Decreased carbs = constipation?!

jenmom2myboys

Water, veggies, flax seeds and oats.

martyqueen52

The problem is... you cut your carbs out almost entirely.

There's never a reason, unless it's medical, to cut carbs out entirely.

People cut carbs in general because it's the only maco-nutrient your body really doesn't need. Therefore putting them into a caloric deficit which will result in weight loss.

maillemaker

I see the same thing when I eat a high protein diet. Eat more veggies.

FlaxMilk

Higher protein can clog you up, so can not eating enough. Make sure you are getting enough fluids, salts, fats. If you eat stuff like yogurt, try mixing it with a tablespoon of something like chia seeds.

*I see that you are breastfeeding. Are you accounting for that in your intake?

mortuseon

Approx 2 months ago, I decreased my carbs to mainly those found in fruits/veggies (NO breads, granola, or gluten at all), and increased protein intake (yes, and healthy fats). I thought this was supposed to be a good idea, but since then I've had *horrible* constipation... any advice? What am I doing wrong?

Unless you're gluten-intolerant there is no 'need' to cut out carbs (and even then it would just be gluten-containing ones). So unless increasing your fibre intake (soluble AND insoluble fibre) works, maybe increase the carbs? Shouldn't be a problem if you stay in a deficit. Some people do very well on low-carb & ketogenic diets but it could be that you're just not one of them.

There are actually a number of reasons to cut out gluten even if you don't have Celiac or a gluten intolerance.

link me/refer me to some studies please? (I based what I said on Alan Aragon's Paleo critic interview where he referenced this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23834276 although I haven't looked any further than that).

ETA a quote from that: "As far as non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) goes, a very recent study led by Daniel DiGiacomo of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University estimated that the national prevalence of NCGS is a smidge over 0.5%, which is about half the prevalence of celiac disease. I’ve seen higher gluten sensitivity prevalence estimates in less reliable literature, but the bottom line is that the gluten-tolerant fraction of the population is likely to be well over 90% of us. So, it simply makes no sense to view gluten-containing foods as universally “bad.”"

kbmnurse

Take warm prune juice daily.

jrose1982

Approx 2 months ago, I decreased my carbs to mainly those found in fruits/veggies (NO breads, granola, or gluten at all), and increased protein intake (yes, and healthy fats). I thought this was supposed to be a good idea, but since then I've had *horrible* constipation... any advice? What am I doing wrong?

Unless you're gluten-intolerant there is no 'need' to cut out carbs (and even then it would just be gluten-containing ones). So unless increasing your fibre intake (soluble AND insoluble fibre) works, maybe increase the carbs? Shouldn't be a problem if you stay in a deficit. Some people do very well on low-carb & ketogenic diets but it could be that you're just not one of them.

There are actually a number of reasons to cut out gluten even if you don't have Celiac or a gluten intolerance.

link me/refer me to some studies please? (I based what I said on Alan Aragon's Paleo critic interview where he referenced this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23834276 although I haven't looked any further than that).

ETA a quote from that: "As far as non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) goes, a very recent study led by Daniel DiGiacomo of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University estimated that the national prevalence of NCGS is a smidge over 0.5%, which is about half the prevalence of celiac disease. I’ve seen higher gluten sensitivity prevalence estimates in less reliable literature, but the bottom line is that the gluten-tolerant fraction of the population is likely to be well over 90% of us. So, it simply makes no sense to view gluten-containing foods as universally “bad.”"

I guess the main reason people cut out carbs is because of the insulin response. Glucose is toxic, too much of it can kill you. So when you eat carbs (which become glucose) your body produces insulin that makes all your organs burn the glucose first and store as fat all the glucose that can't be burned. While there is insulin in your body, you can't burn fat. And sometimes the insulin lingers after the glucose is burned or stored and for some reason that makes you crave more carbs. This causes people to overeat.

What's worse is that, if your diet is heavily dependent on carbs, then your body seems to forget that it can burn fat. So when you skip a meal or reduce your calorie intake, instead of burning fat stores, you get carb cravings. When people cut way back on their carbs, the goal is (usually) to become "fat-adapted". That's a state of being able to burn easily fat when there are no carbs available. And this makes calorie restriction significantly easier.

I don't have any links that describe this. I read it in Gary Taubes' book: Why We Get Fat.

Carbs - especially grains - are not very filling. So you have to eat more to feel full. And there's not much in way of micro-nutrients either. You can get all the vitamins and minerals that are in bread in much higher quantities by eating fruit and vegetables. There's also the anti-nutrients: here's a link that explains those: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-grains-are-unhealthy/.

Regarding that study you linked to:
They didn't actually test anybody to see if they were gluten-sensitive. They asked people if they were eating gluten-free. That could include some people that are not gluten-sensitive at all, and there could be an unknown number of people in the study that are gluten-insensitive, but (for whatever reason) are not following a gluten-free diet. The conclusion that 0.5% are gluten-insensitive (based on this study alone) is illogical. The logical conclusion is that there are about 0.5% that know they are or think they could be gluten-insensitive.