bloating on a hypo diet

What are you eating?

A typical day would be....

- 2 whole wheat cereal biscuits with unsweetened soya milk, spoonful of flaxseed oil
- 2 slices of soya and linseed whole grain bread with 2 eggs
- wholegain pitta with chicken breast and salad, pear
- Half a rump steak, sweet potato + low fat cheese, vegetables
- wholeweat pasta + mince, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree
- smoked salmon or soya nuts before bed, spoonful of flaxseed oil

It doesn't seem to be any better or worse based on the food I'm eating, simply the regularity and additional quantity of eating every 2-3 hours.

I've never been able to burp in my life and the air feels trapped between my mouth and stomach (Oesophagus). I don't experience any chest pain or bowell irritability.

Ouch, NOT a good diet right there.

1. Try to eat sprouted grain bread, nothing else, and no more than one slice per day to start.

2. Avoid soy products at all costs. A little soy is okay, like a little tofu in miso soup, but not the amount you're eating. Soy is NOT a good alternative to meat and NOT a good alternative to regular foods. If you can't have regular milk, get regular, unsweetened almond milk.

3. Don't bother with the flax oil. Get some fish oil capsules. It should say on the bottle that they're from small, wild caught fish.

4. As you can guess, that bread you're eating is bad. Soy products are lots of grains are in poor condition because they haven't been sprouted. This is especially true for soy, which has enormous levels of something called phytic acid, which our bodies are incapable of digesting. The more of it you eat, the more the body has this crap in it to get rid of, which leads to bloating and gas. This is why most beans cause it, if you don't sprout them, you don't unlock this acid and make it digestable. Otherwise, your body just attaches other nutrients you have in your body to it so it passes through. NOT GOOD.

5. Guess what, they make sprouted grain pitas too. I'm currently eating one piece of sprouted bread in the morning, and a pita for lunch.

6. They make sprouted pasta too.

7. For nuts, mixed is best, and raw if you can. Otherwise, stick to walnuts, almonds, pistachios, macademias and so forth. Avoid peanuts and cashews for now because they're beans, not nuts.

One of your problems is that, based on what you wrote, you're eating way too much at once. All of that could be put into three meals. Also, you're giving yourself too high of a carbohydrate load with each meal. One piece of bread and one pita is more than enough for anyone, and it's healthier to keep your grain intake fairly low if you can tolerate it in the first place. I'm glad you're eating a sweet potato instead of a regular one, but it's best to avoid root vegetables at first.

Cheers Stan,

I’ve subbed out the soya and linseed bread for organic sprouted wheat bread. I also appear to be fine which lactose free dairy milk instead of soya.

The bloating seems to be under control which is good. I think it may have been caused primarily by me bolting food down.

In your opinion regarding breads, pastas and grains, which out of wholemeal, wholegrain or wholewheat is most suitable for a hypoglycaemic? I know I/we should definitely avoid white flour, but are there any other key ingredients to be weary of?

Would you mind have a quick gander at my meal list?

Oatbran with water and unflavoured whey protein
2 eggs fried with olive oil OR omelette with tomato and cheese + a slice of organic sprouted wheat bread
Tuna steak + whole wheat cous cous + drizzle of low fat dressing
Whole wheat pasta + chicken breast + mushrooms, tomato’s, onions and drizzle of dressing (made in a batch for 2-3 meals)
Natural peanut butter with wholewheat tortilla

Other foods consumed with the carbs mentioned above:
Feta cheese
Low fat Edam
Cottage cheese
Chicken breast
Rump Steak
Salmon
Olives
Olive oil
Flax oil
Nuts (Brazil, Walnuts, Almonds, all unsalted)
Sweet potatoes.

I was thinking I might be okay to introduce some fruits. Any suggestions?

It’s been almost 2 weeks on the diet and fortunately after the first few days I haven’t experienced any crashes. I still do experience some regular symptoms such as general light dizziness, mild eyestrain (lights appear more vivid), occasional headache/migrane and mild sore throat. Do these symptoms sound normal for a recovering hypoglycaemic? It’s the dizziness which is most frustrating. I have checked my blood sugar and it has a normal reading most of the day and it’s just kind of a lingering light dizziness, a sense of being slightly off balance.

Thanks for the advice,

The most suitable for a hypoglycemic seems to be ALL sprouted grains. I can't handle normal stuff, so you can try it out. The company that makes the bread I eat, as I said called Ezekiel bread (Garden of Life is the company I believe), also makes pasta, spagetti, cereal, hot dog buns and hamburger buns. Search them out. It's not too expensive, a box of the pasta, though around 6 bucks, has taken me about 3 weeks to eat, sticking to the serving size of one cup. About your list:

1. You might want to try this protein powder made from egg whites. I don't personally go for the whey thing. I forget the name of the company, but it's sold at GNC and bodybuilding stores usually. I think it's called Fit. Just contains egg white protein, vanilla extract and stevia for sweetener.

2. If you can find that Ezekiel cereal, try it, it's AWESOME. Would be great in the morning, they've been saying bad things about bran recently.

3. Might want to avoid that cous cous and try the pasta I told you about, but if you feel okay on it, give it a try, just remember, STICK WITH IT. It can take several weeks or even a few months to see significant progress.

4. Would stay away from peanut butter. Look for organic (only one without sugar in it) sunbutter. They sell it all over the place now, I see it in every supermarket I go to when I look. The tortillas are also made in Ezekiel form, VERY good as well.

5. If you want to add fruit, I recommend trying apples or berries first. Try about 1-2 servings a day, perhaps one whole apple in the morning, about the size of a baseball or so for breakfast, see what that does. If that seems bad (you'll know in a day because things will get worse), try berries, you can buy them in bags frozen which saves money, AND you can use them to make nice smoothies if you want using almond milk (you might want to look into that too).

6. Might want to avoid the sweet potatoes. I personally avoid all root vegetables, but if it seems okay give it a go.

7. Seems fine overall though. The symptoms are normal, the good thing to always keep in mind is that you've found a way to make them BETTER. Always keep that in your head, especially if you reach a point where nothing seems to be happening, always remember where you were before.

If the bloating doesn't clear up it may be a problem with digestion. Lactose intolerance is a common one that causes bloating.

Also think about portion size, this is just as important as all the fine details of your diet. I eat very often and if I'm not careful with portion size I can get very bloated and weighed down, suffer fatigue, brain fog, and emotional imbalances. Keep portions small.

For everything else in your diet, everyone can tolerate varying amounts of different foods. It's a case of trial and error to find what's good for you.

How long have you been diagnosed reactive hypoglycemia?