Indian Food = Tummy Troubles?

thebunnies
thebunnies Posts: 168
edited October 2 in Food and Nutrition
okay, so I had indian food for the first time today.. i've always been fascinated with the culture, but never had the chance to try the food.

tried it today. ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! (i've had some similarly flavored food before, so i knew i would..)

HOWEVER.. it gave me terrible stomach pains shortly afterwards. :(

has anyone else had these kind of issues? i don't want to never be able to have it again. so yummy!

Replies

  • shawn122
    shawn122 Posts: 8 Member
    did you eat yogurt afterwards? There is usually a yogurt dish called "raita" that cools your stomach :)
  • Vegan_Chick
    Vegan_Chick Posts: 474 Member
    Are you used to lentils and beans? If not, it could be that. The issues will go away if you slowly incorporate more legumes in your diet.
    It could also be the spices, if you are not used to them they can be rich.
  • lindsay6694
    lindsay6694 Posts: 182
    I love love love indian food! & this post made me smile bc if youre not used it it will definitely mess up your stomach. My fiance and i make it ourselves too & usually that helps. Indian restaurants usually make my stomach hurt afterwards but if u eat it enough your body will get used to it.

    Ps. Did i mention I love indian food haha
  • ambarishravi
    ambarishravi Posts: 1 Member
    Like someone above said, the legumes and lentils can upset you if you are not used to them. They are foreign food substances to your body and hence your body is trying to fight back and adapt. I am indian, and the same thing happened to me when i started eating beef, even though i dint have a problem when i started eating white meat and seafood after being vegetarian for 18 years. PLus the spice level does not help either!
  • natika33
    natika33 Posts: 154 Member
    There could be a lot of different reasons why your stomach hurt afterwards. It might be the lentils as some people said or the amount of spice.

    Here are my suggestions:
    1) Ask the restaurant to give you the lowest spice level
    2) Try a different curry or a different restaurant - there are so many varieties!
    3) Order raita (a type of salad made of yogurt with vegetables added in) or lassi (a yogurt based drink) and consume throughout your meal
    4) Alternatively, if you are lactose intolerant - stay away from the yogurt and order curries that do not contain milk products in the sauce.
    5) Some people also react to the high amount of ghee (clarified butter) used in some curries. Ask the restaurant to give you the curry that uses the least amount of oil or ghee.
    6) Start small. Eat only a quarter or half your order and doggie bag the rest. Fill up on naan bread and salad etc. On subsequent visits eat more and more of the curry itself and cut back on the naan bread.

    Incidentally, today is the day I usually go out for curry with friends!
  • LycosNyctereutes
    LycosNyctereutes Posts: 61
    I tried Indian food once. Never again. I had miserable GI upset for 3 days, every burp and fart (and there were lots) reeked exactly like the food, I even sweated it out. And I love hot, spicy Cajun and Mexican foods. Maybe I could have gotten used to it if I wanted to, but I thought it was disgusting anyway. Yes, new and different foods can cause GI upset, but for me it just was not worth it to ever try any kind of Indian food again.
  • thebunnies
    thebunnies Posts: 168
    I'm thinking it was a little bit of everything mentioned.. thanks so much everyone for the feedback!

    I love the flavors, so I think I'm gonna try cooking my own versions of Indian food and see if that helps. :)
  • Lifeshard
    Lifeshard Posts: 1
    I've tried Indian Pizza before, today I made some at home. I used Amy's pizza, and added my own toppings, sundried tomatoes, Kalmata olives, and some Tiger Tiger curry paste from a jar.
    I can report that it tasted really good! However I did have a certain degree of stomach discomfort afterwards. Of course I consulted the Internet, not being too familiar with curry paste in general... Seeing as stomach discomfort is commonplace due to curry ingestion, and there's no major health risks. I will definitely eat more curry dishes.
  • mmipanda
    mmipanda Posts: 351 Member
    I'm a little weirded out that OP hasn't tried Indian before! Its delicious and so easy to cook. <3<3


    but yeah, hurts the tummy.
  • kinmad4it
    kinmad4it Posts: 185 Member
    Ah ha, Gandhi's revenge, or sometimes called Delhi Belly.

    I couldn't live without curries, my favourite food ever.
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