Eating "dirty" and IBS (possibly tmi)

AspenDan
AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
edited November 23 in Health and Weight Loss
Up till a few months ago I always assumed I had IBS, as I showed symptoms on the regular. Then I started eating "clean"(like 90% I'd say) and I barely noticed but it, but the IBS symptoms stopped, completely.
Then the last 3 days happened. I had fast food burgers, pizza, and Chinese takeout all in the last 3 nights (it has been awesome), and here I am with a bellyache, writing this in the bathroom at 4am...I don't think it's coincidence..do you?
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Replies

  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Any big change can do that. And since you had several different foods it is hard to know what caused you the most difficulty. My guess is on the pizza and take out.
    Feel better.
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  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
    Growing up with these sort if symptoms maybe I've become desensitized to them? I'm just realizing how crazy it was not having them during the 3 months I've been watching my diet.
    I wonder if it was 1 or a couple things that cause it for me, or just bad eating in general?
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    Up till a few months ago I always assumed I had IBS, as I showed symptoms on the regular. Then I started eating "clean"(like 90% I'd say) and I barely noticed but it, but the IBS symptoms stopped, completely.
    Then the last 3 days happened. I had fast food burgers, pizza, and Chinese takeout all in the last 3 nights (it has been awesome), and here I am with a bellyache, writing this in the bathroom at 4am...I don't think it's coincidence..do you?

    I do hope you've washed your hands before handling your phone???
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    Growing up with these sort if symptoms maybe I've become desensitized to them? I'm just realizing how crazy it was not having them during the 3 months I've been watching my diet.
    I wonder if it was 1 or a couple things that cause it for me, or just bad eating in general?

    Well if you really need to know, you could do an elimination diet. Take everything back out for a month or so and then try one of those foods two days in a row and see what happens. Keep a record.
    http://www.webmd.com/allergies/guide/allergies-elimination-diet
  • ibnfaqir
    ibnfaqir Posts: 139 Member
    Those are the worst kind of foods you can eat if you have IBS. Go back to clean eating.
  • kgb6days
    kgb6days Posts: 880 Member
    Have you ever heard of 'wheat belly'? I work with a MD who is a huge healthy eating proponent - he says its a real thing. He eats NOTHING made of wheat, and only eats clean (high fat, moderate protein, low carb also).
  • ExRelaySprinter
    ExRelaySprinter Posts: 874 Member
    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    Then the last 3 days happened. I had fast food burgers, pizza, and Chinese takeout all in the last 3 nights (it has been awesome), and here I am with a bellyache, writing this in the bathroom at 4am...I don't think it's coincidence..do you?

    Yep, similar to what happened to me after i had Pizza Hut the other night.
    It's kinda put me off having Pizza for a while. :#
  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
    Hmmm, wheat could be it..but tonight was the Chinese, a big bowl of chicken lo mein..who the heck even knows what they put in that delicious concoction
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    Hmmm, wheat could be it..but tonight was the Chinese, a big bowl of chicken lo mein..who the heck even knows what they put in that delicious concoction
    Soy sauce contains wheat as does other ingredients in Chinese take out

  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
    RodaRose wrote: »
    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    Hmmm, wheat could be it..but tonight was the Chinese, a big bowl of chicken lo mein..who the heck even knows what they put in that delicious concoction
    Soy sauce contains wheat as does other ingredients in Chinese take out

    And it's true I've basically eliminated wheat, just cuz I'd rather have other grains mostly but..could be.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I was going to say all those fast foods you mentioned include white flour. Foods made with flour might be irritating your bowels. How do you do with leafy greens?
  • Bacchants
    Bacchants Posts: 92 Member
    Only way to work it out would be to see if they go away when you go back to a 90% healthy diet and crop up again next time you have lots of takeout. As it could be you just had a dodgy takeaway?
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,341 Member
    High fat food does that to me, regardless of whether it comes from deep fried chocolate bacon coated twinkies, or organic virgin pressed coconut oil prepared by nuns. For me it isn't 'clean' or 'dirty', it's high or low fat.
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  • KellyKat09
    KellyKat09 Posts: 33 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    High fat food does that to me, regardless of whether it comes from deep fried chocolate bacon coated twinkies, or organic virgin pressed coconut oil prepared by nuns. For me it isn't 'clean' or 'dirty', it's high or low fat.

    Sorry, this is hysterical, but also spot on for me too. If I'm eating well and then eat something high fat, into the bathroom. I account it to having had my gall bladder out, however.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    @bacchants to repeat the conditions would prove nothing. To get to the bottom (so to speak) of the problem one would go back to the "clean" eating until the symptoms subsided and then re-introduce one suspect food at a time until the culprit is found. It could be soy sauce, some fats, dairy, refined flour products; who knows?
  • bkerr30
    bkerr30 Posts: 131 Member
    Msg could be the culprit too. It messes with my body big time
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    The best thing to ever happen to my digestive system was to stop eating processed junk and go to an overwhelmingly "clean" diet.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    High fat food does that to me, regardless of whether it comes from deep fried chocolate bacon coated twinkies, or organic virgin pressed coconut oil prepared by nuns. For me it isn't 'clean' or 'dirty', it's high or low fat.

    This.
    shell1005 wrote: »
    I know the OP hates us always bringing it up...but it also might be that when you were "clean eating" you were also chronically undereating and therefore giving your digestive system little work to do.

    And this too. Eating small volumes of food prevents typical stimulation of the digestive system, and essentially, under use of the digestive system can lead to "lazy" bowel. Then when you introduce a large volume of food, nothing works properly.

    As you are under medical supervision for your diet, perhaps you should talk to your doctor about your concerns.
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
    Were you reducing your fat intake and suddenly ate way more fat than normal? Your gallbladder releases bile in response to fat and larger amounts of food, so if you've been eating a higher percentage of fats/oil/grease your gallbladder may be releasing a lot more bile more quickly. The result of that is many trips to the bathroom and increased urgency.
    Weight loss or a low-cal/low-fat diet can cause problems in the gallbladder arena for some people (like me) and mimic symptoms of IBS.
  • Soopatt
    Soopatt Posts: 563 Member
    I hate that the foods I love mess with my system, but they do. I have had to become one of those fiber watching people which I swore I would never do. I always thought that was for grannies.

    I don't want to swear off the delicious things, but I do know I need to get better at moderation.
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  • purplishblue
    purplishblue Posts: 135 Member
    As someone with IBS too, high fat foods are a trigger for IBS attacks. That's most likely why.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    +1 do an elimination diet. this one was easy for me to do
    http://www.joybauer.com/ibs/elimination-diet-no-fiber.aspx (there's also this one for the other kind of IBS http://www.joybauer.com/ibs/elimination-diet-with-added-fiber.aspx)

    Between that and reading about fodmaps, I figured out that wheat (or gluten) is a trigger, and fructans too. There are actually a lot of "clean" foods that are triggers for me (a lot of fruits, it turns out. Many of which I didn't like anyway, probably bc they had such an immediate effect :/).

    I still have some wheat-based things, but in smaller amounts, and usually with something my gut likes better. And sometimes I just want that thing and have it, knowing I'll pay :/ (I stay the hell away from the "bad" fruits, though, bc that is insta-pain)
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    Growing up with these sort if symptoms maybe I've become desensitized to them? I'm just realizing how crazy it was not having them during the 3 months I've been watching my diet.
    I wonder if it was 1 or a couple things that cause it for me, or just bad eating in general?

    Very possible. I had totally been used to things going a certain way, took it for granted that that's just how my body was. Now that I've made some changes to my diet, I see that it's possible to NOT have those problems :)
  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
    Thanks for all the helpful info pplz. Glad I'm not the only one who's seen a change. Time to go back to my oatmeal breakfasts and chicken/veggie dinners :P
  • caffeinatedcami
    caffeinatedcami Posts: 168 Member
    Greasy food is really hard on most people's digestive tracts. IBS can be mild or severe but whether you had it or not I'm glad your symptoms cleared up. I have eaten pretty "clean" for years (whole grains, lots of vegetables,fruits, healthy fats, lean proteins) and my IBS is still definitely something I have to deal with.
  • soapsandropes
    soapsandropes Posts: 269 Member
    The best way to figure it out is to keep a symptom journal along with tracking your foods. Not only will it make you listen to you body but it will point out trends that might tell you what to cut back on.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    I had severe gall bladder disease and after removal, I suffered from IBS for years. I remember a particularly bad experience after eating Subway (ever hear of Dumping Syndrome?) Once I started eating way better, my IBS and DS are gone. But the moment I start eating bad again, I'm immediately sick.
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