Help! Constipation

[kelsie]

Can anyone offer some advice on how to combat constipation whilst on a low carb <20g per day diet? It seems you can't get enough fibre with the limits it puts on for vegetables and no fruit.

I have tried gentle laxatives and they haven't worked except for when I took extra and I got a stabbing pain in the stomach then went to the toilet. I haven't been since and that was 5 days ago. I feel terrible and have given the diet away for the time being in an effort to get "regular"!! But now I feel bad mentally and physically breaking it!!

This might be a wierd question but how often do most people go to the toilet on the low carb program? Does anyone have any advice?! Help!!!

[r.mines]

You can try adding more fibre in the form of:

-high fibre veggies (spinach always seems to work for me!)
-psyllium husks (buy in bulk at the health food store, or processed at the drugstore; but check for carbs if you buy the processed kind, some has added sugar)
-flax seeds (also high in essential fatty acids)

Try drinking more water, dehydration is constipating.

Once your body adjusts to low carbing (it shouldn't take long, maybe a couple of weeks), it returns to being 'regular.'

Do a search on this site, lots of information has been posted on the topic.

Rachel

[Monique]

Hi Kelsie

Don't feel guilty for giving up. You really do need more fibre in your diet! Exactly the same thing happened to me on my induction. I couldn't go for the whole 2 weeks I was on it unless I took a natural laxitive which only worked a little bit!
I decided stop with the diet in such a strict way and do it my way, which to me feels far heathier. I now have friut for brekky instead of greasy/heavy eggs bacon etc. Fruit is also full of water/fibre/vitamins minerals anti oxidants and is good for you.
Eat the way you feel is right for your body, to be honest I don't think you need to stick to some stringent diet if it makes you feel guilty for not doing it or breaking it. Everytime you break it, your metabolism is going to get stuffed up more, so do you really think you want to have to stick to a diet like this for the rest of your life.

I have now decided to take the good from it and use it, but also take the good out of ordinary diets, like eating some fruit, and balance my diet out a lot more. yes eating less carbs as I was eating too much, but I don't think I can live on a diet with such high protein and high fat content, I can feel my arteries clogging up doing that!

[r.mines]

Hi, Monique, all.

It's true that some people feel less comfortable than others on a higher fat, higher protein diet. To coin a phrase, everyone's different, and many of us 'tweak' a low-carb plan to suit us more as individuals (which Atkins himself suggests, to give him credit). Some people can handle a relatively higher carb level and still lose weight and enjoy the health benefits of low-carbing; others can't.

Just to make a point for the sake of clarity, however, there's no evidence that a diet high in fats, in the absence of large amounts of carbohydrates will 'clog the arteries.' In fact, most people (and studies have borne this out) show a decrease in 'bad' cholesterol and an increase of 'good' cholesterol on a low-carb eating plan. The 'studies' section on this site has some information on this.

As for laxatives, I just remembered there are some herbal laxative teas on the market, which some on this board have reported success with. Might be worth checking out.

Rachel

[doreen T]

hi kelsie,

I just posted some suggestions to another member on this topic.. . Click here to read it (http://www.lowcarber.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=26170#post26170) ... The suggestions folks have made here are good too. I don't recommend the use of laxatives, including herbs, except for occasional use only. The common ingredients - senna leaf and/or cascara sagrada -- are irritant/stimulant. That is, they irritate the colon, causing it to spasm, and it's the spasm that stimulates the contents to move along.

Monique - do take a look at Protein Power Lifeplan. This program allows for a somewhat higher level of carb intake, which is encouraged to be in the form of vegetables and fruits, rather than breads and grain products. Fats, while not restricted, are encouraged to be more of the unsaturated vegetable types, olive and flax oils, and Omega-3 essential fatty acids from fish... :) .. In fact, there are a few studies that suggest Omega-3 fats can inhibit certain prostaglandins (hormones) which interfere with the fat-burning process. Meaning, consuming these fats will BOOST your fat-loss efforts.

Doreen