Hi, Paul!

I hear you! I used to have raging IBS and have been constipated so badly, I
have passed out unconscious from jammed up bowels.  I have been where you
are at- ex-vegetarian, hypoglycemic, chronic fatigue, depression, IBS,
fat-phobic, hypothyroid...we could be twins!
I'll even bet you are a blood type O.

I do best when eating only raw fatty meat and vegetables. Don't be afraid
of fat! Fat and protein are  your friends! Refined carbs and grains are the
enemy. Your body is talking to you. Please listen!

ANY kind of grain, insoluble fiber,  psyllium seed or other "bulk" jams me
up big time. I am confused on why, since you obviously you see this
correlation, do you still keep  trying to "move" things along with grains?
The Metamucil ads are LYING to you!! You keep jumping back and forth
between grains and meat, your body is most likely getting very confused as
to what to use for an energy source.

Hang in there with the meat. Raw meat is much easier to digest and
assimilate than cooked. It worked for you as a kid, remember? If you eat it
cooked, you may need a bit of HCL (hydrochloric acid) and some enzymes in
the transition. Bromelein (in pineapple) helps to digest meat, too. As your
body gets with the program, you can taper off of it.

For the constipation, eat warm stewed prunes, or hot diluted prune juice
-if you are worried about a hypoglycemic reaction, take some flax or olive
oil or other fat with it- it will slow down absorption and lubricate your
intestines (yes I know, not totally Paleo, but it will help get you over
the hump) Also, flax oil or olive oil by itself may help -drink it with
warm water. Magnesium salts might also help. Do an enema if you need to,
JUST STAY AWAY FROM GRAINS!

That fiber is not helping you! Perhaps it works for some people, but
certainly not me! Apparently not for you, either. So believe your body and
not the FDA or even the AMA.

And, BTW, my IBS is totally gone as long as I stay away from grains,
refined foods, and sugar -same for hypoglycemia. All the other problems are
history as well.

Your thyroid may be a bit sluggish (feeling cold all the time). Seafood,
shellfish and sea vegetables (a good source of iodine)- might help that a
lot. Try some oysters or clams on the half shell.

Sounds like you are getting on the right track, but it takes a little
patience, effort and vigilance to get through this. You have already
discovered some very important things about what your body needs.

Good luck to you -let us know how you are doing. Email me directly if you
like.

Louise

>Hi everyone,
>
>It’s my first post to the list.
>I joined it as a recovering vegetarian, and so far I quite enjoy it
>The list is informative and at the same time some people get quite
>emotional about their ideas what IMO makes quite a good mixtue.
>
>I became a vegetarian mostly from health reasons (acid indigestion,
>gastritis) but after a year and a half on a strict vegetarian regime
>I’ve ended up with much wider spectrum of them:
>- lost  30 pounds  (instead of constant sugar craving  and binge
>eating) but I haven’t been overweight so now I’m pretty underweight
>- chronic fatigue, and mood swings, deep depression, etc.
>- IBS
>- feeling cold all the time,
>- severe hypoglycaemia, always 'hungry and exhausted feeling', etc.
>
>3-4 months ago when I realised that I felt better eating BigMacs, and
>pork ribs, then following (perfectly) different styles of
>vegetarian/vegan eating I decided to change.
>First I reintroduced some white meat (chicken, poultry) but I noticed
>that I could not survive on a lean protein and vegetables (fruits give
>me strong hypo reaction, so I have to limit them)
>And then I reintroduce animal fat and I start to feel much better
>(gained back 8 pounds of muscle ), but still have some problems/worries
>
>Problem #1Constipation
>
>I’m quit severely constipated and it can be a real problem with
>carrying on this diet, When being on typical western diet I had more
>diarrahome, than constipation, then during my vegetarian time despite
>eating a lots of fibre (50+ a day) a started to be slightly
>constipated, but know I’m severely constipated and it really scares me.
>
>Eating more fibre does not work for me (it irritates my bowel), drink
>huge amounts of water also does not produce any significant  results.
>Raw veggies, nuts also are quite gut-irritating
>I have read somewhere that in most cases constipation has nothing to do
>with fibre intake, but rather indicates low gastric acids levels so the
>food is not digested properly and stays in the colon longer. Is it
>somehow connected with high carbs/grains consumption?
>
>The more meat and fat I eat the better I feel but the more constipation
>occurs, then I try to eat more fibre and carbs so my bowel starts to
>worsen, my energy drops so I start eat more meat and fat... I’m a
>little bit stuck.
>Any suggestions/ solutions/ ideas kindly appreciated asap (it’s a 3rd
>day without today, so getting quit irritated) :)
>
>Worry #1 Fat intake
>
>II keep my carbs intake quite low, (70-100 g a day) due to hypo
>reactions, and I noticed that I feel the best when the fat makes up to
>60-75 % of my calories intake, what concerns me a little ( I know Paleo
>is relatively high fat diet, but should it be so high fat diet). I
>wonder if anybody had overcome hypo reaction on Paleo and was able to
>reintroduce more carbs into the diet to lower the fat intake.
>I also noticed that when eating lean protein meal I’m feeling very
>tired afterwards, but when I’m eating the same amount of protein in a
>fatty meal I feel much better. Anybody with the same reactions?
>
>My contribution to raw food discussion:
>I had  food poisonings quit often in the past , but always from eating
>unwashed nonorganic fruits and cooked meats but at the same time I used
>to eat (as a child)  a lot of raw ground beef and some pork fat and never
>been poisoned from this.
>
>
>Paul Sand
>
>
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