I have been following the raw diet for just about a month now and I am 98% raw. Before that I was vegeterian and only eating rice for grains. I started the raw diet hoping it would help alleviate some of the symptoms of irritable bowel that I experience daily. I have only found that the raw diet is making it worse, with all the fruit, and have continued to lose weight and energy. I am trying to gain weight and my doctor wants to put me on Dicetel, a medication for irritable bowel. I was hoping the raw would help without having to resort to medications of any kind. I was wondering if there is anybody who is also dealing with this and did the raw help. I eat mostly fruits right now with maybe 2 tablespoons of soaked seeds and then ground up. I also have a green smoothy in the morning and some avocado in the afternoon. Dinner is non-existant as I am in too much pain from the bloating, cramps, and gas. Any information would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

I'm not sure if this will help, but David Klein (www.livingnutrition.com) healed himself of colitis with a raw diet. How similar that is to I.B., I'm not sure, but I'm guessing he could help you. He's written one or two books on healing bowel conditions with raw food, and he's also a nutrition coach.

Sharrhan:


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wait...your mixing fresh fruit with seeds?

no comment

try adding green juices, as this will give you many nutrients without taxing your system any further. stick to large plain salads (no oils or seeds..basically a half head or so of lettuce) instead of blended smoothies. chew as much as tolerable.

eat lighter simple meals (mono) more often throughout the day. Melon, Papaya. etc..

I had similar conditions. Try to eat simpler.......and mix less foods. Eat more and smaller meals throughout the day. Drink plenty of water when you are not eating. Experiment with weekends or single days of juice or water fasting.....as these tools might help. These are just my opinions.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Thank you already for your replies! When I listed what I was eating, I didn't mean to imply that I was eating them all together. When I eat the seeds, it is always by themselves, as I have read not to combine them with fruits. I appreciate everybodys feedback and will add more of the green juices, as well as just drinking more water. I feel more hopeful now and will also get David Klein's book.

I have found healing from crohns through raw foods. I would suggest mono eating, keep it simple.

A few days of each thing, it will be easy to gauge your reaction and easy on your system.

Hope you arent disheartened, it is worth it!

Raw_dancer

Rawdancer, no, I don't want to give up on raw yet, but was feeling a bit discouraged. I am a bit confused about mono eating. I have seen it in quite a few posts and am not sure what exactly that means. Do I eat one food, such as banans for one full day and then mangoes on the next or does it mean to stick with fruit at one meal and then veggies at another meal? I think the advice of not mixing foods when I eat is a great one and I am going to do that more diligently. I have had almond milk with fruit, which is probably not a good idea. I also use the almond milk as a base for my smoothies and then add bananas and greens. I will just use water for a while and see if that makes a difference. Thanks everyone for all their suggestions and support.

If you've been reading any of my recent posts where I discuss braggs apple cider vinegar then you know what I'll be suggesting.

You might want to buy their little book on the wonders of apple cider vinegar because I think you may want to give that a try in adding it to your daily diet.

I still can't believe what it's doing for me. I keep waiting to wake up and have that awful pain I've had for years..but each day is better than the one before. I feel a freedom I haven't felt for years, free from pain, free to do things without thinking that I'll be paying for it later in the evening or the next couple days.

Love,
Prism

I have dealt with this to a large degree myself. David Kleins book is very good for information actually. I actually consulted with him, but it was a waste of time I thought even though the book is very good.

Basically, You have to learn to heal yourself. Depending on your condition 100% can be counter productive at first. In addition, be careful with fats. They can be a problem. Don't simply THINK you are low fat, get a calorie counter and figure it out.

Raw vegetables can be very taxing on yourself also. Steaming, juicing, blending or puree vegetables at first or temporarily if needed. GO SLOW in these areas. Try not to combine fruit at your veggie meals. For example: Lettuce was a huge problem for me, so Green Smoothies were my alternative.

Fruit can be very touchy also. Juicing again is VERY helpful, but you will find some fruits cause irritation and some don't. For example, the sorbitol in apples, which I ate on a regular basis was a huge culprit. Who would ever guess??

******* Don't try to follow rules set for normal raw fooders. *******
It won't work unless you've been there. You need to create your own rules to get stable and heal and build from there. Get educated in nutrition, calories, protein, carbs, blah, blah blah and read, read, read. Check out helpforibs.com for some hints and incorporate some of the guidleines to the raw world. Especially the information on soluble and insoluble fibers.

There is so much more - All I can say is GOOD LUCK - I feel for anyone dealing with troubles

My early IBS symptoms flared in the beginning too but it I think it was because I was snacking too much on nuts and dosing myself with hemp bits and sesame seeds because I was still in a state of fear about getting enough protein AND trying to quell all the cravings I had because I wasn't eating enough fruits/carbs. Seeds are not a good idea if you have IBS I'm told.

I ate a high fat diet for many years before raw and that is what I believe weakened my digestion in the first place and while I had a lot of gas/loose stools for several months my stomach feels way better now.

Get David's book "Self Healing Colitis & Crohn's". It has great diet and lifestyle information that can heal your IBS.

I have also had digestive problems my entire life. I've been eating a vegan diet for over 4 years now and I have always incorporated raw foods during this time. My problem is that every time I try to get all of my colories from raw, my digestive problems get worse (gas/bloating/diarrhea/indigestion/cramps/loose stools/etc). I always have to go back to cooked grains to get my stomach back to normal.

I have David's book on hold at the library and will be picking it up today. Once again, many thanks for everybody's support and suggestions. I think the biggest thing that has started to help me already is to simplify, like so many of you have suggested. I am now eating just one thing everytime I eat and yesterday, I noticed the cramping was not so severe, so that has given me so much more hope.
Ecco, I, too, tended to get even more cramping when I ate raw only, but for me I am finding it really has to do with the food combining. I found when I went back to rice, it did not help me, so now if I feel I must have a bit of cooked food I will have a sweet potato or a yam. However, I want to stick to raw only and work on not combining to many different things everytime I eat. I am really interested in fruitarian, as veggies of any kind just don't appeal to me, especially raw ones.

I definately agree with proper food combining as I've learned that certain combinations will definately not sit well. But at the same time if I eat a bunch of fruit for a meal, even just one variety, I tend to have problems. I'm still trying. My digestive problems may relate to something else and I am mistakenly relating it to fruit.

Be careful with Davids Book though - He is more geared toward IBD symptoms. You will have to tweak it for IBS type symptoms. They are different. Unless you have or have had either, this can be hard to believe or accept for most. He gives you guidelines to start with.

If you need any help or questions I'd be glad to help - you can always e-mail me



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2007 01:26PM by tanawana.

Tanawana,
Thanks, and I have read several chapters from David's book now. It definently is geared for Colitis and Crohns. Do you know of anything specific that I would need to change when trying to treat IBS instead?
I'm still trying to figure out the proper food combining rules and am having a hard time with the green smoothies. Almost all the recipes with greens include some kind of fruit as well, but then I read not to mix fruits and veggies. I continue to do better just eating mono.

That's tough, everyone seems to react differently to things. I stuck to mono meals. Which is what I did while 100% raw so that was easy. I actually laid off on greens at first and slowly added them in smoothies with just banana and water adjusting from there. Banana and water only smoothies have always been a staple for me since forever. Even a cheap wal mart juicer was a big help. Ofcourse juicing apples and pears as davids advice caused me more trouble that took a while to figure out. Greens alone were killer too. Trial and error, Sighhhhhhh

I thought the book outline, which basically follows a raw approach was good that it encourages fruit for morning, sweet fruit such as banana for lunch and veggie juice, blends or steamed for dinner. David encourages to eat till full, but those with IBS symptoms know it's about smaller portions and frequent meals though. With me, steaming the veggies was great and keeping some of the soluble/insoluble food principles of [www.helpforibs.com] in mind helped. Adding grains I never came to a decision on and probably never will. Even grain damage by Dr. D. has shortcomings that don't convince me. Everyone has their thoughts though. I suggest if it helps, do it moderately and decide if it's needed as time passes.

Bear in mind that I never did receive an official IBS diagnosis but have experianced hell at the worst of it and will never forget and gained way to much education and knowledge about proper eating now.