Gas And Bloating

maryjanexx

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Hello, I recently switched to a carbohydrate heavy diet. Not a lot of processed carbs, but mostly lots of fruits and vegetables. From time to time I have some shrimp or tofu for protein, but it's mostly vegetables, fruit, and potatoes.

My question: I've had terrible gas for 2 weeks in a row now. Literally every night I am embarrassed to be sleeping in a bed with someone else. It usually starts around 4pm and gets worse from there. What on earth is going on?

I don't like the restriction of low carb, but honestly I felt a hell of a lot better digestion wise keeping low fat, low carb, high protein. (I.e. Eggs or cheese for a snack vs a piece of fruit) than I do now.

What's going on? Is there something wrong?

** Note, I cut out all dairy thinking this was the problem, and exercise regularly. Have cut out beans. I'm thinking it is the carbohydrates, specifically fruit...
 

DaveFoster

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Drop the vegetables. If the problem persists, drop the potatoes or reduce in quantity.
 
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maryjanexx

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Drop the vegetables. If the problem persists, drop the potatoes or reduce in quantity.
Vegetables have never bothered me. I actually can eat a shitton of lettuce, cabbage, brussel sprouts with no problems before I added back sugary things (fruit specifically).
 

DaveFoster

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Vegetables have never bothered me. I actually can eat a shitton of lettuce, cabbage, brussel sprouts with no problems before I added back sugary things (fruit specifically).
"I actually can use Styrofoam tires on my car with no problems before I started driving it."
 

tara

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Presumably you are providing lots of food for your gut microbiome, and it's taking advantage of the resources to grow the population, with resultant increased CO2 and maybe methane and hydrogen sulphide production? :) It can take a while for the system to adapt to a change in diet. It might sort itself out, or it might just keep going that way.
Does the daily raw carrot salad help?
Do you get the same issues with strained juice as with whole fruit?
I get a lot less gas these days since I eat a lot less veges and starch, and a lot more sugar (in various forms).
 

DrJ

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Soy (tofu), especially if you don't eat it very often will make you gas up like a large SUV. And besides that it is high in phytoestrogens so you probably generally want to avoid it anyway.
 
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marikay

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I second the opinions that the gas is coming from the vegetables and the tofu. I don't know why anyone following Ray Peat's advice (even loosely) would consider tofu an appropriate food source, especially if you are female. The anti-thyroid effect from the tofu and the vegetables is reason enough to avoid these foods, even without the gas producing qualities they share. The worst health I ever experienced was when I was eating a vegetarian diet with lots of soy (including tofu). And the gas problem was significant. It went away completely (along with a host of other problems) when I eliminated vegetables (except for carrots) and all soy products. The difference was so dramatic I can't even believe it sometimes. But it is true.
 
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marikay

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And too much exercise (especially if it is cardio exercise) is also anti-thyroid (and can lead to gas in the evening). Exercise for the sake of exercise (especially cardio) is a really bad habit. @thegiantess and I can both attest to that:)
 

tara

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The anti-thyroid effect from the tofu and the vegetables is reason enough to avoid these foods, even without the gas producing qualities they share.
I agree about tofu. But vegetables are not so clear. Peat has at times recommended broths from greens as a good source of magnesium, and sometimes mentions other benefits from vegetables. As well as there being some downsides.
I'm eating less vegetables than I used to, and I no longer force myself to eat more than tastes good, but if I go completely without for a couple of days I usually feel worse.
 
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honeybee

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Did you add in the carbs gradually or did you just go for it? If you have not been accustomed to eating certain foods , and then suddenly start eating them in quantity, you may have problems digesting. My 2 cents.
 

tara

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If you have not been accustomed to eating certain foods , and then suddenly start eating them in quantity, you may have problems digesting.
That sounds likely to me too.
 
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marikay

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I agree about tofu. But vegetables are not so clear. Peat has at times recommended broths from greens as a good source of magnesium, and sometimes mentions other benefits from vegetables. As well as there being some downsides.
I'm eating less vegetables than I used to, and I no longer force myself to eat more than tastes good, but if I go completely without for a couple of days I usually feel worse.

An occasional broth from greens is one thing, but Ray has said repeatedly that vegetables should be used as condiments if at all. And cruciferous vegetables are named as thyroid suppressors by nearly all thyroid experts. Unripened fruit can also cause gas. maryjanexx doesn't say what kind of fruits or vegetables she uses as staples in her diet, but I figured that those two things are much more likely to cause gas and bloating than the potatoes or dairy. But we can certainly agree that the tofu is the worst of it.:)
 
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marikay

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An occasional broth from greens is one thing, but Ray has said repeatedly that vegetables should be used as condiments if at all. And cruciferous vegetables are named as thyroid suppressors by nearly all thyroid experts. Unripened fruit can also cause gas. maryjanexx doesn't say what kind of fruits or vegetables she uses as staples in her diet, but I figured that those two things are much more likely to cause gas and bloating than the potatoes or dairy. But we can certainly agree that the tofu is the worst of it.:)

I correct myself. maryjanexx does say she eats a lot of cabbage and brussel sprouts. Both of these things are know even outside the Ray Peat community as gas producing substances.
 

tara

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An occasional broth from greens is one thing, but Ray has said repeatedly that vegetables should be used as condiments if at all.
Yes, but using vegetables as condiments is not the same as avoiding them altogether, which you seemed to imply was necessary from RP perspective?
And cruciferous vegetables are named as thyroid suppressors by nearly all thyroid experts.
Yes. But again, there is a difference between large daily servings of coleslaw or lightly fried cauliflow and broccoli, and small amounts of well-cooked brassicas from time to time. Complete avoidance is probably not necessary for most people.
Unripened fruit can also cause gas.
Yes. Fresh ripe strained juice, or stewed fruit, might avoid some of this and other issues with unripe whole fruit.
I correct myself. maryjanexx does say she eats a lot of cabbage and brussel sprouts. Both of these things are know even outside the Ray Peat community as gas producing substances.
I agree, large amounts of these could well produce a lot of gas, and could well have anti-metabolic effects too, especially if they are undercooked. OP says she was eating these foods previously, rather than a recent addition, so they don't seem likely to be the main cause of the recently increased gas attacks. But large quantities may not be a great idea.

Potatoes do produce a bit of gas or me, but it probably varies a bit from person to person, and our particular microbiota. I eat them anyway, and I'm currently eating a little garlic every day or two (not particularly recommended by Peat), and that seems to reduce it. Onions and other veges produce a bit of gas too, but I still eat a little becaue I feel better when I do than when I don't. I don't usually experence a lot of gas from fruit.

I'm not convinced that completely avoiding a lot of things is necessary for most people. There are ways to experiment with gradual changes, and various balances. Except for minimising PUFAs as far as possible, and probably soy and other strong phytoestrogens, and anything that produces strong allergic or other reactions.

But we can certainly agree that the tofu is the worst of it.:)
Yes. :)
 

tara

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I don't like the restriction of low carb, but honestly I felt a hell of a lot better digestion wise keeping low fat, low carb, high protein. (I.e. Eggs or cheese for a snack vs a piece of fruit) than I do now.
I hope you haven't completely given up eating the eggs and cheese - you still need some protein, even if not super-high. Peat usually recommends 80-100g for people with low metabolism, and maybe more for euthyroid folk.
A little fat - eg from cheese or coconut oil may help with digestion.
Stewing fruit may make it easier to digest.
 
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marikay

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@tara wrote: "Yes, but using vegetables as condiments is not the same as avoiding them altogether, which you seemed to imply was necessary from RP perspective?"

I was responding to maryjanexx's query on what could be causing the gas. I think completely avoiding those things that you don't need in the diet and that are well know to cause gas is a good idea when your problem is too much gas,

" says she was eating these foods previously, rather than a recent addition, so they don't seem likely to be the main cause of the recently increased gas attacks."

It may be that the addition of more food (even a non-gas producing food) increased the volume of matter in her intestines and therefore she is noticing a big increase in gas. But it is a given that these vegetables maryjanexx has been eating do cause gas to build up in the intestine.They have to if they are in any way digested. Most likely, she just hasn't recognized it as a problem before now.

It is true that Ray has said that undercooked vegetables are far worse than the well cooked ones, but given that you can get all the necessary nutrients from other foods without the risk or the hassle, why do it? Tubers and roots are the way to go for non animal sources of food (along with coconut oil of course). You don't need vegetables. Calorie for calorie, vegetables are very expensive and very very toxic.

But I guess one of us should have also mentioned that activated charcoal is good for controlling the more embarrassing aspects of gas:)
 

tara

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But I guess one of us should have also mentioned that activated charcoal is good for controlling the more embarrassing aspects of gas:)
:)
With black underwear.
 

LUH 3417

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Ray has written about pre menstrual gas and constipation as a sign of low progesterone.
 

Dom Selleck

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And cruciferous vegetables are named as thyroid suppressors by nearly all thyroid experts.
Ray also mentioned that as long as you cook your cruciferous vegetables then you should be fine. Not sure if id agree with eating vegetables as if it were a condiment.
I don't understand how eating vegetables makes you gassy in the first place. This is the first time I've heard of this. Recently within the past few days i have been getting pretty gassy. I had made an increase in the amount of broccoli and spinach i consume but also i upped my intake of beef gelatin. I thought it had to be the gelatin, but now I'm not so sure.
 

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