I do like it better than the fermented beet kvass, and you don't have to add salt and whey to it to help it ferment. Gave my hubby some this morning, and he says a little while later "why do I have all this energy?" I read that this tonic is also suppose to give you energy! So don't drink it at night.
I try to balance my greens with other foods. I love kale and eat it at least once or twice a week.
Whole foods is where it's at for me at this time.

p.s. The less heaviness in my bowels has put a lot less pressure on my uterus which has really made managing my uterine prolapse so much easier. I remember Fab talking about that many times. I miss Fab. Wonder when she is coming back from China.

Wow, you are getting hard-core, girl! I can't even get myself off the sugar and refined carbs. Is there any hope for me, I wonder? I am surrounded by examples of healthy eating, but it is still baby steps for me. I know that my shoulder pain would be improved if I could really tackle my inflammation in a healthy way. I snuck an ibuprofen a couple weeks ago and have vowed not to do it again.

I too miss fab, we'll hear from her soon I hope. - Surviving