Eating Primal for 5months and Can't move my bowels, why? page

[acafer]

Can anybody give me some advice?
I have been eating Primal to a tee for 5 months I feel great, look great (lost 19 pounds) but my bowels are very sluggish. I maybe have a bowel movement once a week and it is not much. Funny thing is I am not blotted or gassy (which is awesome to finally get rid of). I eat tons of vegetables enough seeds and nuts and fat, good quality meat and eggs and berries as my fruit. I am also keeping myself hydrated. Exercising is not a problem everyday I am moving a lot.

Is this normal? I visited my GI doctor this week for a checkup (I have a history of SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth which is gone!) he was concerned about my new way of eating no grains and told me to add the grains back so I have more bulk to move my bowels. Now I do not know what to do. Do I add back the grains that make me feel like crap just so I can move my bowels more than once a week? I do feel like I need to go but nothing moves.
Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Amy

[WeldingHank]

I had the same issue at about the same amount of months (5). I added in some more fat in the form of olive oil, coconut oil, and butter and everything cleared right up in about a week. I think its a natural process of your gut healing from wheat/gluten to the higher fat. Now I'm once a day when I wake up and thats it.

[counterpuncher]

Agree with the fat suggestion.
Plenty of water will help keep things moving too, along with a reasonable amount of good carbs.
Don't know if you're a coffee drinker or not, but after I wake up in the morning, a few sips of black coffee sends me to the bathroom for a lifetime achievment crap every time, provided that I'm hydrated. Then I'm good for the rest of the day.
I go much better now without the grains, surprisingly.
I think that the grains used to bind me up more than anything else. After I stopped eating them, it was crap-fest 2012 for a couple of days before things settled down.

[InSearchOfAbs]

I just started back on 100% primal last Sunday and I'm experiencing the same thing,
but just like when I used to eat "zero carb", bathroom visits were the same.

I think your body assimilates "real food" way better than it does all those veggies/grains
and actually USES what you put into it, therefore, less output.

If you're not constipated and bloated (like you said you weren't) then count yourself FREE
FROM THE TOILET! HOORAY!

Twice a week is fine by me, that's for sure.

Think of all the money you're saving in toilet paper... snort.

Julie

[sbhikes]

I got a bit stopped up for a while. I took pro-biotic capsules with 8 different types of organisms for about a week or two and that seemed to help. It got better after that and continued to improve after stopping the capsules. Recently I went back to lower carb, higher fat and now I'm very very regular, regardless of how many vegetables I eat, some days it's more and some less, so perhaps fat is also a good cure.

[The Return of Dado]

Magnesium will move it!

[Credodisi]

Eat a little sauerkraut with active cultures like Bubbies.

[noodletoy]

I think your body assimilates "real food" way better than it does all those veggies/grains
and actually USES what you put into it, therefore, less output.

+1 on this. all those grains and seeds basically just scrape through you and pass out undigested. without them you re healing your guts and there is less volume available for out put.

Magnesium will move it!

+1 on this too. it's a mineral nearly in which all westerners are deficient. start at 500 mg and titrate up slowly til you are more regular.

for me, too many nuts could back me up also. i only have almonds once or twice per week now.

water, fats and cooked leafy greens.

[BobthePhotoGuy]

This is normal. You are eating real food that your body does a better job of processing.

Eating Primal means eating less fiber. (Fiber isn't digested, it basically just goes right through you. It is just poop filler.)

Bob

[Msilver]

If you don't feel bloated or crampy, then you might only need to go 2-3 times a week. When i was on the SAD I would go 2-3 times a day but ever since I went primal, I only need to go every other or every 2 days. I take this as my body burning at 95% efficiency.

P.S. Adding grains will help give you more bowel movements because your body is processing less of it. That's what Mark means by "anti-nutrients".