Am i constipated because of veganism?

I thought I posted this answer yesterday, but it didn't work. meanwhile Barry made a good suggestion that got me thinking..

Your symptoms are unusual. But people are all different and different people have different responses.

But here are my guesses and thoughts on the matter.

You mentioned feeling bloated and that is a typical "new vegan" thing. The typical American diet is basically a low fiber diet. The typical vegan diet is a high fiber diet. Fiber does slow down your GI system. This is actually considered a good thing. So its not unusual to end up having to get accustomed to it. Also fiber has sort of a cleaning action going on - so again there might be some short term changes. And maybe most importantly fiber isn't digestible - but is is digested somewhat by our intestines bacteria.

If your diet was low fiber before the population of your bacteria would be less robust. but then you add all this extra fiber and the bacteria basically go a little crazy. Their populations can double in a day. So these bacteria have some bi-products. and they produce gas. Its these gasses that produce the bloating.

The good news is that all these symptoms should go away. Usually between 3 days and 3 weeks so you should naturally start feeling better pretty soon.

If you don't start feeling better right away there are some things you could do. First thing is to try and figure out how much fiber you are actually eating. If you are eating in the high 20s see if you can cut down. even getting it down to the low 20s should help.

Barrry suggested maybe you aren't eating enough fiber. So if your daily fiber intake is in the low teens - try to ge it over 20. Oh, btw, high 20s is what is recommended.

I'm thinking high fiber causes bloating and low fiber causes constipation so since you have both symptoms - just try to get the right amount of fiber and the other symptom should go away after a while.

Another suggestion that I find works great is every night after dinner to eat an apple. I'm not sure why it is but it really helps my digestion. You might need something a little stronger than the apple to get things back to normal. Get a box of prunes and try eating one as an evening snack. Also keep in mind that these are temporary fixes - but after you get things back to normal you might even want to stick with a nightly regimen of having a piece of fruit. You might need to experiment a little to figure it out. And by the way, at least 2 pieces of fruit a day is recommended as a minimum. 3 - 5 is a good goal.

One other idea is to go to the drug store and buy a bottle of bean-o. Follow the directions on the bottle. Bean-o contains an enzyme that we don't produce but it allows for your GI tract to partially digest fiber. that gives the bacteria less food to eat and then they produce less gas. It works surprisingly well.

Also if you are not including enough fibe in your diet, beside fruit make sure the grains you buy are whole grains. Whole grain breakfast cereal (oat meal is one of the best), whole grain bread and whole grain pasta. And be sure to get at least a serving of beans and a dark green veggie everyday. that is sort of necessary for vegans.

It could be the food that you are eating. Many new vegans eat low-fiber diets (heavy on pasta and white rice) and that contributes to the problem.
You need some high fiber foods to help the system along.
In the meantime, grate up a small tomato, mix it with a tablespoon of olive oil, and eat it. It should help the immediate problem.

It's quite normal when you are new, advanced vegans have redundant bowels as the diet changes the way you excrete crap you see. Give it a bit more time and then the crap will start coming from your mouth instead and through your fingers when you type things.

cut down on your salt, when i turned vegan my salt intake increased and i noticed it was very hard to have bowel movements, maybe a few rabbit droppings every few days. Once I decreased salt it I returned to normal. Also have more fiber, eg oats

A change in eating patterns can cause temporary problems with bowels, esp if your vegan diet includes a large amount of processed or refined starches.

No your body will not just absorb it...fiber doesn't digest and does NOT absorb..it will ferment further and cause some lovely farts.
Perhaps a visit to your doctor is in order. Not all health issues are diet related you know.

Hello! Go see a doctor. The internet and yahoo answers cannot give you medical advice.

Yes. All vegans are constipated #$%$holes

what food have you eaten, are you taking vitamin b12 supplements?

IMO, it's likely a sign that you're slowing (weakening) your metabolism with your new diet, something that is very common with vegan diets.