Quote:
Originally Posted by MadProfessor
Thank you very much for your explanation, I didn't know that. And is the source of this water retention on hi-carb fruit/vegs diet known? Salt is surely not the case for me, I'm on 95% RV + eggs and sushi. And every time I eat some fruits, it makes go to the toilet, so the water in my body doesn't rise.
Apparently the mechanism by which digestion needs more water for carbs is well-understood, because it's often explained in very technical terms in some of the low-carb books. Personally, I'm not much of a precision learner (which is why I transferred out of nursing and into psychology), so that everything I learned in college and graduate school chemistry and biology, I've forgotten (if it was ever retained after semester was over).
So while I have a vague understanding of why carbohydrate ingestion requires more water, I couldn't explain it to save my life. I can't think of a book title that I could guarantee explains the biochemical process, but I suspect Gary Taube's book "Good Calories, Bad Calories," might.
If I run across anthing, I'll post a link.
As for fruit, there's probably another explanation there. Some folks are very sensitive to fruit sugars, which can cause diarrhea (and therefore water loss, even to the point of dehydration).
This isn't universal. Some people are sensitive to all fruits, and others are sensitive to only some. In my case, I'm sensitive to some and not others.
I digest apple and citrus very well (no unusual bathroom habits), but if I eat more than one small pear or plum, yikes it gives me an idea of what dysentery must feel like.
I've read that in some cases, these effects are temporary and a result of exposure. The more often you eat a particular fruit, the less severe effects will be over time. I've noticed this to some small degree with Ranier and Queen Anne Cherries (yellow cherries with a red blush).
Every season (usually three to four weeks) around mid-July, I eat tons of these cherries and suffer for it (I don't leave the house, because I know I'm going to eat enough to make me slightly sick).
At the end of the season, I can tolerate the cherries better than at the beginning AND each year I seem to be able to eat more without ill effect.