Ouch! What to consume and how when bloated?

[RawFeelsGood]

I must admit, caffeine is my weakness and unfortunately, it's been tough to avoid coffee (less than half a cup a day) and some chocolate on a daily basis over the past week or two. I've become very bloated as it doesn't agree with me. Any advice on what to eat or how to handle this and get rid of it ASAP?

[Revvell]

I've become very bloated as it doesn't agree with me.

As Richard Schulze says... the way to heal is to stop doing what's causing the problem.

I'm not clear what you mean by "tough to avoid".... drink something else; eat something else that agrees with you.

I'm confused, obviously.

[MysticTree]

It's just something you have to work through and giving up the coffee and chocolate will help. Also take a look at what foods you are eating in combination. Bad combining will make bloating worse.

[RawFeelsGood]

Yes, I've been doing some research on food combining. But is there anything in the immediate time I can do? I took an antacid which has helped with the acid reflux, but I'm still very bloated and, excuse me, but constipated.

As for coffee, everyone at the clinic where I work drinks it and I'm not an early morning person, so it's the only thing that keeps me going in the morning. I've tried green juices and smoothies, but they're not enough unfortunately. I'm trying to quit and I'm glad I've reduced the quantity immensely.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Yes, I've been doing some research on food combining. But is there anything in the immediate time I can do?

l am not sure, but try blending sprouted grains with sprouted beans. That is a good mixture for keeping cravings away. Also try getting more minerals in the diet via kelp and more phyto-nutrients via wheatgrass. lt's not convenient but it may be a solution. Try it. Remember: phyto-nutrients are our friend and always will be.

[EscapeArtist]

I must admit, caffeine is my weakness and unfortunately, it's been tough to avoid coffee (less than half a cup a day) and some chocolate on a daily basis over the past week or two. I've become very bloated as it doesn't agree with me. Any advice on what to eat or how to handle this and get rid of it ASAP?


Do you want to stop drinking coffee and eating chocolate? If so, I find that the symptoms are usually what originally forces us through the difficulty of going without it. Maybe letting the symptoms be will make it more tempting to remove these food/drink items.

Sometimes when I had cures to my symptoms from food, I would find something that worked to at least help a little bit with the symptoms. For instance, for the fatigue I had I would start drinking tea to wake me up at work. Then, when I wanted to go back to that damaging food item, I often felt that I knew that it wasn't going to hurt as much as it 'should' so I can probably eat it and get through it the next day, and I had troubles going off of anything until I found a problem that had immediate symptoms that just could not be avoided. Just a thought!

Oh, and this is my second day tea-free :) It is so difficult to go to work without caffeine but it will be worth it.

[RawFeelsGood]

Thanks for the feedback! Yes, I've tried this technique. I've quit coffee before and stuck to green tea (which is fine in my system) and yerba mate, but no matter how hard I try, it is very difficult for me to be a morning person, so these are often not enough to keep me going. To be fair though, I only drink about 1/3 a cup mixed with almond milk so it won't be as hard on my stomach, but it's caught up to me.

It's a vicious cycle - I quit using teas, but eventually end up back on caffeine. I do want to quit coffee, but I will always allow myself a piece of chocolate once in awhile (not everyday!)

I ate plenty of fiber-rich fruit and chia seeds today. They are slowly starting to help, but the pain has yet to subside. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight

Further thoughts? Thanks for your help sp far! Much appreciated!

[MysticTree]

As for coffee, everyone at the clinic where I work drinks it and I'm not an early morning person, so it's the only thing that keeps me going in the morning.

Before going raw I would drink between 3 and 6 litres of diet coke a day. I gave it up on day one of raw. I had a headache for two, maybe three days. After that I felt better than I ever have when drinking coke.

I read in a paper recently that coffee doesn't "wake us up" in the morning. I'll try to google that finding a little later.

As to constipation, one of the main causes of that I believe is not drinking enough water. As well as that, make sure you are eating sprouted grains/seeds - buckwheat works well for me and it is not unlike a cooked grain in texture - and water-rich fruits but not at the same meal!

There are going to be symptoms to work through as you body adjusts to the new diet. It is so worth it though and unless you come out the other side of that adjustment, you won't realise how easy it can be to live without the crutches you had before.

[Jasminemarie]

The best thing you can do for your health is educate yourself with the correct information. Through many years of research I can safely say that the book titled 'conscious health' by Ron Garner is an absolute winner. Also 'the 80/10/10 diet' by Doug Graham is good too. In the mean time just try fasting for even 24 hours. Give your digestive system a break! Try apple juice to wake up and just so you know, caffeine doesn't actually wake you up. The feeling of 'energy' we get from consuming caffeine is actually our body reacting to the substance, in an attemp to get it OUT of our system because it is a poison. I am a barrista and very passionate about making coffee for the millions.... But I don't drink it. I just went cold turkey once I knew just how it really is. You could also try carob instead if chocolate. I make some absolutely DELUCIOUS carob and date and nut treats that sort out my sweet cravings no worries! I'm happy to share any recipes! Best of luck.

[Raw Angel Mom]

I must admit, caffeine is my weakness and unfortunately, it's been tough to avoid coffee (less than half a cup a day) and some chocolate on a daily basis over the past week or two. I've become very bloated as it doesn't agree with me. Any advice on what to eat or how to handle this and get rid of it ASAP?

Don't worry, when the timing is right and you feel good about it you will quit on your own.

What i suggest to avoid bloating for now is to put enough space between food before you eat something else. Wait to fully digest first. CHEW, digestion start in the mouth, if you skip this step, your food will ferment in your gut undigested properly.

Maybe, you want to consider to do a detox. The best that have worked good for me, is from simplyraw.ca She offer coaching but you can do that on your own with the book. Perhaps, you could find someone willing to do this with you. Also, rawgardendiet are starting a cleansing July 4th i believe. I might try their program.

When you do something like this, it gives a break and a great deal of chance for your body to heal.

The only way that work for me to quit coffee after many attempt of keep trying to quit for two years, was to simply start to feel my emotion. I discovered that i would drink coffee mainly at work and also when i was bored. I transition the coffee with teccino (herbal coffee). It is important to learn from each attempt of quitting. One main lesson for me was to respect the fact that i couldn't make exception and i had to get ride of coffee for good. I have been coffee free for 11 years now and not missing any of it. Green smoothie is my coffee now, lol...

Anyway, don't give up and be proud of you. You keep trying and you will figure out what works for you.

All is well!

[RawFeelsGood]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I've been raw for over a year now, but coffee has been the one thing I take in and out of my diet all the time. It's my one weakness, which makes me human. I will take a look at those books (I've read one of them). I have quit coffee before for a long period of time, so I know I can quit again. : )

Anyway, I had to go to the clinic yesterday as I had trouble breathing and developed chest pains. It was a bad stomach bug as I spent most of yesterday evening and the night in the washroom. I'm feeling better, but I'm sleeping a lot to recover from the weakness and making fresh electrolyte-filled drinks to replace what I have lost.

Acidic foods are out of my diet now. I used to have severe acid reflux years ago, but it came back due to the constipation. The food couldn't reach my stomach very well because there wasn't any space for it.