Healthy eating?????
I have decided to stop eating junk food and be healthy so I go to the gym everyday and eat loads of fruit and vegetables but I find I am getting stomache cramps and diarrea when I go to the loo. Is this normal?..Is my body just getting used to healthy eating or is it craving my junk based diet?
April 3rd, 2008 16:47
Some raw vegies such as lettuce and raw broccoli and raw spinache are very hard to digest and some people have problems with raw tomatoes and raw carrots. Stomach cramps are a common symptom of this problem.
Cooked vegies and cooked tomatoes are much easier to digest than the raw version. Broccoli soup and pasta with cooked tomato in it should be fine and cooked carrots and cooked spinache should be fine.
April 6th, 2008 11:23
How much fruits and vegetables are you eating? That may be the cause of your cramps and diarrhea because it contains fiber and fiber helps soften your stool and hold in the moisture (your colon will naturally absorb water from your stool, so fiber helps reduce the excess absorption). Your body doesn’t have the enzymes necessary to digest fiber, therefore the only way for any of it to break down (most of it doesn’t) is for the bacteria in your colon to eat it up. So if you have fiber sitting in your intestines, it will just ferment and fermentation creates gas. Therefore, you can end up with cramps.
I don’t suggest you stop eating fruits and vegetables but try eating less of it at first and gradually increase your intake, so your body can get used to your new diet. That way you won’t get cramps anymore. You should be getting anywhere from 25-35 grams of fiber per day, which comes from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (such as oatmeal, bran, or whole wheat bread/pasta). Be sure your fruits and vegetables are of all different colors because variety is important in order to get all the proper nutrients you need. Fiber is full of benefits…I’m not sure if your goal is to lose weight but if it is, fiber is a great thing because since it swells up when mixed with water, it will take up more room in your stomach, making you full faster and keeping you satisfied longer. If weight loss is not your goal, it’s still important to consume. So now that i’ve covered fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, be sure you’re consuming protein that’s low in saturated fat such as lean cuts of chicken, fish, or soy protein. Basically, you should be eating foods from each food group on the food guide pyramid.
A lot of people overeat without even realizing it. It’s ok to eat most foods as long as you keep the portion sizes under control. A portion of meat is 3 ounces which is about the size of a deck of cards. A medium sized piece of fruit is the size of a tennis ball. For many other things, a serving is just a half a cup, which is about the size of your palm. So try using that.
One last thing, it’s ok if you eat junk food every once in a while. Eating it once a week, won’t do much harm. Eating it just once a month, will have no affect on you at all. Like I said, it’s all about moderation. Again, if something in your diet is upsetting your stomach, you’re probably just not used to it yet so start out small and gradually eat more of it til you’re used to it.
I forgot to mention, if for some other reason you have an upset stomach (other than not being used to food), try to BRAT diet (eat bread, rice, apple sauce, and toast) because they don’t involve a lot of stomach activity. Ginger ale is good too because ginger helps settle an upset stomach.