Bloated Belly

[SOMO]

Reduce all fermentable carbohydrates for at least a week.

I think this is the only time a Ketogenic diet is appropriate, besides in epilepsy.

 

[SOMO]

Years back when I ate whatever I wanted, I felt as if I had a gut of steel and could eat anything. The issue was heart problems developed, hair loss in the teenage years, temps < 96°F, terrible allergies, and the list goes on. Something had to change, and as I see it, many things on the planet aren't good for consumption, most plants have mechanisms of harming things that try to eat them, which undoubtedly was causative in my health degeneration. Eating foods that dont harbor various harmful substances is what I think is best for me, and my rapid healthy recovery, but more importantly experiencing a level of health I dont every remember having before in my life suggests that Im doing right by myself.

I had a similar experience.

All throughout my childhood I had gluten/wheat pizza for BREAKFAST and lunch and was fine until one day I wasn't.
I also noticed my peers had clearer skin than I did and were more energetic, and this prompted me to remove certain foods from my diet.

The only issue is I went full vegan and ****88 my health up further because I thought animal protein and fat = bad.

 

[docall18]

I recommend to reduce cortisol, this will also reduce estrogen, prolactin, hypothyroidism etc.

Anything over stressing the body can cause increased cortisol & bloating. So reduce metabolic stimulants - thyroid, caffeine, aspirin, Preg, dhea etc.

Also reduce cortisol using theanine, cascara, vit d, e & a, mg, clonidine.

 

[kyle]

So far I got recommended no fruit, yogurt , keto diet, grain...am I on the right forum?

I love milk but I don't think I could go full cow mode. I don't think I have high cortisol/estro and very minimum pufa in my diet and have raw carrots. Also alcohol doesn't cause the bloat personally, in fact, I've seen alcohol completely reverse the bloat. Which seems to point to serotonin or endotoxin... I also think there is a relationship to starch but that's a tough one to cut.

I'll look into the betaine hcl/digestive enzymes. Has Peat commented on these things?

 

[theLaw]

So far I got recommended no fruit, yogurt , keto diet, grain...am I on the right forum?

I love milk but I don't think I could go full cow mode. I don't think I have high cortisol/estro and very minimum pufa in my diet and have raw carrots. Also alcohol doesn't cause the bloat personally, in fact, I've seen alcohol completely reverse the bloat. Which seems to point to serotonin or endotoxin... I also think there is a relationship to starch but that's a tough one to cut.

I'll look into the betaine hcl/digestive enzymes. Has Peat commented on these things?

If it's endotoxin, then antibiotics would make the most pronounced difference per dose (if you wanted to narrow down the problem quickly).

For serotonin, Idealabs has several sups to lower it, so you could run some experiments.

 

[Runenight201]

Hi @kyle,

Did you figure out a solution? I'm having the exact same issue. I have gut distension, but also a general feeling of edema throughout my whole body. I feel like my whole body is slightly swollen, although my gut is the most pronounced. I forget where I read about Peat talking about the hypertonic bodybuilding kids who gained muscle real easily due to the cells taking up too much water, and this is me to a certain extent, in that I can gain muscle very easily, but my muscles fatigue very quickly and I cramp easily as well. I would rather have a flat stomach and no edema then this bloated bodybuilder look lol.

@tca300, did milk never cause any opiod-like nausea effects? Too much milk and I get that, although I just have to be careful about the amount of milk I consume and when I consume it. Drinking milk on top of a big salty, starch meal seems to make me tolerate it more.

I think it's related to digestion, because often times after certain starchy meals, I'll bloat up super quickly. I don't have a bloating problem with OJ and milk, but when my diet solely consists of those liquids, I feel myself going off, my vision starts becoming blurry and delayed, and I don't quite feel sharp and responsive. I'll also start peeing much too frequently.

I've got a couple routes to try, antibiotics, digestive enzymes, and the damn carrot lol, but the carrot never seemed to do anything for me, although I haven't really been consistent with it. I love cold brew coffee, and currently take K2/aspirin, so I don't think the problem is liver related.

 

[ilikecats]

@tca300 wow 200-250 grams of protein a day, thats quite a lot. Im actually starting to feel that I might need that much though... I know you email peat quite a bit have you ever ran your protein intake by him? Does he think its too much or no?

 

[LCohen]

If you are living a sedantary life, have high body fat, not doing any lifting or exercise then you'll get a bloated belly.

Fixing this situation with supplements or coconut oil or probiotic or whatever is complete non-sense.

You need exercise, moderate protein. Taking 100 pills a day will not fix this..

 

[Runenight201]

For sure exercise is great making sure glucose is sent to the muscles and not stored as fat, but to it’s not the silver lining once metabolic function is compromised. Just look at power lifters, their life is heavy lifting and they walk around with the most bloated bellies.

In terms of protein tho, I do think their may be something there with the combination of food, digestion, and metabolic function. Someone with a high metabolism can probably digest anything and be fine. Those with compromised metabolisms aren’t able to produce the sufficient stomach acid to handle the digestion of starchy food, and this causes bloat and the feeling of food sitting in the stomach. So perhaps by adding in some protein/fat with the meal, the body is better able to digest the meal, but I’m not quite sure the mechanism here, or what’s optimal for each person. The ratio might just have to be personal experimentation until the individual finds what combination makes them feel best.

 

[tca300]

Hi @kyle,

Did you figure out a solution? I'm having the exact same issue. I have gut distension, but also a general feeling of edema throughout my whole body. I feel like my whole body is slightly swollen, although my gut is the most pronounced. I forget where I read about Peat talking about the hypertonic bodybuilding kids who gained muscle real easily due to the cells taking up too much water, and this is me to a certain extent, in that I can gain muscle very easily, but my muscles fatigue very quickly and I cramp easily as well. I would rather have a flat stomach and no edema then this bloated bodybuilder look lol.

@tca300, did milk never cause any opiod-like nausea effects? Too much milk and I get that, although I just have to be careful about the amount of milk I consume and when I consume it. Drinking milk on top of a big salty, starch meal seems to make me tolerate it more.

I think it's related to digestion, because often times after certain starchy meals, I'll bloat up super quickly. I don't have a bloating problem with OJ and milk, but when my diet solely consists of those liquids, I feel myself going off, my vision starts becoming blurry and delayed, and I don't quite feel sharp and responsive. I'll also start peeing much too frequently.

I've got a couple routes to try, antibiotics, digestive enzymes, and the damn carrot lol, but the carrot never seemed to do anything for me, although I haven't really been consistent with it. I love cold brew coffee, and currently take K2/aspirin, so I don't think the problem is liver related.

Ive never experienced opiods, as I have never taken any. For myself milk is one of the only foods that dont give me negative symptoms.

 

[tca300]

@tca300 wow 200-250 grams of protein a day, thats quite a lot. Im actually starting to feel that I might need that much though... I know you email peat quite a bit have you ever ran your protein intake by him? Does he think its too much or no?

It's a lot of protein for sure, ideally more carbohydrates in place of protein would be ideal, but because of my specific situation, its my best option, and Peat has agreed that with my specific context, its my best road to take. I also am very active, so the effects of a high protein diet on myself vs a couch potato are likely different.

 

[SOMO]

If you are living a sedantary life, have high body fat, not doing any lifting or exercise then you'll get a bloated belly.

It's not that simple.

Also you're confusing bloating with abdominal fat.

Bloating =/= abdominal fat.

You can be fat and have bloating or you can be thin and have bloating.

I'm 10% BF and have had periods in my life with bloating. Have also had periods where I was fasting, over-exercising (cardio) and still experienced bloating. I also had periods where I was binging on large amounts of fat and starches and did not have bloating.

 

[Peater]

If you are living a sedantary life, have high body fat, not doing any lifting or exercise then you'll get a bloated belly.

Fixing this situation with supplements or coconut oil or probiotic or whatever is complete non-sense.

You need exercise, moderate protein. Taking 100 pills a day will not fix this..

I still had a belly when I was lifting 3 times a week, crossfit and sprinting/running, and across diets inc. gluten-free vegetarian, then vegan, Paleo, and most recently Peat inspired. I think some of us just have to live it.

 

[GAF]

Way reduce fluid intake. If it never goes in, your body never has to remove it. SIADH, study that...

 

[superhuman]

@tca300 Hello. How is everything going? I was wondering about one thing. I also consume like 200-320 grams protein which is more then usual. Im active and all that lifting weights etc. I use a lot of low fat cheese and some milk. But i usually only do 2-4 quarts of skimmed milk and rest of protein from cheese etc. But man you drink 6-7 quarts of milk, that is crazy. How do you manage it and do you notice good effects from it? i mean that is a TON of nutrition you are getting. I am really interested in trying it my self.

 

[tca300]

@tca300 Hello. How is everything going? I was wondering about one thing. I also consume like 200-320 grams protein which is more then usual. Im active and all that lifting weights etc. I use a lot of low fat cheese and some milk. But i usually only do 2-4 quarts of skimmed milk and rest of protein from cheese etc. But man you drink 6-7 quarts of milk, that is crazy. How do you manage it and do you notice good effects from it? i mean that is a TON of nutrition you are getting. I am really interested in trying it my self.

I do 6 meals a day of 4 - 5 cups of milk ( skim & 1% ) during each meal. When I'm maintaining weight I do 5 - 6 cups per meal. I also do about 1oz of liver per day. I always regret eating cheese, my body tells me to avoid it, so I do. Milk is much more nutritious than cheese as well, and because my only carbohydrate intake comes from milk, it makes no sense for me to replace milk with cheese, as it lacks carbohydrates.

The only two foods I can consistently eat and feel well afterwards are milk and liver. I feel really wonderful, better than I can ever remember, when I stick to those two foods.

I thought the saturated fat was causing some of my issues, so I recently replaced milk fat with olive oil/macadamia nuts, but I soon realized the saturated fat was not to blame. It seems plant foods AND supplements are what cause my issues, so I'm avoiding everything besides milk and liver.

Sorry for the long response that partially had nothing to do with what you asked, but I was going to update what I was currently doing anyways, and mention the macadamia nuts and olive oil are out. Macadamia nuts caused serious bloating, gas, and depression. Olive oil gave me really bad headaches, water retention, gas, acne, and was burning my mouth/digestive tract. Both gave me very terrible smelling bowel movements

 

[kyle]

Hi @kyle,

Did you figure out a solution? I'm having the exact same issue. I have gut distension, but also a general feeling of edema throughout my whole body. I feel like my whole body is slightly swollen, although my gut is the most pronounced. I forget where I read about Peat talking about the hypertonic bodybuilding kids who gained muscle real easily due to the cells taking up too much water, and this is me to a certain extent, in that I can gain muscle very easily, but my muscles fatigue very quickly and I cramp easily as well. I would rather have a flat stomach and no edema then this bloated bodybuilder look lol.

I think finding ways to raise CO2 is a path. I noticed slowing down breathing with the Buteyko techniques was shockingly effective - I accidentally noticed the relationship as I one day did Buteyko to stay calm in a tough situation for quite a while (over an hour or so) and woke up next day looking quite slim and I've since repeated the experiment.

Like the very next day major reduction in bloat. The swollen gut is definitely the intestine swelling so irritating foods are an issue but I think just avoiding the foods you don't tolerate won't always restore normal cell behavior long term because it will rapidly revert back to its old ways by stress and/or minute amounts of irritating foods. Peat talked about how immune responses act like memories in tissue that has been highly stressed, eventually going into the rigid edema state.

What you're saying about muscle definitely supports this, body builders probably have hypervenitlation (the latest body builder trend is CPAP machines), and you often see them huffing and puffing to lift heavier weights. Add to that higher lactic acid from the constant stress so that explains the 'roid gut' phenomena but obviously the dad bod thing is an increasing trend in high PUFA cultures. Peat says CO2 opposes lactic acid and restores normal cell behavior. Since its localized in the gut, it's probably damaged intestinal tissue and the same principles apply muscle too.

Raising CO2 seems to keep that reaction at bay, maybe even restoring normal tissue behavior. Exercise to the extent it's fun and not stressful raises CO2 and helps digestion in general so I think that's part of it too.

 

[kyle]

Also, at least for me alcohol never caused me issues and since I actually get health benefits if I don't get drunk, just buzzed. And I have distinct recollections of waking up after a night of drinking and admiring my Adonis like physique when I woke up - no bloat, no bubbles in my urine. Wait, is it protective against the stress of darkness???

Which didn't make any damn sense to me since all I hear is how alcohol is what makes people look shitty when its definitely PUFAs.

As to why the beer > belly relationship exists I wonder if people have the cart before the horse. If you're dealing with a lot of intestinal inflammation, you probably want more alcohol. I've seen a lot of guys who have bloated guts who don't drink and still others with lean bodies that drink a lot.

Just throwing some musings out here, but I was thinking about all this because I've wondered where that beer belly myth originated and I've been hearing it all my life.

Maybe I'm wrong too - but I think we've just had it ingrained in our heads how bad alcohol is from a bunch of horseshit propoganda. Reading historical writings, people drank like fishes. And then you look at old timey photographs and they look great.

 

[superhuman]

@tca300 thats lovely. I dont have any issues with any food, but i have to try consuming even more milk and see how it effects me. Should be really good because of all the nutrition it has.

 

[superhuman]

@tca300 how is your water retention going? im still struggling a bit with it. Trying so much to experiment with amount of salt and all that but its hard for sure. You get so much milk so i get all that potassium helps a lot