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Heya, I've been on the Paleo diet for about 3 weeks now (started the day after Thanksgiving, haw) and I'm noticing that in the morning, my stomach is really acidy!

I had my gallbladder out 6 years ago, and had IBS ever since. That's cleared up a ton with the diet, but I seem to still have the "dumping syndrome" in the morning. Totally gross, TMI, but there it is.

I've been doing some research and it seems I'm not eating enough veggies? I eat meat, eggs, fruit and nuts every day, but not very many greens. Nuts are my "snack food", I guess, just because I'm so used to -eating- something all the time, and with the Paleo Diet, I don't really feel the need to any more, but I still have the habit. Is eating them before bed part of the problem?

Thanks for the help, I don't have any local community, so here I am on the internet! ;D

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"*The* Paleo diet" - I'm not sure what that means? Whose program are you following (if any) and with what modifications (if any)? – ScottMGS Dec 15 2010 at 20:20
I had the same dumping issue for a long time after having my GB removed. But it slowly reduced. Still get it once every few weeks or months. Can't answer to say what solved it. Could just be adaptation. See this for my gallbladder experience: paleohacks.com/questions/4403/… – sean Dec 15 2010 at 22:40
By paleo I mean cutting out just about all dairy, all grains and potatoes/corn and almost all sugar. I have a little agave in my tea, though I'll be switching to honey when my bottle of nectar runs out, and when I buy sausage, it's usually got sugar as the last ingredient. I don't take any supplements currently either, nor have a regular excersize plan. I think that's all the modifications I've made...I think! – Sigil Dec 16 2010 at 0:40
Sean, that sucks about losing a healthy organ :/ I mourn the loss of mine, though my situation for it's removal was almost necessary as it'd filled completely with gallstones, pumped them out into my digestive tract and they'd gotten lodged in my pancreatic duct and I almost died. I wish someone in my family had TOLD me about the history of gallbladder problems we had before my operation. It wasn't until after that they were all coming forward about their complications rolls eyes I'll take a look at these articles, thank you! – Sigil Dec 16 2010 at 0:43

4 Answers

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I had IBS for 7 years and it was the not the constipation kind, so I know what you are going through. It is probably less of what you are eating before bed and more of a malabsorbtion issue since you have had your galbladder out and have had IBS for a while. Your body is not process the food efficiently which is creating this "dumb" in the morning. I will let you know what I did to cure my IBS symptoms:

I did a 2.5 day fast on homemade Chicken Stock and Kvass only and then back onto the paleo diet. I shit you not, pun intended, that the IBS symptoms were completely gone after 7 years. After the fast I supplemented with Digestive emzymes, Dr. O's probotics, and natural calm and regularly eat live sourkraut. I've been symptom free ever since (5 months).

Before I get flammed for the long fast, it was based on my research of IBS and the fasting process. From what I understand, the fast gave my digestive system time to "reboot." Also, the consumption of Homemade Chicken broth is proven to do wonders for digestion. I added the kvass for some extra calories and the benefits of fermentation.

I still have my galbladder, so you may not have the same experiences. I would definitely recommend supplementing with natural calm, digestive enzymes (with every meal), probiotics, and some type of fermented food (sourkraut, kvass, kombucha).

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I've been meaning to pick up some more probiotic food! I love saurkraut, but I have a hard time making a part of a regular meal, other than with sausages/kielbasas I'll look into making some of my own stock too, I've been meaning to for some time, just need to pick up a whole chicken for the carcass! It's already been amazing to not have as many symptoms (I was at 1-2 flares a DAY for over 6 years, at any time of day, ugh), so I'm looking forward to feeling even better! – Sigil Dec 15 2010 at 17:13
Agreed....I was at 4-6 flare ups a day spending a good 2-3 hours a day in the bathroom. Now I go once in the morning! – hemanvt Dec 15 2010 at 18:06
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Easy enough to try eliminating nuts for a time. I think the abundance and availability of nuts today is certainly nothing like our evolutionary past would have allowed for. My own paleo-fantasy thinking there. And nuts are a bit like grains, there are defenses in place to prevent being eaten. Almonds are a novel and more or less man-bred nut that at one time was bitter and poisonous to us!

Soaking them, peeling the skin from almonds, eating nuts raw, no salt added, and force yourself to "process" each nut as our ancestors would have (cracking shells, picking out meat) would certainly limit nut intake! A much easier approach is to just take them out of the dietary rotation for a while. Almonds give me "thunder" so out they went.

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I will give this a shot after I finish the roasted hazelnuts my grandmother made (hand cracking each!) and sent me from cross country. It's part of the holiday tradition, which I'm not quite ready to give up! – Sigil Dec 15 2010 at 17:14
Many people have problems with nuts in any quantity. I know I can't eat them. Love them. Can't eat them. So I don't. – wjones3044 Dec 15 2010 at 17:51
Even a handful almost always results in indigestion for me. – Ambimorph Dec 15 2010 at 20:08
I have good digestion in general, but I've noticed that my digestive system does not like the consumption of nuts very much. I would not be surprised if others might have found the same. I still eat nuts, but I try not to eat a ton of them and I avoid them if I'm not feeling fully up to par for any reason. – Eva Dec 15 2010 at 22:22
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If you're used to eating at a certain time and you don't, you'll get this issue - your stomach is gearing up to digest food it doesn't get. Apart from this the real solution is more vegetables, however you can test this pretty easily.

Go get some natural calm and take it before bed. It's great stuff, but it's also a good base, so it should clear the problem up quickly. Dont think this is a substitute for eating greens, but it'll solve the issue to get rid of your pain in a hurry ;)

Also, are you doing ox bile or something similar to help you emulsify fats? Without a gall bladder this is super duper important.

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Great suggestion on the ox bile.....forgot about that one! – hemanvt Dec 15 2010 at 18:42
Ox bile? Is that a supplement I can pick up? I have to admit my nutrition information and the like is all from my vegetarian, high grain family (JUST EAT MORE WHOLE GRAINS AND THAT IBS WILL CLEAR RIGHT UP they told me for -years-) so I've been slogging through Paleo blogs and learning a lot, but not very many are geared towards the gallbladder-less! – Sigil Dec 15 2010 at 20:07
Studies of whole grain consumption and various digestive problems have not shown any benefit to eating whole grains. SOme studies have even shown it exacerbates probs instead. But you have probably already figured that out by now.. – Eva Dec 15 2010 at 22:25
Eva - Yeah, after switching every grain to whole and still having issues, I could only see switching to an all broccoli diet as a solution...until I found out about paleo! – Sigil Dec 16 2010 at 0:44
Yep! You can pick up ox bile as a normal supplement. By the way, I checked your website - I gave an hour and a half paleo lecture at MFF this year, and I may try to do it at other conferences, since interest was high. Also, I train out of southern maryland, so if you're in NOVA you should come by and see me and I can help you out with all this. I had the same exact problems before switching to strict paleo ;) – Lurene Grenier Jan 6 2011 at 14:07
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yes, eat more veggies! too much nuts(fat) could be the "dumping" problem.

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