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Digesting veggies

Kristin251

Expert
Messages
5,334
Location
US
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
who else has troubles digesting veggies?

Which ones if any in particular.

I just always seem to bloat and have tummy troubles. I do better with dinner but still need small amount.

No issues with fat or proteins.

Maddening as I love them all but can't live in a chronic state of bloat!
 
It's funny - I'd not considered the question at all until you posted. Heh.

Truth is, I struggle more with cooked veg than I do raw. Perhaps it's the type of veg - I tend to roast peppers, courgettes, brown onions, garlic (the occasional illicit parsnip), even sprouts and cauliflower, and I do tend to feel a bit bloaty (and farty!) for some hours after.

On the other hand, stuff I eat raw - lettuce, olives, red onions, also peppers, sweetcorn, cucumber etc... leaves me feeling actually kind of "clean" - full but not overly, and certainly not like I'm bloated.

I also wonder whether it's the time of day I eat - roasts tend to leave me eating fairly late in the evening (7 - 8pm), whereas a salad I'll stuff my face with any time and often have an earlier dinner (4 - 6pm).

Interesting question, and I'll certainly be keeping an eye on this since you asked!
 
I love my veg but some of it doesn't like me anymore. The veg I have problems with are quite random - celery, brown onions (I'm fine with red onions), green round cabbage (again, I'm fine with red cabbage), certain types of crisper or coarser lettuce and cucumber skin (I'm fine with peeled cucumber). All very strange because I didn't used to have any problems with veg at all.
 
I have a harder time with cooked and too much lettuce. A lettuce wrap with protein is fine but a whole salad is not. Especially hearty greens. Anything with thick skins and seeds is out.
Broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts only about a tablespoon. Hardly worth cooking. Two asparagus spears is ok haha.
Raw celery radish and muchrooms ok.
NO garlic especially powdered. I do use garlic extra virgin olive oil often with no issues. Onions in small amounts

It's just frustration. The only things that are always good are avoacado and protein. Some nuts and pumpkin seeds. The rest are wild cards
 
My gastro chap told me to stay away from tomatoes and onions.
As I have chronic problems with meat, pasta, bread I have to eat veg but only mushy veg, nothing leafy like cabbage or lettuce.

Asparagus can be ok, aubergine, butternut, cauli and courgette, swede and carrots. Nothing too stringy like runner beans, celery or leeks. Asparagus i have only just introduced so experimenting with this.

I have to have broccoli everyday for iron.

I get chronic bloating like a 9 month pregnant lady within 4 hours of having bad foods. Chronic, chronic pain.
 
Very interesting green vs red cabbage. Hm...do you cook it or raw ? I'd love some cole slaw!!!
Interesting with onions as well. I e never compared the two. Will do
I do best with Boston/Bibb lettuce as it's generally softer and makes for good wraps. I even have to be careful with romaine hearts. One leaf is enough.
I just got sick of being bloated and gassy ( if it would come out that would be ok but it doesn't. Sorry TMI)

They seem to make me hungry too. Something's not right.

The other afternoon I had to take insulin so of course I had to eat something so I made a SMALL salad as a snack and out a mayo based spicy sauce on it. No avocado or protein. I blew up, gassy and ravenous and fat gorgy
After 1/2 an avocado and a handful of nuts I was better but still bloated.

No wonder I have an aversion these days.
 
I feel your pain. I lived in pain for years. Too many raw veggies and fruit I think.
Carrots would probably be ok but too high carb to be able to eat enough to get any nutrients.

Have you tried just meat/ fish and fat without veg? I think too many ingredients in one meal doesn't always work.

I do find FODMAPS to be close. I also think I have SIBO from antibiotics years ago. And if course we are t getting any younger!
 
I wonder if it's a fibre issue? I don't know how much is in what off the top of my head, but here's my thinking -

- Some veg we eat raw, and they're tasty just like that. Salad veggies, eg
- Some veg we cook to make them taste better, and they're otherwise fairly soft - aubergines, mushrooms etc
- Some veg we need to cook to soften them up as eating them raw is far more work! Carrots, cabbage, brown onions (I know, coleslaw!)
- That some veg needs to be softened suggests (in my brain) that they have a higher fibre content.
- Fibre is useful in the gut, as an aid to digestion (among other things).
- Maybe the bloated feeling is from our guts not... somehow dealing well with a sudden influx of fibre?

Particularly if we're high-protein people, it might be that we need to "retrain" our guts to adapt to more fibrous foods, but this process - as we all know - isn't a fun one!

It's a theory - completely unbased in science and only a little nutritional knowledge.
 
I completely agree with fiber. I have NEVER difested fiber well and have tried to retrain my gut to no avail. As I'm getting younger it's even worse. Things like flax or chia seeds bloat me just thinking about them.

What's very weird is avocado is full of fiber and I never have issues with them. Could be the difference between soluble and insoluble.

I used to steam asp or broc to death and then blend it and still had issues. I think high surfer veg cause issues for lots of people.

Somehow I just think if I'm bloating and rocking my gut boat that my body is trying to tell me something. When I'm bloated everything is messed up. Bs higher, can't sleep if it's at night, moody, low energy.
I have such a limited menu but I love my food. Veggies are lots of work too!!

These days I just defrost some protein and have a wedge of avocado and all is well. No fuss no muss haha. I just feel I SHOULD be eating veggies and I love them but if my body rebels that can't be good. Right?

So much to contemplate!
 
Not so much digesting but always have virus like symptoms on too much veg.
For thyroid health I have to avoid kelp and raw vegtables.
I really don't enjoy them. Loose tum on them too.
 
Flaxseeds make me vomit, numerous times. Never again.
 
ickihun said:
Flaxseeds make me vomit, numerous times. Never again.
Click to expand...
It's weird as pumpkin seeds are fine though I don't eat a handful, just a few pinches a day. I think I'm looking for the salt. Same with Macs but those chia sludge and flax are horrid. Although thinking about it I'm no good with veggies seeds either like cucumber or zucchini even if I peel and deseed. Shame as I love cucumbers. Especially on guac!
 
I believe my small vegtable eating is better than none but I have started multivitamins in anticipation of bariatric surgery and vitd3 too.
I'm not pushed with vegtables in my new hospital eating plan. Just told can eat as many as we like to bulk out meals to fit appetite.
My appetite is low on good bgs. Long may it stay the same!
My advise is don't blend veggies hun, it activates the sugars/carbs. I stay away from soups but well cooked veg stir-fry is a winner for me.
 
I never blend meat. I only use the blender for my mushroom gravy. Haha

Believe it or not I've never even blended avocado! I'm afraid it would digest too fast as you said. I just eat whole food in quantities I can.
 

Oh yes, tried just meat... fish not keen on but can manage a couple teaspoons if poached or mushy.. meat is too fibrous even if cooked in stews.

Tested for sibo and consultant said he put my good results down to my oil of oregano each day.

Dont really like carrots so do try to avoid them as much as possible but definitely do not cause pain or bloating.

I try to have some diff coloured veg daily to get different nutrients and vitamins. 100g of bnut sq isnt that high carb meal if eating with asparagus and broccoli.. and of course I generalky only eat one tea plate a day or try to add in a ramekin of yogurt and berries if I have to.. so not exactly snacking or high card/calories or anything...
 

Some people cannot have high fibre... those with slow colons are best with low fibre...less than 12g a day.
Normally people associate constipation with too little fibre but severe slow colonic transit can only be helped by less fibre.
 
Ah-ha!

I'm onto something! Something that is, in fact, already well-understood by People Who Are Not Me!

I have my homework for this evening - thanks, DD!
 
donnellysdogs said:
Some people cannot have high fibre... those with slow colons are best with low fibre...less than 12g a day.
Normally people associate constipation with too little fibre but severe slow colonic transit can only be helped by less fibre.
Click to expand...
I am definitely one that needs low fiber hence doing great with meals fat and protein and all veggies being an issue.
I just learned not to push them anymore. Doesn't seem I can train my stomach. No use bloating!!! I also think bloating and pain causes malabsorption.
My routine and foods are very simple. Makes everything easier
 
Interested in the discussion, and adding my own question: for those with slow transit, would water help?
Asking because i read that much fiber + no water = worse constipation (for those with normal transit i assume..?)
 
I'm still having bloating or stomach water retention. Mine is like a water balloon sitting ontop of my stomach pouch area. It leans to the left, a little so I don't think liver related, but I could be wrong.
I've delayed my op a few months but unfortunately delays stomach and gut investigation too. I'll relay my concerns to bariatric team.
I cannot say wholeheartedly that from veg. Unless vegtable oils in some of our low income pre-made meals? (Most likely)
Sitting here, I have none but tomorrow it will come as not out shopping or enjoying kids until dusk (trick or treat).
I've started in moderate exercise log thread. Lets see if I can increase walking. Its all pain relief conditional. Sometimes tramadol works and sometimes it doesn't. Must be fatty liver influenced.
I'm all stocked up in protein based food and no veggies bought so heavy on multivitamins routine. I'm ready to lose weight again. I'll mimic my previous conditions as weight loss stalled. (Or water retention confused the whole loss/gain issue)
 
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