Veggies, beans and stomach issues!
flippy1234
Posts: 686 Member
I decided to eat food but mostly plants as Michael Pollan suggested in his book. I ate mostly beans and veggies last night for dinner. My stomach was a wreck all night and still is today. If those foods are suppose to be so good for you, why would they cause such stomach distress. I even read this morning that beans are an anti inflammatory. How can this be????
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Replies
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What kind of foods did you eat before? If you're suddenly hitting your body with fiber, stomach distress and bloating are to be expected.
Hope you feel better soon.6 -
Increased fiber is very good for regularity, but can definitely produce more gas. Did you drastically change your eating overnight? Try a more gradual approach.1
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Beans have a shell which is made of cellulose (tough plant material). The human body can't digest cellulose.
You can cook beans until they're very soft, and maybe will be able to eat them without distress. Some people can't tolerate them even then. I love lentils and when I eat them, cook them into almost mush. Hope this helps!2 -
Beans have a shell which is made of cellulose (tough plant material). The human body can't digest cellulose.
You can cook beans until they're very soft, and maybe will be able to eat them without distress. Some people can't tolerate them even then. I love lentils and when I eat them, cook them into almost mush. Hope this helps!
OK, then why are they touted as being so good for you when we cannot even digest them???5 -
Some beans are more digestible than others. I seem to remember the more indigestible ones may contain natural chemicals which some of us are intolerant of. This is probably too vague to help but I totally agree, soak probably over night and cook really, really well. Oh, increasing fibre so swiftly will cause discomfort.1
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Increasing fiber too fast can cause stomach distress. Increase your fiber intake slowly and, if you're tracking, you should be able to monitor how much fiber you're getting.
These foods are good for you, but if you're not used to eating them in quantity, you need to increase your intake slowly.6 -
flippy1234 wrote: »Beans have a shell which is made of cellulose (tough plant material). The human body can't digest cellulose.
You can cook beans until they're very soft, and maybe will be able to eat them without distress. Some people can't tolerate them even then. I love lentils and when I eat them, cook them into almost mush. Hope this helps!
OK, then why are they touted as being so good for you when we cannot even digest them???
Beans are definitely good for us -- lentils, for example, have 18 grams of protein in one cup. We just can't digest cellulose, the tough material in plant cell walls. Human beings lack an enzyme to digest cellulose.
You have to cook them well and possibly adjust to them. It depends on the person. If you try to eat them again, eat a much smaller portion and make sure they are well cooked.1 -
Well, if I have to be that careful then forget beans. NOT worth it.9
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I'm sorry you feel that way. I eat canned beans and they add a lot of good nutrients, flavor and versatility to my foods.4
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I would suggest a more gradual change to your diet to avoid these types of issues. Don't give up on beans they are a great nutritious food source.5
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Beans are very good for you. And that "indigestible" part is the fiber, it's what goes through your system and helps clear it out. But too much of a good thing= not good. As many of suggested, start off with smaller amounts and work your way up to large portions. You don't have to go the "soak overnight" routine if you use canned beans, they've already been soaked and cooked for you. Just add some into your regular recipes. For instance, I'll often add some canned black beans to my meat sauce (red) and serve it over pasta. Tastes basically like regular meat sauce, but with the added fiber content. While I do add an entire can of beans, the sauce is actually 4 portions, so I only eat 1/4 of the can. You could then add another 1/4 can to a salad, again adding fiber, but in a more manageable portion size for your belly. You didn't mention what other veggies you ate last night, so I can't say if those added to your belly distress, but I'm guessing they did. Whenever changing your diet drastically, try to do it in stages, your body and your belly will thank you for giving it time to adapt to the new foods.
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flippy1234 wrote: »Well, if I have to be that careful then forget beans. NOT worth it.
Maybe just try phasing them in. When our bodies aren't accustomed to a food (and when our gut microbiota aren't accustomed to a food), digestive distress can result from eating a big bunch of them all at once.
It's possible that you're sensitive or allergic. It's more likely that you just ate too much, too soon, without a transition.
Fiber is good for you. You can't digest it. That's part of the very reason it's good for you. But your body needs to adapt.
(A few kinds of beans - kidney beans come to mind - need to be boiled for a short time. A slow-cooker doesn't get them hot enough to break down certain things they contain. Canned ones should be fine. Other than that, there isn't a lot of "be careful", other than that issue of changing your eating gradually.
I haven't eaten meat or fish in 45 years, at least not intentionally. One of the common ways I figure out that I accidentally ate something with undetectable chicken broth or something is that I get digestive distress. If I decide to start eating meat/fish again, I'll need to phase it in gradually, over 2-4 weeks probably. That doesn't mean meat/fish is bad or poisonous or anything. It's just that my body isn't used to them anymore.8 -
flippy1234 wrote: »I decided to eat food but mostly plants as Michael Pollan suggested in his book. I ate mostly beans and veggies last night for dinner. My stomach was a wreck all night and still is today. If those foods are suppose to be so good for you, why would they cause such stomach distress. I even read this morning that beans are an anti inflammatory. How can this be????
New to you foods...that will happen with any new to you foods healthy or not...particularly when the result is upping your fiber quite a bit from what you are accustomed to.5 -
flippy1234 wrote: »Beans have a shell which is made of cellulose (tough plant material). The human body can't digest cellulose.
You can cook beans until they're very soft, and maybe will be able to eat them without distress. Some people can't tolerate them even then. I love lentils and when I eat them, cook them into almost mush. Hope this helps!
OK, then why are they touted as being so good for you when we cannot even digest them???
You're not understanding. You can digest them...it's the fiber that you can't digest just as you can't digest the fiber in fruits and veg...the fiber is what cleans you out and also creates good gut flora. Beans are also a good source of various vitamins and minerals and a common source of protein on a plant based diet.
Digestion has nothing to do with whether or not something is good for you.11 -
flippy1234 wrote: »Well, if I have to be that careful then forget beans. NOT worth it.
Where are you going to get your protein on a plant based diet? Legumes and lentils are common sources and typically staples in a plant based diet. You just can't do everything all at once. I eat beans all of the time with no issue as my system has become used to it.5 -
I suffer from IBS and have found over the years that I just cant digest certain foods easily and comfortably. My mum was a big believer in the F plan diet when I was a child, she was into all the health foods, lots of wholemeal and whole bran type things, It was a killer for me.1
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flippy1234 wrote: »Well, if I have to be that careful then forget beans. NOT worth it.
I am a big fan of Michael Pollan too. I'm sorry you were in distress last night and today and hope you reconsider.
Phasing in higher fiber and making sure you've cooked beans sufficiently (or rinsed them well if they are canned) really isn't that big a deal.5 -
I've had some issues too, but I've recently choosing soluble fiber over insoluble as I am transitioning to whole food plant based diet. So I have to be careful even two months into it. There is a difference between loose stools and diarrhea, which I was unaware of.
I have found for me, that if I start with grains and add in lentils and hummus it cushions against fruit and veggies I eat later. Like I will have a tempeh, hummus, and bell pepper sandwich on sprouted grain bread. My body seems to like this combo. I've found that you have to stick with it and find what works best for you.
The first time I ate a nourish bowl of cauliflower, I was in so much gas pain I thought I was going to die. Now, I'm more careful. XD2 -
Your body will adjust. You are making the best decision for your body! You got this🙌🏻 I went from carnivore to vegetarian and it took some time to adjust. I had the same issues. But 4 months later and my body feels amazing!! I think after 3 weeks or so the issues went away for me. Good luck!3
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