Hi. I have begun eating some low carb foods.
Will be at 100% low carb within the next few days.

Years ago I experienced constipation when eating/drinking
protein powder shakes and maybe had too much protein.
I've read within this forum that some deal with constipation.

If ever there is a day where I accidentally forget or cannot get
vegetables or fruit, will the oils and fats eaten take care of
avoiding being constipated?
will eating extra olive oil solve the problem?

Also, I'm in the people and sales business.
Is body odor and bad breath something all low carb dieters confront?
or just a few people have issues?
or certain foods cause problems?

Thanks for answering?

No one can predict what will happen to YOU. We are all snowflakes when it comes to diet too These tips will help you if any side effects do happen:
http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/side-effects

I've seen people here talking about significant others etc. complaining about keto-breath. Never about the body odour thing.

For me, keto breath isn't so much noxious, as different: sweet breath is pretty out of the ordinary.

Some people experience fleeting body odor issues, as they detoxify from the high levels of crud in their diets. But it's not a long term thing.

A small price to pay, but I have to say, no one has ever told me I have bad breath or body odour - but then I guess they wouldnt.

I smoke anyway, so I probably smell of that

Jo xxx

I think whatever there is, it's not hard to overcome with some sort of carb-free breath freshener.

Nobody's ever complained to me that the ketones are ruining my coffee-breath. I can't recall anybody showing up on the forum complaining about body odour, if it's a problem, I doubt it happens as frequently as keto breath.

Also a low carb diet, even if it fixes your blood glucose, might or might not put you into ketosis in the first place.

After a while with no grains with very limited carbs and healthy high fats, I realized I no longer needed a deodorant. That's fine, as I didn't need to add sweat suppression chemicals to my arm pits. As for ketone breath, good dental hygiene on a regular basis guarantees breath as fresh as a daisy. Fat burning is burning clean!

Thanks for the hygiene comments.

But, what about constipation?
What if 20grams (or more) of plant food is not enough?
Do oils or fats help removing wastes?
Or do oils and fats contribute towards constipation?

NO. The amount of fiber in 20 grams of green veggies is mind boggling!

AND fat helps everything slide on through...

Another thing that can help is to take a small supplement of magnesium citrate every day. It can be hard to get enough magnesium without supplementation, anyway, and it does help things move along.

In fact, if you take the wrong kind (which would be the kind that you take as a colonoscopy prep) it moves things VERY quickly.

But the supplements just keep you regular. And have the added benefit of preventing muscle cramps, and promoting a restful sleep.

Thank you so much. I hate eating raw oil, anyway
I've been experiencing internal "differences" these past three days.
This is my third day in a row eating "most" of my food from low carb
plans that are influencing my selections.

The three plans I have my eye on are:
1) Dr Atkins' and Dr Westerman's
2) Wheat Belly
3) ketogenic

Thanks again for helping to settle down my worrying.
I've been on high carb, whole plant foods, no meat,
and no dairy for the past year.

Over time, you'll adapt your own plan based on what you find that works for you. Starting with the plans you mentioned, you can get a good foundation. I have a great deal of respect for Westman, and he's an author on one of the Atkins books as well.

As for magnesium, yes, I take it daily and a good amount at that. Get a good quality magnesium supplement by doing a bit of research.

The DietDoctor version of Dr Westman's Clinic diet doesn't have the "extras" that are in the booklet now sold on Amazon or what is received when starting the program. Here are his exact instructions.




But understand that LC produces less volume of waste; you are eating more nutritionally dense foods without all the fiber that rips little tears in your colon.
The definition of constipation is above, it is not just fewer BM.

Heh, Janet, I was thinking about that this morning, that I forgot to mention that: not only is there less left over after digestion of meats and fats, but because of the caloric density of fats, we tend to eat smaller volumes as well.

Crazy the things that pop into our heads while washing our faces.

Fats help. My husband suffered from constipation for years. He (mostly) stopped eating wheat when I did & found that helped. He doesn't really like fatty foods but does like coconut, so I bought him a jar of creamed coconut, and he likes it. He puts a big spoonful in his oatmeal every morning along with cream & has had no more problems.

If you're worried about constipation, I'd eliminate cheese. It can be, as my mother used to say, "binding".