While IF has helped me to lose weight and prioritize healthier food choices, i have always had some issues with gas and bloating, and IF seems to make it worse. I only eat twice or once a day, and they are protein heavy foods. But it seems to leave my stomach in a state of constant heavy bloating. I feel like this cuz i’m not eating enough throughout the day and my metabolism is really slowing down.
Can this be confirmed or denied
I had gut issues for 20 years. Like terrible gut issues. I did a million tests with GI doctors - all the way up to eating radioactive eggs to see how food passed through my gut. Had my poop tested too many times to count. Nada. Mostly, I think, the different doctors over the years thought I was making it up and gave me the bullshit diagnosis of IBS (you have something wrong, but we don’t know what and we have no real advice on how to fix it).
Last fall I had blood allergy testing done. I know it can give off a lot of false positives. That being said, I cut out all dozen items and I healed!!!! Not 100%, but a vast difference in my life. Vast. Like, from eating over a dozen gasX a day to combat the pain, to none at all.
The sheer number of allergies pointed to a leaky gut. Once I cut out those foods (eggs, coffee, tomatoes, wheat, yeast, chocolate, peanuts, milk, corn, and more …) my body has healed up and I can eat things I couldn’t before.
I added back in coffee. But I get a little itchy with wheat and peanuts. I’m going to keep trying to add back in different things over time, to see what I might have healed from.
All I’m saying is, you’re blaming IF, but other things could be at play.
Are you well hydrated well before eating? Simple thing but it helps so many common ailments from bloating, digestion, constipation, energy … best starting point, from there you can look at electrolytes and digestive enzymes
Other things to consider are gluten and dairy intake.
IF, strict keto, whole foods, a daily probiotic has helped heal my gut. I do combo of OMAD, 20/4, and some longer fasting.
I’ve read and heard on those recommended podcasts that the longer you go between eating windows, the better for allowing your gut time to heal itself.
What is your diet like, specifically? How much carbohydrate are you consuming? I used to struggle with bloating, I cut my carb intake way down and it disappeared. I like taking a shot of apple cider vinegar before a big meal and it seems to help, also.500ml ACV with the mother,250ml water,1tbsp turmeric,1tsp cayenne,1tsp ground ginger,1tsp ground black pepper.
Mix well.
You should take probiotics because fasting kills off beneficial bacteria in the gut. There’s nothing to eat so yes a lot of it dies off. Easy to fix tho.
Also break your fast with digestive enzymes it will help your bloating. In addition to these, I take bile supplements to prevent gallbladder stones.
Also you do not need tons and tons of protein try to add some veggies, salad, quinoa, and avocado into the mix. Too much protein is actually hard on your organs. See documentary Forks over Knives.
It’s not the IF causing the bloat, it’s the protein heavy food. Not sure what your protein heavy foods are… but I got bloated/constipated eating way too much protein back in January. Protein is good, but too much might not be good. YMMV.
Too much protein is not good for you, especially red meat. Remember, being on IF doesn’t necessarily mean you are eating a more healthier diet. You should try and consume more veggies and fruit and just a bit of meat. For me, I take my protein via vegan protein shakes as I found that dairy based products bloated me and gave me a lot of gas.
Quite the opposite, it is showing the damage and inflamation you have, you are probably just becoming aware of the issues thanks to IF.
In the wild ancient humans fastest all the time, don’t add probiotics or fiber, that is the worse to do… Try hydrating better and cutting out inflamatory stuff like grains and such.
My absolute favorite - and extremely inexpensive - gut health booster is to make my own kefir. I bought a starter kit for about $14 6 years ago off Amazon and it’s just the cost of a gallon of whole milk whenever you want to make a batch. I also eat keto, so I’m also very heavy on fat/protein. My gut has never been happier. You’ll get far, far more strains and concentration of probiotics in kefir than anything store bought. And it’s goddamned delicious.
Also, since the bacteria feeds off of the lactose in the milk during fermentation, a lot of lactose intolerant people have no problems drinking it. Also what makes it keto friendly as well!
I can only share my personal road of IF.
I had similar issues. I took out my breakfast meal where I ate yoghurt with Muesli/Brann. And in the afternoon I mainly ate bread. No more breakfast. I turned to lunch with lots of green and eggs. And in the evening I cancelled pasta/potatoes/rice.
My stool got terrible. Less protein and far less fibres. And most of all, fatty foods increased by a lot. Deadly combo for stool.
So, my solve. Uneven days I eat chia seed/milk/fruit and even days 2 slices of dark whole grain bread. I know its not keto friendly, but I find my stool more important then the faster weight loss.
Seriously. Chia seed did wonders to me. Make sure you soak it liquid overnight. Its superhigh in fibers.
And most importantly. Stay hydrated. Rule number one.
I get gut shutdowns with extended water fasting and it takes up to a week or two for my gut to start moving again. I eat live sauerkraut and bone broth as fat fasting now to avoid that. If you are eating every day you might be able to just adjust what you eat and get your fiber and probiotics in better during feed times
Something that was a game changer for me was becoming more conscious about chewing food more. I eat most meals alone, but when I do with others, am genuinely surprised by how fast they (and most people in general) eat. I’ve found ACV to be quite helpful.
I spoke with my endocrinologist about IF and slowing down my metabolism and she said that If will not slow jt down. Maybe other things but Not IF. It is indeed a myth thinking that we need to eat every few hours to keep it goin. At the end of the day, to lose weight is calories in and calories out. If IF helps you eat less than great. If doesn’t make a difference and you end up devouring everything you see during the eating window then IF may not do anything for us. I might say, try to break your fast in a more soothing way and then eat. IF is not for everybody.