Bloating from veggies?
 

I'm not a vegetarian, but I only eat seafood, (no nothing that quacks, moo's or oinks). LOL...

My question is this...since I've upped my consumption of veggies, and I'm on a low carb diet, I noticed that my stomach gets really big at the end of the day. This just happened again yesterday. I looked 4 months pregnant. Really. The weight is dropping, but my belly just sticks out more than normal on days I eat more veggies.

I ate mostly veggies, some eggs in the morning, 1/4 cup steel cut oats, frozen veggies, fish, and salad stuff.

This morning, my stomach went down a bit. Could it be from the veggies that make me look bloated?

Does anyone else get a bloated belly on a low carb veggie diet?

Btw, my protein consumption is just fine, I'm actually eating more protein grams than required on my 30-40-40 diet.

Thanks for reading!

Yes, it's most likely the veggies....ones like broccoli, cabbage etc are the worst offenders. They give off gases as they're broken down in your digestives system, which cause bloating, and in some cases slightly more antisocial bodily noise :P

Make sure you up your water intake, and eat something alkaline at the en of the day.

Bella--Thanks, I suspected it could be the broccoli, I had about 1 cup yesterday. But I didn't experience that much gas. The other thing I noticed is that I don't feel full off of a small portion of veggies, so I have to eat like a large portion of it. Maybe the volume of veg is what's making my stomach stick out so much. The calories are low though, so that's a good thing.

Yeah, I had the same problem last week and ended up a little, er, 'backed up'! With a massive and sudden increase in fibre and only drinking the recommended water of the SAD, things ground to a halt for 2 whole days!! Won't be making that mistake again. Was soooo bloated and uncomfortable!!

Hope you're feeling better now!

This happens to me all the time! I suspect it is the large amount of water rich vegetables. Salad never fails in making me look and feel stuffed beyond comfort. If I drink more water than usual it will happen too. Maybe it is because your body isn't used to the large volume and it will eventually (a week?) ease up. Afterall, I don't see anyone gaining more weight while dieting with lotsa vegetables. Add some cardio and see if that helps reduce the bloat!? I honestly know how crappy that feeling is so I'm sympathetic. Just keep at it, your diet looks pretty good. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Yeah, the water rich veggies is what's causing this. Also the water rich fruits. My stomach only looks 4 months pregnant after eating a huge salad, and meals with lots of veg at the end of the day.

This went away after a day, and maybe I was just a bit "backed up" as Bella83 mentioned.

I'm just happy that it goes away quickly, the next day, and I'm losing weight despite the pregnant look. So for anyone else experiencing the pregnant look, just wait a day or so and it will go away. But keep eating the veggies.

I'd rather eat these veggies than refined or processed carbs that just "sit" in my system!

Also, I noticed that broccoli is not a problem. I'm not gassy. I guess I have enough enzymes to break it down. However some cheeses (like cheddar), milk and ice cream will give me gas, and I do feel bloated after consuming those. I'm lactose sensitive.

I've just eaten a plate of steamed spinach...oh dear!

I think spinach is ok by the bag full. For sure calorie wise, it's so low. You'll digest it easily no problem.

I eat the same way, and have the same issues, lol.. It goes away pretty quick though! :)

Random question, I was wondering what kind of dressing you use for salad? I try to eat lots of salad but I never like the dressings (if their diet approved). Any suggestions? Thanks!

Try Trader Joe's Light Champagne Vinaigrette Dressing. It's 50 cals for 2 Tablespoons. Or Trader Joe's Raspberry Vinaigrette, also low cal.

I also like Light House's Gorgonzola Champagne Pear Vinaigrette Dressing. It's low cal and tastes good.

All of the above taste great with some feta cheese, sliced almonds, and sliced strawberries/blueberries.

Have fun w/ these suggestions!

Thank you! I found one earlier today that I'll use for my lunch. Annie's Naturals Red Wine and Olive Oil. Hope it is good! I would love to try to TJ's Light Champagne Vinaigrette! I just moved to KC, MO and haven't found one near me yet :/ How is your tummy feeling now? Diet going well?

Quick update...I've found that the bloatedness can be due to water retention and having very fibrous veggies (like kale). I didn't realize that eating too much veg can cause water retention too. With all that fiber, you have to drink water in order for it do go down and digest. And with more water, well the swelling continues.

Lately, I have sort of cut back on the veg and found a good balance between veg and other things like cottage cheese, brown rice pasta, and lean cuts of meat. Just eating veggies all the time really makes my stomach stick out. Part of it also has to do with not feeling completely full from veggies, and then having to eat more veggies. However a meal balanced with veggies and protein and grains makes me satiated.

Anyhoo...that's conclusion I made from my bloated veggie stomach problem!

I'm wondering this too. Two days ago the doctor told me to eat only 10% fat due to suspected gallstones, and yesterday involved rather more fruit and veg than usual as I tried to get enough calories into me. Now admittedly I'd been on codeine the day before, which generally leaves me constipated the next morning, but even so I don't usually end up spending the next day with my stomach gurgling and madly gassy. This morning I hopped on the scale and I'm 1.4lb up! I dived straight into the low-fat side of things since I'd had a pretty nasty day of it with abdominal pain, but now I'm wondering whether I should reduce my fat intake (and thus increase the fruit and veggies to compensate for the calories) more gradually.

I'm not a nutritionist or doctor, but if the doctor suggested a type of diet or foods to eat or avoid due to your possible gallstones, please adhere to the recommendations. We all need fat for our health, and reducing your fat intake from an already low fat diet, may cause problems too. I do know this fact though...bile is secreted by your gallbladder in order to help with the digestion of fats (emulsification of fat). If you don't have that much fat in your diet, less bile is secreted, and thus your less of your gallbladder will be functioning since it has less of a need to secrete bile. Your possible gallstone problem can be remedied the natural way too. If you look up websites on "gallstone flush" you'll see things that you can eat to ease the problems you experience if it is in fact due to gallstones.

Gallstone flushes are a scam, I'm afraid.

I think I must have phrased my last post badly: I wasn't planning to reduce my fat intake lower than 10%, I was talking about reducing it slowly *to* 10%! I rang the surgery two days later to check up on this 10% fat thing, and asked the GP I spoke to (a different one) whether they really meant me to avoid all nuts, seeds, oils, tofu, soya milk and so forth (I'm vegan, so I'm already off animal fats). She sounded surprised and said, "Of course not," after saying earlier that they tell everyone to have 10% of their calories from fat. Once she realised what 10% actually meant, she said that it was probably 10% of calories from *saturated* fat then, and that I certainly shouldn't need to drop that low and should just eat my usual diet, that the previous doctor had been wanting me to stay off fried and greasy foods (which I don't eat, and which is not quite the same as telling someone they have to go so low-fat they have to worry about the fat content of three spoonfuls of oats in their breakfast). In other words, they don't actually understand basic nutrition. Thankfully neither of these was my regular GP, who's on holiday this week.

I posted about this in the general support forum (think it's on page 2 now), and have gone for about 19% fat as a manageable target, 20-25g, calculcated from what the father of someone here who had gallstones was advised. As you say, gallstones can also be caused by insufficient fat in the diet. I was on about 26% fat before, which is a perfectly reasonable amount. That said, I'd had a bit more fat recently as someone had suggested to me that maybe I needed more to help with hormonal disruption, so if it is gallstones, that could be what set off the last attack. The ultrasound is booked for ten days' time.

The bloating and gas, by the way, was quite likely caused by the omeprazole the first doctor also put me on in case the problem is stomach acid. I really should know better than to believe a doctor who says that a drug doesn't have side effects by now. He's lost quite a few brownie points between that, the 10% fat business, and completely failing to tell the ultrasound folks that I need large print after promising to do so. He was a perfectly nice doctor, though, and the examination was fine.