Dear all,

I had a question for you.. I eat a diet of mostly fruit for the past year and half and feel great - lots of illnesses cured and meds stopped etc etc I have shared my story, so yall know already

But I have this one problem and I am not sure what to do.. little embarassed to ask you about this, but hope some one can help me.

I used to be VERY constipated when I was cooked vegan and after I went high raw (I still eat a small cereal bowl full of cooked food per day - thats it - this is like steamed vegetables, lentils etc - nothing fancy - just a very small portion of cooked) my constipation got much better.

But still I feel I have a tendency to be constipated, I have one bowel movement per day most of the days but some days I just can't go.. What am I doing wrong?

Is there anything in particular I need to add to my diet of
1. mostly fruit
2. 2 cups green smoothie per day
3. 1 small cereal bowl of cooked vegan (i know i know, I am alsmost there guys!!!)

I really want to go 100% raw soon, but I love to sit with my kids and and husband and eat a small cooked portion.. The kids still eat cooked vegan though and we are working on giving lots of raw to the kids.

My husband and I are I say about 85% raw.

Can some one tell me what I can do? I saw this program the other night and it says if you have one movement per day that means you are constipated - two or more is better.. and I was thinking I still don't even have one every single day. Most of the days I have one though.

What can I do? Can some one give me advise?
(BTW, I asked my doctor and she told me to eat Bran muffins, BeneFiber etc etc and said there is nothing wrong with me - thats how lot of people are here... I didn't take the Benefiber or the Bran mffin)

Take care
A Iyer

Opinion:

You MAY need to eat simpler (food combining or mono-eating). Now that you have been eating healthy for some time, you can explore 'refinements' such as these....along with colon cleansing, fasting and other techniques that might help a sluggish digestive system.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Dave,

Many Thanks for our reply. But can you please elaborate? Some one said I shoukd not bananas that makes people constipated, I eat two or three per day? Should I stop that?

I just eat fruits and don't even make a fruit smoothie, so I guess I am not combining different types ... I guess I don't undersrand.
I eat 2 bananas for breakfast.
Then snack after 2 hours on cherries..
then lunch 2 cups of green smoothies (ok, here I do combine greens and fruits, but I thought it was ok, no?)
then snack on another banana
then another snack water melon or some other piece of fruit.
Then small cooked meal with husband and kids.
Then after two hours another peice of fruit.

Is banana not ok for people who are constipated - please oh please I love bananas... LOL!

Thanks
Take care
A Iyer

eat plenty of WHOLE RAW FOODS. The bulky natural fiber in fresh raw vegan foods is perfect for peristalses. The more food that you can eat in a natural form that is not juiced or blended but rather is just peeled and eaten fresh "as is" the better. There's nothing wrong with juicing or blending but the whole natural foods do the best job of moving.

First decide how you want to eat, then do the same thing day-in and day-out.Your Body will adjust and become very Regular. Take Water between meals if you feel a need. This has worked very well for me......WY

Just two things, from personal experience:

-Fiber seems to be more effective if eaten whole, not blended--so you may want to forego the green smoothies for a salad? If you notice no difference, you can always go back.
-ANY cooked food for me, even if it is 1/2 cup of rice, will pull the brakes on normal elimination, from normal twice a day to nothing for about 36 hours. Transit time is much longer, especially after I've gotten used to the quick digestion times of 100% raw.

Have you tried sprouted lentils? I used to loved them cooked, but sprouted they are just as YUM! and I can even make wonderful raw curries... without any of the digestive delay.

Green smoothies!!

2 cups?! How about blender sized

you wont have any problems with constipation!

Dear all, Thanks for all the input... Phantom, I think you are right. I think thats probably it. Now that my body is used to the easy digested raw foods and lots of it, it is finding it harder and harder to digest even th esmall serving of cooked food that I eat. I think that explains why I did so well when I forst went high raw and had two eliminations per day and after seceral months of being high raw, now I have fewer eliminations - plain not tolerating the (although very small) portion of cooked foods...

I guess I have to sit and eat salad and fruit with the kids... I wanted to go all raw anyway and I guess I have to give more serious efforts to do that soon.

You guys, thanks so much.

Take care
A Iyer

Can you give an example of what sort of "cooked vegan" food you eat?



My website: The Coconut Chronicles

I eat lentil soup, pressure cooked vegetables with spices or steamed vegetables with spices, and sometimes little rice - but really not a lot. Rest is all fruit.

Take care
A Iyer

yoga!!!

bow pose, fish pose, spinal twists....corpse pose.

to add to those yoga poses - reclined hero's pose

I have a paralyzed gut so I'll add my 2cents about the constipation. I buy magnesium powder from the health food store. It's called Natural Calm. I take 2-4 tsp per day in warm water and drink it. I cannot "go" without this.
Good luck to you. It feels yucky not to "empty" fully.

i am in the same boat that you are, anuiyer!

i've had luck so far with several things:

1) i juice all morning...i try to stay away from solid food as long as i can without feeling deprived..then when my body want to eat i move on to fruit...and finally 'heavier' foods later on...at least for me, giving my body a longer break from digestion by delaying solid food until afternoon has been helpful..

2) im taking first cleanse by renew life...its a morning and evening formula. i take the morning formula, followed by renew life fiber smart (i take only two pills instead of four with plenty of water or juice...to help get things moving) and the evening formula is a colon cleanse...the directions call for 2 pills in the evening...but for me, three is the magic number..this combo is definitely working for me so far! (although this is not a long term solution, just something to help me start to get cleaned out)

3) colonics are the bomb!!! i cant afford anymore of them right now though, so i've been giving myself lukewarm water enemas with pretty good results. (you can get yourself an enema bag or bucket pretty cheap) i always make sure to replenish with probiotics, though!! i also try to take a probiotic with one meal a day anyway, when i can remember.

4)use a stool or the bathroom garbage to rest your feet on when you are on the toilet. this aligns your body in more of a squatting position for better elimination.

good luck!!

Hi

I don't think 'once a days most days' is out of line with your current 85% raw diet. Looking at what you eat, there's not much in terms of quantity.

When I was 75% raw I went once day, occasionally twice (but I ate a lot more than you do). In those early months I used to find that nut-rich/'gourmet' raw dishes made my bowels freeze! So watch out for them (although it doesn't sound as if they're any significant part of your life).

When I moved to 95%, then 100% raw I routinely had two movements a day, sometimes three.

So the answer really is...lose the cooked meal, and your digestive system will work more efficiently.

In the meantime, these things should get you going!

Flax seeds (eg whole, in crackers) Think 'f-laxative'
Cacao (eg in raw chocolate)
Apples

Love

Debbie Took
www.rawforlife.co.uk

I think that exercise really helps, especially running or jumping on a rebounder.

Other than that I would highly recommend a BULK of fruit.

The colon doesn't really squeeze the waster through, waste passes through when there is weight on top of it/ a mass pushing it through.

So if you are going to eat fruit (and do - it's the best thing you could do) - then eat plenty to start with. I find eating bulk really helps. instead of one banana, eat many for your lunch.
Anyfruit, try and eat in abundance. This should help PUSH things through.
Don't worry if you feel you are eating too much - the soft watery fruit is great for being gentle on the colon.

--------------------------------------------------

[www.azurastorch.blogspot.com]

Do you go easily? if you do i wouldn't be unhappy with once a day.

Try good quality swedish bitters capsules: 1-2 morning and night if necessary. And a probiotic schedule. It's taken me 6 months but now I'm noticing improvement at last.

They say drinking more water helps, although it doesn't help me.

Prunes usually help. And pear juice.

oh and I wouldn't necessarily agree with having to go 100% raw to fix the problem. Nor would I agree that you have to eat more bulk to push it through. That's just my opinion of course, based on what i've read and what i think.

do salt flushes

in the morning
drink
one quart of room temp water with 1 tablespoon of salt ( celtic or other high quality)
drink and your constipation will go away
you will get cleaned out

do this everyday or a couple times a week and you will get your
intestinal track going
and then you will start eilminating easily

I know I have the same problem
fiber will not help you

or try colonics
if you have the money
raw food makes you cleanse a lot so you can get constipated if you
are cleansing too fast but your intestinal track is not up to speed
so colonics and salt flushes will speed your eiliminating up

All of this is great advice, but the only thing that has really helped me, besides natural fiber husk pwd. is Triphala (Vedic) It is the best!!!!!!!!!!! Janice