I'm curious as to what sorts of viral, bacterial, or otherwise physiological sources could cause stomach discomfort in a vegetarian and in the presence of all of the following (in other words, having utilized): elimination diets, a low carb diet, intermittent fasting and grain elimination.
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4You may want to edit the question in the way that it will be a general and not personal question (otherwise it may be blocked).– JanJan 29, 2018 at 12:07
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@Jan done. ....– CloudJan 29, 2018 at 13:51
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3Your edits were trivial and didn't really change the nature of the question. To make this a general question with relevance to others rather than just a request for personal medical advice relevant only to you, everything except the third paragraph needs to be deleted.– Carey Gregory ♦Jan 29, 2018 at 15:09
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@CareyGregory not at all. What if someone else reading this has also tried the things I have? (As most would before resorting to a SE site)... it will stay as it is.– CloudJan 29, 2018 at 15:27
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5I just submitted an edit that makes this question more general while at the same time preserving the list of things you've tried. Keep in mind that this is not a site for personal medical advice-- the way the question is worded now, it's clearly intended as such.– NateJan 29, 2018 at 18:28
1 Answer
In vegans who have abdominal bloating/distension and excessive gas but otherwise feel healthy, the cause can be the ingestion of too much:
- Soluble fiber from legumes, oats, barley, rye, figs, prunes, artichokes, sweet potatoes, passion fruit, avocadoes (more foods)
(They are other vegan sources of protein, apart from legumes, such as bread, amaranth, cornmeal, kamut, quinoa, nuts, seeds (especially hemp) and hummus, that have less soluble fiber, so they should cause less gas.)
- Foods with high fructose/glucose ratio: apples, pears, mangoes, agave, watermelons, honey and foods and beverages sweetened by high fructose corn syrup (in case of fructose malabsorption) (UWHealth, more foods with high F/G ratio)
There can be certain foods that may irritate you from no apparent reason.
Vegans are often not aware of iron deficiency, but this tends to be common and can cause gastrointestinal symptoms.
To check for celiac disease, one could start a complete gluten-free diet after which the symptoms can improve in few weeks.
If nothing of the above helps, the next step can be to check for eventual food allergies (blood and skin tests), intestinal parasites (stool test), etc.
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Where would one acquire such tests? Presumably not over the internet?....– CloudJan 30, 2018 at 10:02
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A gastroenterologist can order tests for celiac disease and fructose malabsorption; an allergologist for food allergies and a primary doctor for blood iron levels and parasites in the stool. Symptoms "dramatically" decreasing on low-calorie diet are probably due to lower amount of soluble fiber ingested. So, one solution to try first can be to get (some) proteins from sources other than legumes. Test kits available on the internet may be unreliable.– JanJan 30, 2018 at 10:13
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The question is about stomach discomfort, and the answer is about small intestinal issues. Jan 31, 2018 at 18:27
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When I answered, the original question was much longer and is now heavily edited (not by the OP).– JanFeb 1, 2018 at 7:45