flax?

[kriewe]

Hello,
I'm on day 10 of induction, feel great other than lack of energy when running. I feel like my legs are logs! Any suggestions? I haven't had the surge of energy.
Also, I'm constipated. I'm used to using the bathroom at least twice a day and now it's once every two days. I've tried Metamucil, doesn't really help. So I bought some flax seed but I'm not sure if I should have bought flax meal. Does anyone use either one? How do you use it?
Thanks so much for any help.

[Mbudlite89]

I believe only Take psyllium husk..if you are still constipated, you can add more veggies, try string(green beans) and other veg's like that...as for you legs..take a multivitamin because water flushes the potassium out of your legs...so if they continue like that even with vitamin, consult your doctor for an additional potassium supplement

[atkinsgal08]

You can grind the flax seed, but you might have wanted to buy flax meal. Humans can't digest flax seed, so it has to be ground.

Also ... make sure your vitamin doesn't contain iron.

And ... be very careful with potassium supplements ... even OTC they can interfere with any Rx medications you're own. And ... they can cause irregular heart beats.

Try having an avocado ... more potassium than an OTC pill.

Also ... make sure you're drinking all your water!

A calcium, magnesium, zinc supplement can help, too.

Many people don't have the stamina or energy to exercise at the same rate they did when on Induction ... so you might want to do less of a workout.

[imagood1]

take a tablespoon of flaxmeal or psyllium husk. Make sure to drink plenty of water because if you don’t it can leave you feeling bloated and heavy and you’ll have more problems going to the bathroom.

Because you aren't putting a multitude of starches in your body you won't go to the bathroom the way you did before because there is less that needs to leave your body. You can sprinkle the flax over vegetables, make a cookie out of it, or a bun - just make sure you don't use over 1 tablespoon a day (during induction).

I eat raw broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts and other higher fiber vegetables and rarely need anything else to keep regular. Also anything I eat that has horseradish in it seems to keep me regular also (I don't know if this is me or others also).

Just remember, you are eating differently so everything about your body will be changing - including your bowels.

[Elizellen]

If you have a coffee grinder it is easy and quick to grind up flax (linseed) seeds into meal or flour. Takes me less than a minute to do enough for a week of recipes.
As the gound up flax can go rancid quickly I never bothered to look for the preground stuff.

[kriewe]

Hi all,
THanks for all the info. Why no iron? I saw that in the book but wasn't sure why? My multi has iron. I guess I need to switch?

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by kriewe

Hi all,
THanks for all the info. Why no iron? I saw that in the book but wasn't sure why? My multi has iron. I guess I need to switch?

Many of the foods we eat on Atkins are rich in iron. If your multivitamin has iron, you might get too much iron and that can gradually build up (it's not going to happen overnight), which is dangerous.

However, some of us are poor iron absorbers or make bad food choices (use FitDay or something similar to see the nutritional facts of your daily menus --- it shows vitamins and minerals too, not only calories, carbs, etc.), and might need additional iron in our diets. A simple blood test is enough to check if you are iron deficient.

Pre-Atkins, I was taking a multivitamin with iron (because my dr. said so), but after a few months on Atkins I was told to switch to an iron-free one, because I was getting enough iron from my WoE (my dr. said so ). I haven't taken iron since.

To be on the safe side, it is better to take an iron-free mutivitamin, unless told to do otherwise by your doctor.

[just4me]

I take flax oil suppliments, I started this about a month before starting atkins, and therefore I believe had already lost most of my water weight as I had to rush to the washroom all of the time. The swelling in my legs disappeared and I felt so much better once I started them. They are rather large capsules, sugar free and all the rest though! I continue to take them with meals.

[kriewe]

Are flax oil supplements just as effective as flax meal for regularity?
I wasn't sure if you meant you were using the bathroom to urinate a lot....

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by kriewe

Are flax oil supplements just as effective as flax meal for regularity?

Both can be used to treat constipation. However, you need quite a few capsules to make a tablespoon of flax oil (I hate having to swallow pills). I prefer ground flax seeds, because they have the additional benefit of fiber.