Vegan diet is ravaging my insides?

turpenoid
turpenoid Posts: 73
in Food and Nutrition
Hey all. Just wanted to see if anyone else has had some trouble with their digestive system adjusting to raw organic foods after eating a heavily processed diet. I try my best to do raw foods for breakfast and lunch, but I still drink things like almond milk and I eat whole grains and oats. I mainly do this out of convenience and I really just prefer a simple diet in the summer. I think it's just the flux of fiber in my diet, but I've felt fairly sick and bloated. I'm trying to regulate what I'm eating and find a good balance of fiber and nutrients.

Any suggestions? I appreciate it!

edit:

I need to mention that I do eat cooked food for dinner and it may or may not include some meat, depending on how I'm feeling. I don't have strict dietary restrictions that I follow. This is just something that gives me good energy throughout the day, but I'm definitely open to advice from others!

Replies

  • baileyang33
    baileyang33 Posts: 131 Member
    I ate vegetarian for only 2 weeks & I've felt the same way. I'm anemic so both protein & my iron was suffering. I'm sure it's my own ignorance but my workouts seem stronger again as well. Good luck!
  • pastybuns
    pastybuns Posts: 81
    A major increase in raw foods can definitely affect your digestive system. Bloating can occur as a result of about a million different reasons lol. Just a few common ones:

    Raw fruits and vegetables are naturally lower in calories than other foods. For example a tiny sized Sausage McGriddle breakfast sandwich at McDonalds has the calorie equivalent of 4 large bananas or 3lbs of strawberries! So if you're eating a greater volume of raw foods to get your calories in, your stomach will expand more. If you think this is a possibility, don't sweat it. Your stomach will get used to the greater volume of food and the bloating should subside relatively quickly.

    Make sure the fruits you pick are ripe! Unripened fruit does not digest well. At all. Some people can get away with it, but more sensitive individuals might experience some stomach pains and digestion problems. So make sure your bananas have plenty of brown spots and smell your fruit! I know it sounds weird, but the more fragrance a fruit has, the riper it is. And don't be afraid to Google search "How to pick a ripe <insert fruit or veggie of choice here>".

    Food combining. If you think you have a relatively sensitive stomach and digestion, I would probably bet on this one. In a nutshell: different foods digest at different rates. And depending on how you combine them, you might cause some stomach unhappiness. I would recommend Google searching "Food combining chart" and checking it out. It might help you.

    Anyways, I honestly wouldn't worry about the bloating. Switching any sort of diet can take some getting used to by your body. The stomach aches however, I am sorry to hear about. I hope you find your answer, and best of health to you! :D
  • turpenoid
    turpenoid Posts: 73
    A major increase in raw foods can definitely affect your digestive system. Bloating can occur as a result of about a million different reasons lol. Just a few common ones:

    Raw fruits and vegetables are naturally lower in calories than other foods. For example a tiny sized Sausage McGriddle breakfast sandwich at McDonalds has the calorie equivalent of 4 large bananas or 3lbs of strawberries! So if you're eating a greater volume of raw foods to get your calories in, your stomach will expand more. If you think this is a possibility, don't sweat it. Your stomach will get used to the greater volume of food and the bloating should subside relatively quickly.

    Make sure the fruits you pick are ripe! Unripened fruit does not digest well. At all. Some people can get away with it, but more sensitive individuals might experience some stomach pains and digestion problems. So make sure your bananas have plenty of brown spots and smell your fruit! I know it sounds weird, but the more fragrance a fruit has, the riper it is. And don't be afraid to Google search "How to pick a ripe <insert fruit or veggie of choice here>".

    Food combining. If you think you have a relatively sensitive stomach and digestion, I would probably bet on this one. In a nutshell: different foods digest at different rates. And depending on how you combine them, you might cause some stomach unhappiness. I would recommend Google searching "Food combining chart" and checking it out. It might help you.

    Anyways, I honestly wouldn't worry about the bloating. Switching any sort of diet can take some getting used to by your body. The stomach aches however, I am sorry to hear about. I hope you find your answer, and best of health to you! :D

    This is all so helpful! Thank you for such a thoughtful and detailed response.
  • pastybuns
    pastybuns Posts: 81
    Not a problem. I wish you luck :D
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    humans have been cooking food for more than a million years. Given that it's been proven that some ethnic groups have evolved adaptations to consuming dairy products in the last 10,000 years......... I'd predict a much higher number of evolved adaptations in the entire human population to eating cooked food. because a million years is 100 times longer than 10,000 years so that's 100x more time for new mutations for digesting cooked food rather than raw to accumulate in the population. And this would apply to the entire population, not just certain ethnic groups because we're all descended from Homo heidelbergensis, who is known to have controlled fire and cooked food.

    There are health benefits to eating certain kinds of foods raw, because cooking destroys certain micronutrients.... but there are quite a few foods that are better eaten cooked. Cooking breaks down some compounds in the food making the food more easily digestible. Some foods can irritate the gut eaten raw, but cooking them breaks down the compounds that cause this irritation. Cooking also kills harmful pathogens and parasites that you might find in raw meat.

    Are you eating raw oatmeal? (it's not clear from your OP whether you are or not) Because that's one food that should be cooked (doesn't need much, about 5 mins or so). That's possibly what's causing your digestive issues. Some people are more sensitive to this than others.

    In any case you can get the health benefits of a raw food diet without giving up cooked foods. Be selective about which foods you eat raw and which ones you cook. I hate how so many of these diets are basically swinging from one extreme to another... yep most people on a standard western diet need to eat more fruit and veg, preferably fresh and raw (for most kinds).... but I don't understand how people can go from that to the other extreme, i.e. 100% raw food only diet. I'm glad to see you're not being strict about this. Don't see that as a bad thing, it's a very good thing. A healthy diet is balanced and includes all of what you want to eat in moderation, and all the nutrients your body needs.
  • turpenoid
    turpenoid Posts: 73
    humans have been cooking food for more than a million years. Given that it's been proven that some ethnic groups have evolved adaptations to consuming dairy products in the last 10,000 years......... I'd predict a much higher number of evolved adaptations in the entire human population to eating cooked food. because a million years is 100 times longer than 10,000 years so that's 100x more time for new mutations for digesting cooked food rather than raw to accumulate in the population. And this would apply to the entire population, not just certain ethnic groups because we're all descended from Homo heidelbergensis, who is known to have controlled fire and cooked food.

    There are health benefits to eating certain kinds of foods raw, because cooking destroys certain micronutrients.... but there are quite a few foods that are better eaten cooked. Cooking breaks down some compounds in the food making the food more easily digestible. Some foods can irritate the gut eaten raw, but cooking them breaks down the compounds that cause this irritation. Cooking also kills harmful pathogens and parasites that you might find in raw meat.

    Are you eating raw oatmeal? (it's not clear from your OP whether you are or not) Because that's one food that should be cooked (doesn't need much, about 5 mins or so). That's possibly what's causing your digestive issues. Some people are more sensitive to this than others.

    In any case you can get the health benefits of a raw food diet without giving up cooked foods. Be selective about which foods you eat raw and which ones you cook. I hate how so many of these diets are basically swinging from one extreme to another... yep most people on a standard western diet need to eat more fruit and veg, preferably fresh and raw (for most kinds).... but I don't understand how people can go from that to the other extreme, i.e. 100% raw food only diet. I'm glad to see you're not being strict about this. Don't see that as a bad thing, it's a very good thing. A healthy diet is balanced and includes all of what you want to eat in moderation, and all the nutrients your body needs.

    Wow! Thanks for a great reply. I really enjoy seeing different perspectives on diet and nutrition. I do not eat raw oats generally, unless I use a tiny (I'm talking 1 tbsp) amount to add texture to some fruit. Honestly, I haven't noticed any immediate irritation from it but I'll eliminate it and see what happens. I'm thinking I could use wheat germ instead. I've found that I only eat my most fibrous vegetables when they've been cooked. I think I just need to do better with the proportions of what I'm eating. I love vegetables so much that I'll eat 4 cups of steamed broccoli and think nothing of it. But when I combine certain things, that's when my gut is in trouble.

    But you are totally right about some foods needing to be cooked to be more easily digested. I will research this further. And I'm a human being that will never give up pizza or chinese take out entirely, so I try to not be crazy with my restrictions. If you don't let yourself have some wiggle room, you'll crash and burn. I'm glad to hear that you agree with not being too extreme!

    Thanks again & best wishes.
  • nopeNOEP
    nopeNOEP Posts: 5
    i have no advice, but i'd like to ask that you not use "vegan" incorrectly--it lessens the seriousness of true veganism. your diet is "primarily plant-based". thank you!
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    humans have been cooking food for more than a million years. Given that it's been proven that some ethnic groups have evolved adaptations to consuming dairy products in the last 10,000 years......... I'd predict a much higher number of evolved adaptations in the entire human population to eating cooked food. because a million years is 100 times longer than 10,000 years so that's 100x more time for new mutations for digesting cooked food rather than raw to accumulate in the population. And this would apply to the entire population, not just certain ethnic groups because we're all descended from Homo heidelbergensis, who is known to have controlled fire and cooked food.

    There are health benefits to eating certain kinds of foods raw, because cooking destroys certain micronutrients.... but there are quite a few foods that are better eaten cooked. Cooking breaks down some compounds in the food making the food more easily digestible. Some foods can irritate the gut eaten raw, but cooking them breaks down the compounds that cause this irritation. Cooking also kills harmful pathogens and parasites that you might find in raw meat.

    Are you eating raw oatmeal? (it's not clear from your OP whether you are or not) Because that's one food that should be cooked (doesn't need much, about 5 mins or so). That's possibly what's causing your digestive issues. Some people are more sensitive to this than others.

    In any case you can get the health benefits of a raw food diet without giving up cooked foods. Be selective about which foods you eat raw and which ones you cook. I hate how so many of these diets are basically swinging from one extreme to another... yep most people on a standard western diet need to eat more fruit and veg, preferably fresh and raw (for most kinds).... but I don't understand how people can go from that to the other extreme, i.e. 100% raw food only diet. I'm glad to see you're not being strict about this. Don't see that as a bad thing, it's a very good thing. A healthy diet is balanced and includes all of what you want to eat in moderation, and all the nutrients your body needs.

    Wow! Thanks for a great reply. I really enjoy seeing different perspectives on diet and nutrition. I do not eat raw oats generally, unless I use a tiny (I'm talking 1 tbsp) amount to add texture to some fruit. Honestly, I haven't noticed any immediate irritation from it but I'll eliminate it and see what happens. I'm thinking I could use wheat germ instead. I've found that I only eat my most fibrous vegetables when they've been cooked. I think I just need to do better with the proportions of what I'm eating. I love vegetables so much that I'll eat 4 cups of steamed broccoli and think nothing of it. But when I combine certain things, that's when my gut is in trouble.

    But you are totally right about some foods needing to be cooked to be more easily digested. I will research this further. And I'm a human being that will never give up pizza or chinese take out entirely, so I try to not be crazy with my restrictions. If you don't let yourself have some wiggle room, you'll crash and burn. I'm glad to hear that you agree with not being too extreme!

    Thanks again & best wishes.

    I think you have a great attitude, and one that's conducive to long term success. Too many people get stuck with extremes and an all-or-nothing mindset, which really isn't good for physical or mental health, or for long term compliance.
  • turpenoid
    turpenoid Posts: 73
    i have no advice, but i'd like to ask that you not use "vegan" incorrectly--it lessens the seriousness of true veganism. your diet is "primarily plant-based". thank you!

    I apologize! I can't change the topic of the post but I'll keep it in mind in the future. Try to bear with those of us who are newer to a mostly raw, plant-based diet! ;)

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