undigested foods - is this okay?

[tcorbett]

Hi, First off, its great to have a site to go to that I can even post something about undigested foods and having folks understand!
I have MC and have been on Apriso for 7 days - some things are changing, less watery stools - yeah. But, I still have some foods that go undigested and I don't know if I should avoid these foods because they are causing more inflammation or if it's normal. I don't even know what normal really is at this point - 8 yrs of D - lol. The foods I notice are craisins, spinach - cooked too, onions - cooked, almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts etc. I am sure there is more, but I can't remember. Any help would be great - thanks! Theresa in ME

[Zizzle]

The foods you describe are full of fiber, which is often a gut irritant in MC. It doesn't mean you are intolerant to them, but you may want to lay off them until you get the D under control. Salad, nuts, raw fruits and veggies often aggravate MC. When trying to stop a flare, most here stick to well cooked veggies, rice, meats, etc, and no salads or unpeeled fruit.

[tex]

undigested foods - is this okay?

Zizzle is right on target. While that's not "okay" from a health standpoint, it's rather typical for someone in the early stages of healing, with MC, so it's nothing to be alarmed about. We've all been there - peering into the "bowl", and seeing our partially-digested food staring back at us. It will get better as the inflammation diminishes, and your intestines begin to heal.

Eliminating hard-to-digest foods will probably help to reduce the problem, somewhat. Nuts are hard to digest, (nut butters work better for us), and many of us have problems with onions, (and many other fruits and veggies, for that matter). Salads, as Zizzle pointed out, are especially bad about "staring back at us". Spinach, as I recall, contains a fair amount of oxalic acid, and both spinach and craisins contain some fiber, but their main offense is probably just that they are relatively easy to identify in the "bowl". It's difficult to say whether foods that show up in the bowl are prone to causing more inflammation, or if they are just innocent bystanders. At any rate, you probably aren't getting much nutritional value from them, so eliminating them from your diet probably won't significantly affect your actual net nutrient intake, (until after your digestion improves).

Until your healing progresses further, you're probably going to have some problems with poor digestion, anyway, but certain foods that are hard to digest will obviously make the problem more noticeable.

Tex

[tcorbett]

Zizzle and Tex,

Thank you so much!!! I appreciate your input. What about quinoa? Would that be hard to digest also? What are good snacks to have on hand?

Thanks much! Theresa in ME

[tex]

Quinoa is considered to be more easily digestible than the grains, so that's a plus. Everyone seems to have their own favorite snacks, but some possibilities are rice cakes, rice snaps, (rice crackers), nut butters, coconut, potato chips, pork rinds, (believe it or not), bananas, etc. Some of us can tolerate certain fruits, but many of us seem to have problems with them until our intestines have healed sufficiently, to be able to handle the fiber and sugar that they contain.

I'm not up on snacks. Surely someone else can think of some better suggestions.

Tex

[Gloria]

Theresa,

I use quinoa as a flour and also eat it as a rough-ground seed in place of mashed potatoes. I have no problems with either type, but when my gut was still "raw," I had trouble with it when I cooked it whole. Now I never eat it whole, but grind it coarsely before cooking it. One advantage to that method is that it cooks in only 5-10 minutes.

Any grains/seeds that I cooked whole irritated my gut when it was still raw. I even ground the Cream of Rice cereal available in the grocery stores. I can eat rice whole now, but I eat all others besides quinoa as a flour.

The grinder I use for coarse grinding is here: http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_ ... ain%20Mill and is on sale for $59.99.

I also have an electric grinder which I use to grind seeds/grains, but it costs over $200.

Gloria

[MaggieRedwings]

Most of us here are definiely "bowl watchers."

There are still foods I cannot digest and nuts and mushrooms hit the top of the list. Beans are absolutely off the board.

Maggie

[tcorbett]

Thanks all!!!

SO would it be best to stay away from corn products(popcorn, kernel corn) right now? Beans? If anyone has some basic guidelines for what is more rough on my inflamed gut, that would be great!

Would I be considered in a flare if my major symptoms are watery D, fatigue, occassional joint aches? I have been on Apriso for a week now - I have noticed improvements - less watery for sure, I do notice that I pee more too - which is hopeful, maybe my body is finally absorbing back the water in my gut???!!! Still nothing solid, but I'll take little steps! I have been very careful with my diet - it's totally boring, but for now I can deal with it! I absolutely love spicy foods, but I've kept clear of those - since most are nightshades. Eggs seem to be okay again - which would be nice - since they are affordable. I have been off grains completely for 5 days. I did have my first craving for rice today at the store, but it went by fast - I was hungry, and I am sure I need comfort food!!! lol.

Thanks for all you do for support!

Theresa in ME

[tex]

SO would it be best to stay away from corn products(popcorn, kernel corn) right now? Beans?

IMO, yes, because when the gut is hypersensitive, there are one or two peptides in the amino acid chain for zein, (the primary protein in corn), that can mimic the peptides in wheat gluten to which we react. Also, beans are legumes, and most people who are sensitive to soy, are also sensitive to most/all members of the legume family.

Would I be considered in a flare if my major symptoms are watery D, fatigue, occassional joint aches?

Definitely, but it sounds as though your condition is improving.

maybe my body is finally absorbing back the water in my gut???!!!

There's a good chance that you're correct about that being an indication that your colon is beginning to work properly, and it is recovering water, again.

In general, rice is a much "safer" food than corn. Very, very few of us are sensitive to rice - maybe in in 500, more or less, as a guess.

FWIW, most doctors recommend avoiding spicy foods, and many of us find them to be troublesome, but personally, I never found it necessary to stop eating chilies such as jalapenas, seranos, etc. Black pepper gave me a belly ache, for some reason or other, but chilies never seemed to bother me. Of course, I don't seem to be sensitive to the nightshades in general - I have always eaten potatoes virtually every day.

You're most welcome,
Tex

[catsrule]

Are potato chips really ok?

[tex]

Well, they're junk food, and they're a high-calorie food, (especially because of the oil content), and if you eat too many, the oil may become a problem, and you have to read the label to make sure that they don't contain some disallowed ingredients, but other than that, plain old Frito-Lay potato chips are quite "safe" for most of us, as far as the risk of any autoimmune reaction is concerned, (depending on the oil used, of course, which is not always consistent). Obviously, they wouldn't be "safe" for someone who is sensitive to potatoes, but very, very few of us are in that category.

Tex

[catsrule]

Thanks Tex. It just kind of suprised me. Well I'm one who could use the high calories!

[Linda in BC]

Hi Catsrule;
I snack on Lara bars and banana chips. There is some kind of shiny coating on the banana chips (like a sugar glaze? ) and because I buy them bulk, I don't know what is on them, so maybe not everyone can eat them , but I have always been able to. I went to my health food store and asked about GF snacks and they had some quinoa puffs that are meant to be a cereal ( they are sweet too) but they said they often use them as a munching snack. I bought some and they were Ok, but then I found that cooked quinoa really made my stomach hurt so I have not eaten the puffs either since then.
Also, for some reason I cannot eat potato chips. I can eat potatoes, but even the plain old Lays make me react.

Linda

[lisa15601]

I have been eating healthy and everything seems to come out undigested, including chicken. I mean the stools are starting to seem normal and whole but I see chicken in there. Is that normal or another digestive issue.

[tex]

Is that normal

It is when you're in the early stages of healing from MC.

Tex