Hi, I started a raw diet one week ago. I am 52yo female and have been a vegetarian since age 8yo. I drink fresh fruit juice once a day and fresh vegie juice about 2 times a day. I am eating some fruit in the morning and enjoy a salad made up of any veggies I can find - yum - twice a day. The only thing I add to the veggies is olive oil and sometimes parsely or bazil. My motivation is laziness. I hate cooking so I thought - why not just give it up?, and also, I don't want to use animals for food (dairy) anymore, and I am a little overweight. I‘ve had no cravings, headaches, bloating or tummy aches and my energy level seems fine but I am constipated for the first time in my life. It's a horrible feeling, I feel packed up and uncomfortable and very disappointed. I am worried that I might be damaging my bowel. I drink about 600mls of water 2 to 3 times a day. Thank you in advance for any help.

Hi Sue, Any time one goes through a dietary modification, the digestive system changes, too. In my opinion, I don't think you're drinking enough water and you're not eating enough fruit. I drink usually more than 2 liters of water a day. 600 ml of water is equivalent to about 2.5 cups and you stated you only drink it 2-3 times per day. If you only drink it twice, that's only 5 cups of water per day. Trice, you're closer but still a ways away.

I would add in lots of fruit like watermelon. Not sure if you can get it where you are but that always works well for me.

If you feel you cannot wait until your body adjusts, you can always take a teaspoon of Castor Oil. That will flush you out in about 20 minutes.

Good luck. Therese

Hi Therese.

I've always struggled with huge amounts (or what I consider huge) of water. If I force myself to drink too much, I end up feeling quite sick. For me, it's always been that way and I really have to push to get the 3 x 600mls in because I am also having 3 x 600mls of juice. Not that I am disagreeing - it's just one of my querks. But the watermelon - wow - it's been so long since I had watermelon and they're cheap and plentiful here. Yum. Thanks for a great idea.

I'm just worried because I have never been constipated before - maybe I am overreacting - it's not like I am in pain or anything - just uncomfortable.

If I don't have any luck tomorrow, I'll buy some Castor Oil and stick it on the shelf for peace of mind.

Thanks so much for the help, never thought of Castor Oil. Sue

Hello, Sue and welcome!

It's amazing that you've had a healthier diet for such a long time! Well done to your family


I agree that this is a dietary change issue, and that you may need to consume more fluids. Watermelon should help, as should juicing the rind, if you can get organic where you are. It helps to get fluids down if one doesn't quaff them in one go; sipping a large amount of water slowly over the course of an hour or two actually allows you body to use it for rehydration--not just filtration--and prevents bloat.

I would add that if you are not exercising, doing some light aerobic exercise every day, like walking or cycling, should help things move along. Good luck!

Hi Tamukha,

Thank you for the compliment. I have been vegetarian for a long time but I wouldn't say that I ate a healthy diet all these years Also, I'm the only one in my family that is vegetarian. My parents ate meat, my brothers eat meat and so does my hubby and my son. I was just really lucky that I had a very lovely mum that let me be an individual even as a child. The reason I stopped eating meat was simple child logic. Once I was old enough to understand that meat came from animals, loving them as well as eating them didn't make sense to me. I remember, at the time, it was really hard to give meat up but I'm stubborn in many ways and I was very proud of myself when I did. Now that I am older and wiser I understand that life is not that simple, I mean, I love animals that eat other animals and since I don't consider myself better or wiser than any animal.....you see where I am going. So I just do what feels right for me and now that I haven't eaten meat for so long, I can't because it tastes foul (tried it a few months ago and yuk yuk yuk). No offence intended to any meat eaters out there

I will continue to work on my fluids. I do sip - I can't gulp - another querk

Sue

P.S. Are we allowed to chat like this here or am I suppose to stay on my topic - I'm new to the concept of forums as well

Threads can sometimes go very awry, Sue, and that's fine, but you are still on-topic with this one, so that's fine, too



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2013 11:10PM by Tamukha.

Usually on this diet constipation is not an issue. It could be that your body is low on energy right for some reason. Check out this online book Constipation: A New Reading on the Subject. It says constipation is caused by:

1 Toxemia / Enervation
2 Drinking too much water
3 lack of coarse food
4 neglect in responding to nature's call
5 overeating
6 lack of emotional poise / emotional balance
7 lack of exercise

Hi Prana.

I'm much better today. Things are starting to work. This whole time I have had no bloating, cramps or pain. It was just like my bowel went to sleep and when I tried to do what comes naturally there was nothing, no movement, like my body had forgotten what to do, only now it remembers.

At the moment, things are not good with me emotionally or spiritually either. In a way that I have never experienced before and in a way that closely correlates to what I have experienced with my bowels. So thank you for helping me to see the connection.

Sue

pineapple helps with constipation but there are many factor involved that amount to a lack of vitality of the soft muscles.

Thank you Panchito

I did'nt know about pinapple helping either so thats good to know.

Sue

I think that when the body is adjusting to something (with hormones), it rearrenges its priporities. I know that when people go sick, their GI track does not work as it should, probably because the body is saving the 'energy' for something else. It may be that the GI track is a low prority in the internal works of the body. So I would be patient. Secondary effects of chemical medicines can also interact with the GI system. Eventually the body will achieve a balance point and it will make the best of what it has.

Never eat a green pineapple. Its acid will eat away the enamel of the teeth making them sensitive. The pineapple should be all orange or all brown. In the US it is sold as super sweet or extra sweet pineapple (Giant Supermarket).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2013 02:12PM by Panchito.

Thank you Panchito

great information

thank you!

Prana once suggested that I eat a minimum of 1 full head of romaine each day when I was struggling with constipation.

It worked!

I also kind of wonder if constipation is part of the transition going on in the body when first switching over to raw. ??

Mindy

I would like to know this as well.. maybe it just takes time for our bodies to cleanse out, I guess?

life101 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Sue, Any time one goes through a dietary
> modification, the digestive system changes, too.
> In my opinion, I don't think you're drinking
> enough water and you're not eating enough fruit. I
> drink usually more than 2 liters of water a day.
> 600 ml of water is equivalent to about 2.5 cups
> and you stated you only drink it 2-3 times per
> day. If you only drink it twice, that's only 5
> cups of water per day. Trice, you're closer but
> still a ways away.
>
> I would add in lots of fruit like watermelon. Not
> sure if you can get it where you are but that
> always works well for me.
>
> If you feel you cannot wait until your body
> adjusts, you can always take a teaspoon of Castor
> Oil. That will flush you out in about 20 minutes.
>
> Good luck. Therese

If you are eating high water content food such as fruits, and juices, why would you need to drink so much. The raw food itself is 80 percent water. Wild animals do not drink that much.

mindy66 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I also kind of wonder if constipation is part of
> the transition going on in the body when first
> switching over to raw. ??

I think a diet change can cause it. Give it time to adjust. Detected bad foods acelerate the GI track. So maybe by switching to good foods, it became slower than before. It could also be related to the nervous system of the soft muscles, not enough food volume, energy priority changes, etc. The body will catch up. There are many many advantages specially for the GI track.

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