Intestinal churning, gas, diarrhea... detox??

[Hanalei]

For the past few days, I have had a lot of churning-feeling in my intestines. It was accompanied by a few episodes of diarrhea, and it feels like there's a ton of air bubbles in my intestines. Is this detox-related? I've been raw for about 2 months and eat somewhere between 70-85% raw. How do I make the churning stop??

[Revvell]

Not enough information.

[Hanalei]

What do you need more info on?

I thought maybe it was a food allergy, so I stopped eating grain groats (oat/spelt/barley), which I had recently started eating. It didn't help. It finally improved dramatically yesterday over the course of the day, and is pretty much gone now. I also ate some non-raw oyster crackers and a few healthy (but not raw) banana bread muffins, since I read about eating a small amount of cooked food to slow down the detox when the symptoms get too bad. Since I wasn't sure if it was detox or not, I tried it, and I'm not sure if it was that which helped or if it just went away. I've had it off and on for the past few days, but yesterday and the night before that it was constant. It started getting really bad (cramping, churning) around 9:00 on Friday night. I woke up twice in the middle of night needing to use the bathroom (not pleasant), then again after I got up in the morning (not pleasant, either). That was pretty much the end of the diarrhea episodes. Then yesterday it just felt churny and upset all day until about 9:00 or 10:00 pm, when I decided I was tired of my body revolting against me, told myself it felt better and did a low-intesity workout, which I had missed the night before because it didn't feel good. I've pretty much felt fine since then, except that now I can't seem to go to the bathroom! Every time it's a false alarm. One extreme to the other...

I'd just like to know if it's detox related, and if so, how long it lasts, or if it's allergies so I know what not to eat any more of.

[qwerty988]

I get these episodes every few months or so. It's usually when my diet is very clean so there's more detoxing and weight loss going on.... which I see as positives..... so I usually just ride it out and it goes away by itself. If you've ever done an extended juice fast, your tolerance for these things increases and a few days of diarrhea doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore hahahaaaa!

When this happens I find it really soothing to have banana smoothies -- just bananas and water and ice all blended up, with maybe some vanilla or cinnamon. Also fresh ginger tea is really nice for these upsets.

Just make sure to stay hydrated and don't worry about it is my advice! :heart:

[aviatrix79]

What do you need more info on?

I thought maybe it was a food allergy, so I stopped eating grain groats (oat/spelt/barley), which I had recently started eating. It didn't help. It finally improved dramatically yesterday over the course of the day, and is pretty much gone now. I also ate some non-raw oyster crackers and a few healthy (but not raw) banana bread muffins, since I read about eating a small amount of cooked food to slow down the detox when the symptoms get too bad. Since I wasn't sure if it was detox or not, I tried it, and I'm not sure if it was that which helped or if it just went away. I've had it off and on for the past few days, but yesterday and the night before that it was constant. It started getting really bad (cramping, churning) around 9:00 on Friday night. I woke up twice in the middle of night needing to use the bathroom (not pleasant), then again after I got up in the morning (not pleasant, either). That was pretty much the end of the diarrhea episodes. Then yesterday it just felt churny and upset all day until about 9:00 or 10:00 pm, when I decided I was tired of my body revolting against me, told myself it felt better and did a low-intesity workout, which I had missed the night before because it didn't feel good. I've pretty much felt fine since then, except that now I can't seem to go to the bathroom! Every time it's a false alarm. One extreme to the other...

I'd just like to know if it's detox related, and if so, how long it lasts, or if it's allergies so I know what not to eat any more of.

I don't think it's detox. Probably either a stomach bug or IBS. You may have eaten something raw and didn't wash it properly. Or you could have irritated your bowls with too much grains and fiber and it caused inflammation. If you get these symptoms again, try having some mint tea. Just throw a few mint leaves into a mug and pour hot water over it. Steep it till the leaves sink to the bottom. It will soothe and calm your bowels. Chamomile tea is good for that too. As for slowing down a detox, you shouldn't jump into things like oyster crackers. If you ever think you're detoxing too fast, try lightly steaming some veggies and then go back to raw. Don't jump from one extreme to the other. If you're juice fasting and want to slow down the detox, have a spoonful of avocado or a really small piece of bread and let it melt in your mouth. These will slow down the detox but won't disrupt the fast as they're easily digested. If you get the runs again, try some turmeric mixed with water. It helps get rid of diarrhea and reduces inflammation.

Edit. Irritated your bowels, not your bowls :)

[GoodCat]

I hate when I irritate my bowls...lol.. That was cute :)

I agree with everyone.. Its hard to tell exactly what caused your issue, but try not to jump from one extreme to another like aviatrix was saying. Cooked grains can be especially hard on your system.

Cathy

[Revvell]

What do you need more info on?

If you came to me, I'd tell you to bring me a list of exactly what you ate; how long this has been going on; what illnesses you've had througout your years (could be a healing crisis); etc. You say you eat between 70 and 85% raw... what does that mean exactly?

Even with that information, no one can say exactly if it's detox related (pretty much always is as detox means eliminating what's bad in your system) or whatever else it might be OR, how long it'll last. It could be you ate too much cabbage. It could mean you used a cutting board or knife after you (or someone else) cut up some raw chicken. You could have eaten something from an expired package or carton of something or, something that was cooked and not put in the fridge after..... no clue!

[Hanalei]

It seems to have gone away, so I'm not sure what it was. My mom eats almost exactly the same things I eat every day (we are the only 2 raw eaters in our family, so we tend to just make enough for both of us), and it didn't bother her. Not sure if it was detox or maybe just my intestines are more easily upset? Either way, as of now, the churning is gone! :dance:

Could eating too much cereal (raw groats, grains, nuts and seeds make up about 80% of it) possibly be the cause? I always soak the groats overnight before using them, but one thing I've done since that episode was I pretty much cut out all of the groats for a few days and have just been using more fruit and other easily-digested foods in my cereal. I have used some grain flakes (they are apparently not raw, according to the health food store near me, but they are organic and unprocessed, other than being squished into a flake), as they seemed much softer than the groats. Do you think not having this cereal more than 2 or 3 days in a row might help prevent another churny-episode? Aviatrix mentioned eating too much grains, which spurred that thought.


By the way, 70-85% raw is my guesstimate of how much raw I eat... I try not to eat more than one or 2 small not-raw things a day (like today I had a homemade banana nut muffin.) Some days I'm 100% raw, except for store bought spices and such, and some days it's a little less, depending on what we were doing that day. Usually I try not to have more than part of a meal cooked. Typically, breakfast and lunch are 100% raw, night snack is 100% raw, but dinner may be half raw pasta and half homemade pasta, or something like that. I never have an entire meal that is all cooked, though. I think my body would totally flip out if I did that! I live in Michigan, and it's not very easy to find much produce (especially organic) for half the year. We do our best, though.

[Raw Angel Mom]

It could be a simple thing as food combining. Or not waiting long enough between the next meal.

Fruit has to be eaten on an empty stomach. I saw that you ate fruits. Make sure you digest fully before eating a fruit. I like them in the morning.

Cook food takes longer to digest. A raw meal can take up to 2 hours if this is very rich and gourmet. A fruit is typically half hour. This is like a truck driving slow and a fast car is coming behind, it will literally crashed. Same with a fruit and food that take longer to be digest.

Did you ever have this kind of problem prior to do raw food?

Grain are also hard to digest. Dr. Morse says that we cannot digest them but maybe because people tend not to chew enough.

I would eat until you are full at 80% no more. If you don't exercise in some sort, you may want to start, it release stress and ease digestion. Walk is ok

You should consider a detox for a little while to give a chance to your body to reset.

Look into also to food allergies.

All the best!

[aviatrix79]

It's difficult to know what the cause was, but whatever it was, something you ate told your brain to get your stomach to dump a whole heap of acid to get rid of it. The acid would have travelled through your intestines causing inflammation. If you continue to eat these grains, they add to the inflammation and also could be what's causing it... don't know. You'll have try and isolate the cause if it happens again and you can only really do that by fasting for a while and then adding one food back at a time. If you find out it's the cereal then fast again and then add back the cereal ingredients one at a time to see which one you react to. I wouldn't worry too much about it unless it happens again because it could be a number of things that caused it. Even though you and your mum eat the same thing, you could have been the unlucky one that had something bad in it. It's like eating a bunch of yummy grapes then having to spit out a bad sour one or a mouldy one. It happens sometimes. It could also be viral too... it could be anything. Just go easy on your system for a while and then really monitor what you're eating. If you're really concerned, then keep a diary of the things you eat to help you isolate the problem later... if it's in fact food related. Glad you're feeling better though.

[Hanalei]

Did you ever have this kind of problem prior to do raw food?

I would eat until you are full at 80% no more. If you don't exercise in some sort, you may want to start, it release stress and ease digestion. Walk is ok

You should consider a detox for a little while to give a chance to your body to reset.

Look into also to food allergies.


Nope, no issues before going raw. In fact, I really haven't added anything new into my diet since going raw. I've always loved fruits and veggies, and have never had an allergic reaction to any, and I've always been able to eat nuts and seeds with no problem.


So, even the grains weren't the issue, do they still cause inflamation because they're harder to digest? If so, is it a good idea just in general to not overdo it on the grains?

Honestly, thinking about it, the grains kind of make sense as being related to them somehow. I had slight churning for a couple of days off and on before it got really bad. I'd also had my cereal for breakfast several days in a row (including some grains at lunch the first day I had the churning). I've since cut them out, and it hasn't come back. I'll have to start a food log and keep an eye on that.