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Thread: New vegan with constipation

  1. #1

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    Default New vegan with constipation

    Hi all,

    I'm a new vegan (2 weeks in) and new to the forum, and have a question about constipation. So far, I've been absolutely loving veganism. I feel energized and have no cravings what so ever. Oddly enough, I often feel as if I could skip entire meals, though I don't.

    About 3 days into the change I had excellent and frequent movements, but on about the fourth day I've plugged up. I've been able to relieve it with "diet tea" which basically just gives me the runs first thing in the morning when I take it at night before bed. Is this normal? I eat plenty of fiber, and drink probably about half a gallon of water a day. Please help

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    Draíochta Blueberries's Avatar
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    Quote ahunt01 View Post
    Hi all,

    I'm a new vegan (2 weeks in) and new to the forum, and have a question about constipation. So far, I've been absolutely loving veganism. I feel energized and have no cravings what so ever. Oddly enough, I often feel as if I could skip entire meals, though I don't.

    About 3 days into the change I had excellent and frequent movements, but on about the fourth day I've plugged up. I've been able to relieve it with "diet tea" which basically just gives me the runs first thing in the morning when I take it at night before bed. Is this normal? I eat plenty of fiber, and drink probably about half a gallon of water a day. Please help
    Hi ahunt01, it could be that your fibre intake is mostly insoluable as opposed to soluable. This is the first article I could find about the different sources of fibre but I am sure that there is alot more info out there

    http://www.m.webmd.com/diet/features...-soluble-fiber
    Houmous atá ann!

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    Default Re: New Vegan with Constipation

    Hmm well I've been mostly following Rip's E2 eating suggestions, so I'm really packing in a lot of fruit and vegetable fiber...

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    Default Re: New Vegan with Constipation

    Hi ahunt01. It probably depends on what exactly your diet was like previously, but I would say please don't worry at this early stage.

    If your experience is anything like mine (without going into too much lurid detail ), your bowel movements will prove to be a bit of a white-knuckle ride for at least a month, maybe two, which makes sense to me, because your body has been accustomed to processing an entirely different kind of diet for a long time, and it has to make some pretty big adjustments now.

    You shouldn't feel physically ill, but you should maybe expect things to be a bit erratic for a while. Everything has completely balanced out for me now, so maybe it will be the same for you.

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    Default Re: New Vegan with Constipation

    Hi,

    Yeah my diet previously was atrocious, really really horrible. I'm wondering too if my system is so messed up with my previous food choices that it'll take my flora awhile to readjust to a healthy diet. If this is a normal part of the system shock of going instantly vegan, should I do something to help me with the constipation? I've been using "diet" tea, and it helps that day. Should I continue with that until things balance out?

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    Default Re: New Vegan with Constipation

    Well of course you should do what you feel is best, and if you feel the diet tea helps, then use that. It may not be long until you don't need to. It does sound like your body readjusting. It's like when a person stops smoking, they will often develop a terrible, heavy cough for a short time afterwards, i.e. they make a move towards a healthy lifestyle and are rewarded with an unhealthy condition! But it's only temporary, and I'm sure that similarly, so your problem will be too.

    That said, please consult your doctor if you're concerned - I am pretty sure there isn't a major problem, as there wasn't with me, but I am by no means an expert.

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    Default Re: New Vegan with Constipation

    Quote ahunt01 View Post
    Hi,

    Yeah my diet previously was atrocious, really really horrible. I'm wondering too if my system is so messed up with my previous food choices that it'll take my flora awhile to readjust to a healthy diet. If this is a normal part of the system shock of going instantly vegan, should I do something to help me with the constipation? I've been using "diet" tea, and it helps that day. Should I continue with that until things balance out?
    I was reading something the other day that said when you suddenly start eating very nutrient-dense foods, your body isn't used to this, so it will absorb as much as possible from that food in your intestines because it doesn't know when it will get nutrients like that again. What often happens, is that it keeps absorbing instead of just passing the stool through in a timely manner, so you can get constipated at first, but once your body adjusts, it should normalize.

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    Default Re: New Vegan with Constipation

    Hello,

    The body is pretty amazing how it handles changes in food. That's an interesting concept about the absorption. It's good to hear that this is temporary, and that it changes naturally. That was my main concern, and I didn't know if I should wait it out or keep dealing with it via mild natural laxatives until my body normized. I certainly don't want to see a doctor as I wouldn't want to take medication. And I doubt a my doctor would even agree with a vegan diet, I'm fairly certain he wouldn't actually.

    I think I'll stick with the laxative tea, keep drinking a lot of water, and bump up my green leafy consumption. Thanks all for the reassurance!

  9. #9
    zazu's Avatar
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    Default Re: New Vegan with Constipation

    Triphala is a blend of 3 Ayurvedic herbs that can really help with constipation (I've used it before with good results).

    If you have a health food store nearby, sometimes they sell it (just check that the capsules are vegan), or you can order it from Banyan Botanicals (http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/prod...sp?number=1051)

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    Default Re: New vegan with constipation

    Cool, thanks for the tip!

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