Hello All,

They call me Asia (Assiah). I am new to raw foods and wanted to ask about severe constipation, bloating and gas when new to a raw food diet. Please be kind in your responses as I am just seeking information on how to relieve this constipation. My diet consists of green smoothies, lots of fruit, fruit fruit, wheat grass shots, green salads and green juices. I also eat organic avocado because I exercise plenty during the day as I am a personal trainer. I am finding that if I eat raw foods for six days then I don't have a bowel movement for six days. If I eat one cooked meal, I will move my bowels the next morning. I have tried flax seeds and have taken much advice of many raw foodist on how to move the bowels. Most raw foodists tell me that they have never had this experience when transitioning to raw foods. Please help. I am tired of doing enemas and colonics. I moved my bowels alot more before I was on raw foods.

You might try adding just a few nuts and/or seeds to your raw food diet and see if that helps. Seems to work very well for me.

Also, does your exercise routine include the inverted yoga poses (standing on your head, shoulder stand, plow, etc.)? Those poses stimulate bowel activity.

Try eating an entire large head of romaine lettuce every night and then see if your bowels are still stuck. Its best if you eat the lettuce plain. Just roll each lettuce leaf into a cigar and eat it, until you've consumed the entire head.

Do this for a few days, and you ought to see some movement.

constant enemas and colonics can make you have a lazy bowel over time (over dependent_)

i 2nd the romaine , whatevers in it really seems to get things movin an groovin for me lol

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Asia,

I third the romaine method. I have found, in talking to people, that introducing even plain, unprocessed raw foods into a cooked food diet-accustomed system can send some people's intestines into a sort of "shock." It's like, Whoa! What am I supposed to do with all this fiber? Peristalsis--halt! And that's no good.

Your diet seems healthy, very much so, as a matter of fact, as long as the avocado isn't several at a time--that's a lot of fat for the liver to deal with at once. What's the longest duration for an all-raw diet that you've tried? If it's merely a week, perhaps you need 8, 9, or 10 days for your system to start adjusting? Please keep us posted.

Forgot to say that for the yoga poses, they're more effective if you remain in each pose for some length of time. Iyengar has his students remain in each of the three poses (mentioned above) for 5 minutes to start with, then work up to 10 minutes each for headstand and shoulderstand. Breathe deeply and evenly in and out (through your nose if possible). Keep your tongue off the roof of your mouth.
5 seconds inhale and 5 seconds exhale works well for all 3 poses.

You can use a wall for headstand and shoulderstand until you can balance well. You can put a stool behind you to rest your feet on until you can get them all the way to the ground.

(Iyengar has better instructions in his book, Light on Yoga, including instructions on how best to get yourself into the positions - pretty important. There are also some very interesting variations of all 3 poses)

Hello All,

Thank you kindly for your responses. I will definitely try the Romaine Lettuce tonite. Let's see what happens. I will definitely keep you posted. Also, I found out that I am building large pockets of gas within my intestines. So I will try a mono diet for a few days to see what's causing this severe gas. Romaine has won the vote. I will let you know what happens in a short while.

With Gratitude,
Asia Thomas

Thank you for asking, Asia.
I've been mostly raw for the week and experiencing a surprising lack of movement. I was previously a very regular vegan . . . as I'm only 5 days in (and I'm not totally blocked, just much less movement), I'm hoping this will work itself out.

Lettuce (ha ha) know how the romaine works out!

Best wishes,
Sara