So it's been 6 weeks full Paleo and I still feel awful, in fact I feel my IBS is worse than before. So much constipation, colon spasm, and paltry, incomplete, and unsatisfying bowel movements. I saw my naturopath today - he really supports Paleo, but he sees it as more of a starting point than a set of hard-and-fast rules. We'll be doing a stool test to see what's happening with my gut flora and possible parasites. But he also wants me back on brown rice with my meals. He himself tried a veg-and-meat diet and found his digestion did better once he re-introduced brown rice.
So we discussed a bit the brown rice-vs-white rice issue. He's a big fan of brown, whereas Paleo favours white...but I also know that white rice is even more constipating for me. The day after sushi is a day I don't use the bathroom. So do I: 1. Try brown rice, perhaps fermenting it as suggested by Stephan Guyanet - http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-way-to-soak-brown-rice.html 2. Try haiga rice, which has a bit more fiber than white rice, but doesn't have the outer bran like brown rice. 3. Try white rice and hope that upping my magnesium to will counteract the constipation factor.
I suppose I'll just try all 3 of these to see what works best. But I guess I'm looking for feedback on the rice issue generally. I read about Paleos who've re-introduced it to fuel their workouts, but not many posts about people eating it simply to improve their poops (aside from Melissa McEwan who wrote a blog post about this).