Surprised that I am, but am constipated on 100% Raw. Went straight from SAD to 100% only 8 days ago I think it was.

I do need to go and get romaine lettuce as Prana suggested.

Any other help? Should I/ Would it be bad to enema?

Thanks

Mindy

Drinking water helps. Try to drink 1.5+ liters between meals. Your body may need to get used to the new diet. It could be a hard transition.

Sorry to hear about this, Hear a few suggestions that might help.

I agree with the above. Lots of water, and drink herbal teas if you drink anything other then water.

Chew, chew, chew your food very well, even if it is juice or a smoothie. It's easy to form the habit of "drinking" these when really we are "eating" when we consume juices and smoothies. There is a very big difference.

Stop eating bananas for now, if you've been eating them. Eat more leafy greens instead.

Stretch and yoga. Relax and get into a good stretch. Get your body moving in all directions. Work around the discomfort areas, and stretch what you can.

Hope it helps, good luck.

If you're wanting to improve your intestinal flora and feel that might be the issue, you can always make kombucha. Recipe here: [fresherthanlife.com]

You mentioned you have hypothyroidisim in your other post. Constipation is a common symptom of hypothyroidism, so it would be wise to monitor if it gets any worse with your new raw diet.

You can eat all the fiber in the world, but if your thyroid is shutting down further then it won't make a difference in regards to peristalsis.

[www.natuhealth.co.uk]

Mindy, try the romaine lettuce for a week and tell us if you felt any difference.

Too many greens may make a person constipated. Eating fresh figs may make a person go more. How do I know this?

Water, moderate exercise, rest. Rest being the most important--you seem high energy, and that can wear a system out.

Hope everything gets moving soon

I drink alot of water. I was extra thirsy yesterday so drank somewhere between 1.5-2.0 gallons. Yes, gallons! Still no movement this morning. Sheesh!

I DO need to work on my chewing. Bad habit I have is chewing and swallowing food too quickly I am sure.

Yes, I was drinking coffee for many years. Today is my 9th day without.

I will be keeping an eye on my thyroid, realizing that it will likely get worse before it gets better, so am hanging on.

I used to make Kombucha and then quit because I got a little unsure about the mother I was given.

Prana, don't know if I mentioned this, but Sat. we went to Farmer's Mkt. and I bought 6 or 7 big heads of romaine! So excited and so proud, right? I got home and to my dismay, it was Napa Cabbage. No wonder it was so heavy! Derrr!!!! I usually know food quite well. Was in too much of a rush that morning as the organic booth was jam packed. Need to make a trip to the store to get some. Last time sent hubby out, he brought back non-organic romaine as they did not have any at the store he went to. Ugghh! The closest World Market or Trader Joe's is an hour away, so no workie.

KidRaw, loved your little animation there! I think figs are in between seasons here. My daughter has a tree and it will be awhile.


Tamukha, funny that I seem high energy. I am the exact opposite. Very very low energy.

Lastly, I really, badly need to start walking, yoga, something. Problem is that I've had alot of migraines of late and cannot do ANY exercise on those days or I'll be vomiting.

Day 1 - Migraine before I even started. BUT, I still started.
2 - Migraine
3 - Migraine
4 - No Migraine
5 - No Mig
6 - No Mig
7 - Migraine
8 - BAD Migraine (Yesterday)
9 - No Mig thus far. Yay!

Thank you soooo much everyone!!

Mindy

if you raise your feet (with a foot bench) it helps. There are many articles written about that. I just went to Google and got this one

[www.relfe.com]

Mindy,

Quote

Tamukha, funny that I seem high energy. I am the exact opposite. Very very low energy.

Ah, I meant stress, high-stress person. Please take some time to have a nice long qiet walk in a peaceful place--I am sure it would help all around.

Without going into detail, I will say that both yesterday and today, I've had SUCCESS. Yay!! What a relief. Good grief! ha.

Storm - I had no idea that these can slow down digestion. I have 1 whole lemon (in my fresh juice) everyday and plenty of vinegar in my salad dressing. Hmmm... I'm not sure I can stand a juice without the lemon to be honest. They are just way too sweet for me. I can only stand savory juices, but with the carrots in there, I always use 1/2 lemon to counter the sweetness of the carrot and then it is just right for me. The 2 Salad dressings that I made have alot of ACV. Can't imagine liking a salad dressing without a fair amt. of acid. ??? What to do...

Panchito - I, too, read about this a few years back ago and have been doing it ever since.

Tamukha - Sadly, I probably am high stress. I am working on it. Trying to live in the now instead of past or future either one. Tough to do after having done it otherwise all of my life.

Mindy

mindy, the lemon juice would be a better choice than vinegar. Check out the food combining book: Food Combining Made Easy

Ok, thanks! Is vinegar bad, even if Braggs?

Our daughter has a lemon tree so will stock up.

Thanks Prana!

Mindy

Well, if Braggs feels good to you, I suppose you could continue it. But lemon juice is simpler and healthier than Braggs.

What I've heard about vinegar is that is prevents absorption of foods, though the food may go through your digestive system quicker. This is because the body has no need for acetic acid, so when it finds food tainted with this acid, it tries harder to eliminate those foods. On the other hand, lemon juice, has nutrients in it that the body can use.

Most vinegars such as apple cider vinegar actually aid digestion through the acids they contain, which mimic stomach acid and aid the digestion of protein and other acid dependent nutrients. Which is often why Apple Cider Vinegar is recommended as an alternative to Betaine HCL supplements for those with low stomach acid/poor digestion.

Lemon juice also stimulates digestion.

[www.natuhealth.co.uk]

What people who take digestive aids like HCL don't realize it that they would digest their food just fine if they learned about food combining and didn't try to digest foods that are difficult or near impossible to digest. A typical hamburger has got a very difficult to digest combination of protein, fat, and starch,as well as some acid foods (tomatoes, pickles) and perhaps even some sugar if there is some relish. The body gets very confused when it has to digest this combination.

For great digestion its worthwhile to check out Food Combining Made Easy.

Thanks guys!

I actually enjoy hearing opposing views. It can be confusing at times, however, it causes me to really think and research further.

Blessings!

Mindy

That isn't necessarily true Prana, if the body is producing no or little stomach acid then it doesn't matter if your just mono eating fruit, you won't be breaking down or absorbing much if any of the nutrients if you have little to no stomach acid.

How can you digest food just fine if you have no stomach acid ? The answer is you don't, food combining however i will agree helps in those with poor digestion. But stomach acid levels still need to be restored for proper digestion, especially for acid dependent nutrients such as protein and various minerals.

[www.natuhealth.co.uk]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2013 09:23AM by powerlifer.

vitamin D helps here too I think it helps the soft muscles.

Low gastric acid may be related to age. But it can be definetly improved (it is not fixed). Acid reflux is Low gastric acid (not the other way around). But people take alkalizing tablets making the problem worse and never fixing it.

I think you should expect a slow gradual recovery and probably it wont be fixed with a quick trick

mindy66, most people don't understand that ACV and lemon are not good for digestine and make yeast flourish like crazy! And yeast is a major factor in comstipation, not to mention it seems quite positive to me that you are not digesting food well. You can take an enima when you have these issues or else you will absorb bad stuff that will make you worse while you are constipated. Make sure you are taking probiotics too bowel tolerance. You can also use some Magnesium oxilate by Solaray. You can take up to 1000mg per day but you won't need that much with the probiotics. Just adjust to bowel tolerence, like 100-200mg per meal two or three times per day. This will keep you regular very well.

Also, if you are constipated on a raw food diet, please take a look at what you are doing and try to examine what is wrong. Because you should be @#$%& like crazy on this type of diet lol.

I also wanted to add, I like Prana's idea of eating lots of lettuce um um good. Sometimes I will sit down and eat a whole head of the most awesome lettuce!

Hey Mindy,

One of the biggest challenges most people have from going from SAD to Raw is we’re talking going from about 11 grams of fiber a day to about 40-60 grams. For this reason, the best way to get your Calories and Not get Constipated and more importantly, to HEAL, is to add 2 or 3 or maybe even 4 pints of Vegetable Juice to a Raw Plant Based Diet.

However, if you are really serious about getting healthy and want to do so about 10 times faster than eating 100% Raw, drink nothing but 1 Gallon of Vegetable Juice a day for as long as it takes, which for most of my students is about 3 Months. Don’t be overwhelmed by that length of time and just take it one day at a time. I’ve coached thousands of people and almost everyone starts their Journey for a Better Life with a long, properly conducted Juice Fast/Feast.

For example, I coached a woman 2 years ago who had a host of Health Challenges, including Hypothyroidism, and on Day 50 she went to the doctor and they told her that her Blood Pressure was better than ever and that her Temperature was 98.2 and it had not been over 98 for 10 years!!! When I talked to her one week later on Day 57, she told me that her skin was no longer dry, her hair was not falling out, her nails were getting better and that her feet and hands are not cold anymore. I could go on and on and on and these are the kind of comments I hear from everyone I coach.

If you are interested, I’d be happy to email you my file on The Thyroid Gland, which is one of my most exciting files because it’s full of Testimonies from people who have gone Raw and every time they go to their doctor they have to cut back on their Meds and every time they relapse and go back to Cooked Food and they go back to their doctor they have to up their Meds.

Peace and Love..........John

John Rose Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Mindy,
>
> One of the biggest challenges most people have
> from going from SAD to Raw is we’re talking
> going from about 11 grams of fiber a day to about
> 40-60 grams. For this reason, the best way to get
> your Calories and Not get Constipated and more
> importantly, to HEAL, is to add 2 or 3 or maybe
> even 4 pints of Vegetable Juice to a Raw Plant
> Based Diet.
>
> However, if you are really serious about getting
> healthy and want to do so about 10 times faster
> than eating 100% Raw, drink nothing but 1 Gallon
> of Vegetable Juice a day for as long as it takes,
> which for most of my students is about 3 Months.
> Don’t be overwhelmed by that length of time and
> just take it one day at a time. I’ve coached
> thousands of people and almost everyone starts
> their Journey for a Better Life with a long,
> properly conducted Juice Fast/Feast.
>
> For example, I coached a woman 2 years ago who had
> a host of Health Challenges, including
> Hypothyroidism, and on Day 50 she went to the
> doctor and they told her that her Blood Pressure
> was better than ever and that her Temperature was
> 98.2 and it had not been over 98 for 10 years!!!
> When I talked to her one week later on Day 57, she
> told me that her skin was no longer dry, her hair
> was not falling out, her nails were getting better
> and that her feet and hands are not cold anymore.
> I could go on and on and on and these are the kind
> of comments I hear from everyone I coach.
>
> If you are interested, I’d be happy to email you
> my file on The Thyroid Gland, which is one of my
> most exciting files because it’s full of
> Testimonies from people who have gone Raw and
> every time they go to their doctor they have to
> cut back on their Meds and every time they relapse
> and go back to Cooked Food and they go back to
> their doctor they have to up their Meds.
>
> Peace and Love..........John


That is amazing! I think I have some thyroid issues because of eating chicken and meat in my past.... but not sure. I know I have to do something to make this work, so perhaps you could email your story on the thyroid issue.
Thank you!!!!

Hi Michel,

I'd be happy to email you my file on The Thyroid Gland or anyone else who wants it. My email is not hidden, so just email me and I'll send it your way.

Peace and Love..........John

Mindy, check out this online book called Constipation: A New Reading on the Subject by J. H. Tilden.

Will check it out.

Thank you Prana.

Things are not the way they yet ought to be, however, improved for me in the constipation dept.

Mindy

I got constipated also when I first started eating raw. My problems were related to hydration and switching from a high sodium diet to a low sodium diet. I got dehydrated, plain and simple. If you've been thirsty, you've been dehydrated. If you're dehydrated the body will chose to protect the kidneys before it will protect the colon. The kidneys are one of the most important parts of the body IMO. Mindy I would try eating some salted cooked vegetable meal at the end of the day and see what happens. Also remember you are going to have to drink more water. Slowly drink until you're not thirsty, wait 10min then eat a meal. Never start the day with food if you are thirsty.