I am visiting family who are health nuts. They insist on eating pretty much vegetarian (though I have caught the bastards sneaking out at night for a burger at Steak N' Shake) and there is no meat in the house. This means I am forced to eat vegetarian.
As a teenager, I was also vegetarian for about a year and for five years after ate no red meat. Now at this house I am back to a diet of veggies and cheese, with no red meat. I suffer from exhaustion, body aches, and occasional depression (though this may be because I just had a baby).
The worst symptom I have noticed is the same symptom I had during my vegetarian to no red meat phase. Constant, frequent, sticky poo. It hangs out in my asshole and takes half a roll of toilet paper to wipe it out, and then I STILL have to go into the bathtub and wash my anus off.
Usually I only get poo like this if I eat junk food, but (except for a Wendy's sandwich the other day), I have not had any junk food. Could this diet be the cause of my poop problem? If so, why?
Dear TSV,
You are experiencing shit shock. Having suddenly been thrown into a vegetarian culture, your bowels are in a state of stress and anxiety due to the lack of protein that you had grown accustomed to over the years.
Any sudden change in diet can wreak havoc on one's digestive system. Even though the types of food that you are being exposed to are considered "healthy" and contain fiber that is essential to creating good poop, you should always make dietary changes gradually so that your insides have time to adjust.
While eating a strictly vegetarian diet can be a good thing, it is really not in your best interest to convert to this so soon after giving birth. Protein is essential for tissue repair and the overall healing process. Since you just had your baby, you should tell these sneaky burger-eaters that you are on to their little night-time meat-seeking expeditions and have them bring you something back, because they are depriving you of much needed nourishment during your recovery. Selfish bastards.
Thanks for asking Motherload!
Motherload is a Certified Nurse Assistant as well as an IBS sufferer, which means she knows a lot about poop. Got a question for her? Ask it here. [1]