Question For Your Learned Folks?

[commoncents]

Why is it when I eat nuts (I'm talking 1/4 cup in a morning smoothie) or coconut oil (I'm talking 2 tablespoons also in said smoothie), my stomach gets big and bloated--the exact opposite of what I'm trying to achieve--but I get on the scale and i'm actually losing weight? Will this change with time? This is so very discouraging and making me want to shy away from these foods.

[yogashmoga]

how long have you been raw? i noticed bloating (and gas...eeww...sorry for the overshare) in the first month and a half or so of going raw. i think my body just needed to adjust to the lifestyle. i'm not exactly "learned," but i hope that helps :).

[eachpeachpearplum]

Yes your body does need to aclimate to the newer foods. Did you soak your nuts - really helps with bloating. Also if you still have old cooked build up in your intestine these new foods will have a harder time getting "out" than when your clean internally. A colon cleans can really help here. I promise it does even out although I still toot all the time - but with no odor!

Cheers,

EPPP

[RawSinger]

how long have you been raw? i noticed bloating (and gas...eeww...sorry for the overshare)

Lol, just wait. You haven't heard over-sharing yet :P

[TaupeRawMan]

In addition to soaking, you might want to try some enzymes with them....

[commoncents]

I feel much better. I have been off and on RAW (more on) since January and re-committed to 100% RAW on August 1th. I do not soak the nuts for the smoothies. When I originally went RAW, I did not have this problem, but I think mixing in the cooked foods over the months has caused this issue.

I will watch the nut and oil intake, but will continue to enjoy them, as I really do and would feel deprived at this point to give them up.

Thanks again. You all are the greatest Learned Folks I know.

[commoncents]

In addition to soaking, you might want to try some enzymes with them....


Could you explain what you mean by enzymes? I'm a RAW Foods Idiot. (Tee, hee.)

[RawHeaven]

I will watch the nut and oil intake, but will continue to enjoy them, as I really do and would feel deprived at this point to give them up.

Thanks again. You all are the greatest Learned Folks I know.

I'm just curious commoncents why would you feel deprived if you let them go?

What helped me completely overcome gas & constipation issues was completely giving that stuff up and eating raw. Fasting and drinking green juices helped a lot too. Just my experience of course. My physical health comes before my emotions now and not the other way around. :)

[RawHeaven]

Could you explain what you mean by enzymes? I'm a RAW Foods Idiot. (Tee, hee.)

I know you aren't asking me and TaupeRawMan will answer, but I think it's a reference to probiotics or digestive enyzmes. ??

[coco]

proper food combining can really help with bloating. nuts and fruits aren't that terrific of a combo. maybe try them, soaked, on their own and see how you feel.

[Ilse W.]

I want to eat to live, not the other way around. Therefore, I listen to my body. If anything causes bloating, gas, indigestion, etc. I give it up. Sometimes it's hard to tell, which of the ingested foods is causing the problem. That's why it's a good idea to mono eat until you can pinpoint the offender. When you do eat different foods together, you must pay attention to proper food combining. There are several sources for the information you need, for example Ann Wigmore's books.
A lot of times our bodies have become sensitive to a particular food over the many years of abuse. Taking the food out of the diet lets your body heal. After a considerable amount of time, sometimes months or more, you can slowly add the food back into your diet without any negative effects.

[Zella Juice]

maybe it's the nuts mixed with the fruit. Try eating them on their own. Your body may be steering you toward a more mono eating. Or at least keep the fruits separate from the nuts and seeds. Etc.

[commoncents]

I'm just curious commoncents why would you feel deprived if you let them go?

What helped me completely overcome gas & constipation issues was completely giving that stuff up and eating raw. Fasting and drinking green juices helped a lot too. Just my experience of course. My physical health comes before my emotions now and not the other way around. :)

RAWHaven: In answer to your question: I prepare many dishes with nuts that I truly enjoy. If I had to give them up completely, I would feel deprived and would have a much harder time remaining RAW.

[commoncents]

I know you aren't asking me and TaupeRawMan will answer, but I think it's a reference to probiotics or digestive enyzmes. ??

Thank you RawHaven. I will check them out. I think that may be of great help to me.

[commoncents]

proper food combining can really help with bloating. nuts and fruits aren't that terrific of a combo. maybe try them, soaked, on their own and see how you feel.


Great!!!! Thank you Coco. That makes alot of sense.

[commoncents]

Thank you EmmaT. Great information!!!!

[commoncents]

maybe it's the nuts mixed with the fruit. Try eating them on their own. Your body may be steering you toward a more mono eating. Or at least keep the fruits separate from the nuts and seeds. Etc.


Thanks Zella Juice. I will give it a try. I think this might work for me.

[tammay]

It could even be the type of nuts you're eating. Do you vary them or eat a specific kind with your smoothie? I have no problem with most nuts but a few years ago discovered that I was alergic to hazelnuts. I've never had an allergy of any kind in my life so it was pretty shocking but you can't ignore the kind of painful gas after eating something specific, can you :D? I found out recently that this is family related - a cousin of my mom's is allergic to them too...

Tam

[petaltothemetal]

Enzymatic makes great enzymes. Although they are more expensive than the bromelain/papain type, they are the only ones that work for me. And their formulas are vegan. V-gest and Lipo are both really good.

I have to soak my nuts before using them. All nuts and seeds contain an enzyme inhibitor naturally (so the nut/seed won't sprout until the conditions are right for it to grow) and soaking removes this inhibitor so you can digest the nut/seed. Primitive people soaked their nuts and seeds, and you can find references in the Bible for soaking them and also grains. Soaking isn't so inconvenient, just get in the habit of starting some soaking the morning before you plan to make a recipe in the evening or the night before you make it in the morning.

[commoncents]

It could even be the type of nuts you're eating. Do you vary them or eat a specific kind with your smoothie? I have no problem with most nuts but a few years ago discovered that I was alergic to hazelnuts. I've never had an allergy of any kind in my life so it was pretty shocking but you can't ignore the kind of painful gas after eating something specific, can you :D? I found out recently that this is family related - a cousin of my mom's is allergic to them too...

Tam

Tammay: I'm finding that this is happening when I eat cashews. I do not get the same reaction when I eat other nuts.

[brownies]

I agree that mixing nuts & fruits might be part of the problem. basically the only thing that should be eaten with fruits is greens.
That said, I DO use almond milk in my morning smoothies and don't seem to have any ill effect. I think it really depends on the individual. Try a few different things and see what works best for you.

[commoncents]

Thank you peta. That is an excellent idea. Just have to get into the routine of soaking my nuts. Not hard at all.

[cherries]

Fresh fruit takes about 20-30 minutes to go through your stomach, seeds take a much longer time. The ripening process is actually a pre-digestion process so nothing digests faster than fresh fruits. So the fruit is held up by the seeds and ALSO subjected to the stomach acids that are designed for digesting the seeds and that causes bloating. I think dried fruit and seeds go great together though, I don't think dried fruits digest very fast.

[coco]

mmm, cashews aren't raw, even the ones labelled "raw", unless you are buying them specifically from a raw food site. that may have nothing to do with your discomfort though.
i think not mixing nuts together is a good idea too, only one kind of nut at a time. i have also read that it is best to only have one protein dominant food in a day, so if you have nuts for breakfast that would be the only protein food for that day (no other nuts, seeds, sprouted legumes etc).

the enzyme inhibitors don't affect our digestion, or so says the latest research. sorry i can't link you to that directly, one of the science-heads on rawfoodsupport posted it.
the reason to soak nuts, seeds and grains is to wash away tannins and oxalic acid, and to activate the enzymatic process that increases nutrients in the nut/seed/grain etc. the idea that enzyme inhibitors on those things is detrimental to digestion is old science that has since been disproven so far as i know.