Extreme cravings, headaches, fatigue, low energy, brain fog, gas, and bloating. Have you ever experienced a situation where you start eating healthier and instead of feeling better, you feel worse?
It takes about two weeks for your body to adjust to a new type of food. This is because your body needs time to adjust to the new food and to the new way of digesting it.
“Some healthy foods may cause uncomfortable side effects—everything from bloating to belching to abdominal pain to diarrhea,” says Keri Gans, R.D.N., author of The Small Change Diet. This is especially true as your body gets used to eating more of them.
Regular exercise, eating healthy, being active, and limiting or avoiding alcohol helps the body detox itself. Exercise will make you feel well and strengthen your body, and that's good. Or you can do a healthy detox by eating non-processed and non-supplement-filled foods.
Its true that sometimes, with drastic dietary changes, you may experience headaches, flu type symptoms, GI bloating and a short fuse! Rather, if you're feeling unwell in your quest to eat better, dopamine, microbes and ketones may be the source of your discontent.
"But in return for increasing fiber, and ultimately beneficial foods like fruits, vegetables and fiber-rich grains, a person may experience bloating, gas and an overall sense of discomfort if they increase too quickly," says registered dietitian Lisa Bruno, R.D.N., founder of Well Done Nutrition.
However, it takes time for your body to begin feeling noticeable effects of a diet rich in micronutrients, macronutrients, and whole foods. The body will “communicate” how it's adjusting to your improved diet changes, which can look like weight loss, improved skin, better digestion, and higher energy levels.
What we eat can affect all the processes in the body, including cell regeneration, inflammation, digestion and sleep. So it's not surprising that within just 4 weeks of eating well, you can expect to feel significantly better overall.
If you're looking for an eating plan that closely follows the tenets of anti-inflammatory eating, consider the Mediterranean diet, which is high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fish, and healthy oils.
If you're making a big change, though — say, going from fast food burgers and fries for lunch to salads — it can take your digestive system a little while to get up to speed. Gas and bloating are common side effects. That doesn't mean you should go back to pillowy white bread and potato chips.
Terrible hunger pangs, headaches, exhaustion, lack of energy, mental fog, gas, and bloating are the side effects of sudden diet change. Even if the consequences of a new diet might not make one feel fantastic at first, it is essential to know how to maintain it.
If you follow a calorie deficit, Scott says you can generally expect to see initial weight loss within a few weeks. Hilbert adds that some may see changes in as little as a week. “Aiming to lose weight at a rate of 0.5 to 1 lb per week is generally considered a safe and sustainable goal,” says Scott.
What we eat impacts the microbes that call our guts home. But you might be surprised to hear that our microbial communities can respond drastically to dietary changes in as little as three days. This is exactly what a landmark study published in 2013 determined.
If you're eating better and feeling worse, don't be so quick to jump to the conclusion that you're not cut out for this 'healthy stuff'. What you might be experiencing are the temporary symptoms of a Herxheimer Reaction, otherwise known as the 'healing crisis'.
Gas, pain, bloating
The answer is yes, your diet impacts how your GI tract feels and functions. If improving eating habits (what and how much you consume), your stomach health will improve. In fact, better food means less inflammation and a stronger immune system, reports John Hopkins Medicine.
The Bottom Line. It all comes back to eating lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains for prebiotics—food for the bacteria—and fermented foods like yogurt and kombucha for probiotics—good bacteria.
digestive symptoms – such as gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and heartburn. sleep disturbances or fatigue. mood/emotional state – such as high stress, low mood or anxiety. high frequency of infectious illnesses – such as the common cold.
A 7 day gut reset may involve eliminating processed foods, sugar, and other potential food triggers, and consuming a diet that is rich in whole foods, fiber, probiotics, and prebiotics.
When you switch to a new diet, you may experience temporary discomfort. This is because your body may take a while to adapt to the new changes. The good news is that these side effects are short-term roadblocks on your journey to better health, and most will go away in about 1-2 weeks.
But did you know even healthy foods could send you into a tailspin of discomfort? These are high in insoluble fiber, which can be hard to digest and lead to bloating and gas. Cooking, peeling and removing seeds aids digestion, according to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCF).