Digestive issues

[kweifei]

I am back on Atkins after losing 25pds 18 months ago.
In that time I went carb crazy so here I am ....

This time around I am suffering bloating, gas and digestive issues that I dont remember having before.

I drink about 5 L of water/day and take psyllium husks. What am I doing wrong??
How much fibre is too much fibre??

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

[Elizellen]

Why not post a list of what you are eating with amounts of everything to the 'review my menu' forum and let someone see what you are eating and comment?

[kweifei]

What I eat

Good idea
approx.

2 boiled eggs
3 cups mesculun (mixed salad) w/salad dressing
3 tablespoons cheese
assorted meat (chicken/ meatballs/ shrimp) usually about 1.5-2 cups
Atkins shake
Sometimes an Atkins bar
approx 5-6 Litres of water
psyllium husks fibre 2-3x / day


I know I am not to be eating the Atkins products during Induction but it has been 9 days and headaches and dizziness (I also get migraines) still appear.

[hulagrl1120]

if I am correct the shakes and bars have sugar alcohols which cause digestive problems for alot of us...dropping them should alleviate the problem

[soliwit]

At a certain point I also drank 5-6 liters of water, but for me that was too much, made me lightheaded and it seemed to wash out too much minerals.
So I cut down the water intake a bit.
Now I only drink 3-4 liters.
That together with getting rid of those shakes and bars should be sufficient to solve your problem.

[sadie147]

I agree as well that cutting out the sugar alcohols will help. I had this same problem my first month, till i found this board and learned what it was that was causing it!

As well...with psyllium husks you are supposed to build your way up to 3x a day. taking 2-3 tsps/tblsns at the beginning if you are new to taking it may be too much. you should start with a tspn a day for the first week, 2 for the second week etc to let your body adjust.

[kweifei]

Too much water...?

Thanks everyone.
I will def. give that a try.

I have been wondering if it is possible to be drinking too much water. I know that I am not going to get that sickness that the marathon runner get since I consume sodium etc but have found that I am waking in the night to go to the bathroom.

The problem is that I am actually thirsty. I am trying to limit myself to under 6L/ day...

[Sallyb]

Hello kweifei

I also have been a long distance runner and can understand what you say in regards to fluid intake needs, but this seems really extreme. Have
you always requuired so much water, could it be any other medical issue?

If you really feel that thirsty I would visit to doctor just to rule out anything.

I also get very bloated at the moment, usually towards the end of the day, and it really gets me down but I am taking antibotics which make me drink more than normal and also cause fluid retention, so I can just about deal with it.

Perhaps go without the psyllium husks for a day to identify if the bloating
could be as a result of them, any form of laxative can cause bloat and digestive disruption for some people, I'm one of them!

Without a doubt I'd also be sure to ban the bars!

Sally :hug

[joeschmo]

too much cheese and nuts can cause bloating due some sort of yeast growth in your stomach for some people. once i cut them out i felt much better, you can still eat mozerella though since it is the one cheese that wont promote yeast.

also i would suggest trying ground flax meal instead of psylum husk, personally i've found it to far superior then pyslum and its a healthy addition to your diet as well since its very high in omega 3s.

[kweifei]

Flax meal

Thanks for the suggestion.

What do you do with with the groung flax meal? Is it consumed mixed in water?

I must have read that it was good last time I did Atkins because I have a bag of it in my freezer but have been wondering what to do with it.

[soliwit]

I use it as a morning-cereal:
ground flax, about 2 tbsp, together with 2 tbsp of heavy cream and about 6 tbsp of water and a little butter, mix it and put in the microwave on quite low for half a minute (I dunno if it would be the same overthere but I put mine on 40%)
I really love that for a quick breakfast

another one:
flax-crackers: take 2 tbsp of the ground flaxseed, put a bit of water in so you get a doughlike substance, take some bakingpaper and smear the flax on it with the back of a spoon in a few evenly formed patches, microwave on highest for 2 minutes and check if it is totally dried, else give it another minute.
Peel from the paper and you have crackers.

Well normally I tell people to drink enough water when using flaxseeds, but I guess I won't need to tell you that

[kweifei]

Flax meal crackers

Hi Soliwit,
Thanks so much for the tips- I just saw the crackers suggestion and had to try it right away. I am nibbling on them now- and it is brilliant!

I didn't have baking paper so I used a plate and they turned out okay.
Of course I added some salt and put butter on afterwards.

Thanks again!

[joeschmo]

my favorite way to add flax meal is mixing into some of the danon low carb yogurt for a quick breakfast. sometimes i'll toss some on top of a salad. also good when combined with parmesan to make a bread crumb substitute for lightly fried food, just use egg to bind it to the meat and it works great(made an awesome chicken parmesan with this technique last night.

i also highly recomend Low Carb Success brand granola snack, little pricey but the cinnimon nutrageous flavor is friggin awesome, its marketed under flax'o meal or flax z snack, comes in at just one net carb per serving and has 4g of flax. i found it at GNC, if you see it definately give it a try, by far one of the best low carb products i've found.

lasty start spareingly with the flax, i usually just add around a heaping teaspoon or so to meals, like i mentioned before i found the flax to be far more effective then psylum, in my experiance a little goes a long way.

[Elizellen]

my favorite way to add flax meal is mixing into some of the danon low carb yogurt for a quick breakfast.

But not on induction I assume as yogurt doesnt come back as allowed till the Dairy rung of OWL.

i also highly recomend Low Carb Success brand granola snack

Have you read the ingredients list of this?
It contains pecans, almonds, wheat bran, flax seed, oats
so not suitable till you are on the Grains rung of OWL.
:no

[soliwit]

Re: Flax meal crackers

Hi Soliwit,
Thanks so much for the tips- I just saw the crackers suggestion and had to try it right away. I am nibbling on them now- and it is brilliant!

I didn't have baking paper so I used a plate and they turned out okay.
Of course I added some salt and put butter on afterwards.

Thanks again!

Hmmmm, yes I love it also with butter or how about eggsalad, cheese, well anything atkinsproof.
Als very nice is to put some cinnamon in the mixture before baking it, makes it a real treat !
Or indeed put some parmesan in the mixture and you got a cheese-cracker.