Dear Kayla,
Today was my first day fasting until 3:30 pm. I’ve been having a 2-6 pm eating window with a goal of OMAD. Today, for the first time, I wasn’t hungry until 3:30. I broke my fast with cottage cheese and pistachios. Two hours later, we had pizza, and I ate it but almost immediately felt sick to my stomach and had to use the restroom. I’d love to hear your thoughts on why you might think I felt sick after eating.
Thanks,
Nicole
Dear Nicole,
Thank you for the question! It sounds like you might have experienced dumping syndrome. This happens when the food you eat moves too quickly from the stomach to the small intestine. This can cause nausea and diarrhea. Some intermittent fasters occasionally experience this.
Before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s remember that this might have been simply a coincidence. It sounds like you had been doing a 20:4 window with no digestive issues, and this one day you went longer you had this problem. It’s possible, given you had a decreased appetite that day, you had a mild stomach bug or even mild food poisoning. But for the moment, let’s assume that you’ve tried this again, and it’s happened again. That points to dumping.
You have several options at your disposal. First, you could stick with a 20:4 window for a while, since that was not causing a problem. You mentioned your goal is OMAD, so I would suggest that if you want to continue towards that goal, you push your window out less aggressively. Lengthen your 20 hour window to 20 hours and 15 minutes, and do that for a few days before you move it up 15 more minutes, for example. If at any point you experience digestive issues, go back to the window that was trouble-free.
You can also experiment with what food you break the fast with. Most people that deal with dumping have trouble with high-sugar foods, or greasy foods. Supplements, such as MCT and magnesium, can cause problems as well. Everyone has their own sensitivities. I recommend experimenting, taking good notes that you can refer to, and then avoiding anything that you find triggers dumping in you. Also, remember that your monthly cycle and hormone levels can mess with your bowel habits. It might even be you’re susceptible to dumping during one part of the month, but not during another. Oh, the joys of womanhood!
There is one thing that has caused dumping syndrome for me: high quality or concentrated chocolate. If I’ve been fasting for 20 hours, and then I have a piece of good dark chocolate with nothing else, that will send me to the bathroom fast. I also found that adding some cocoa powder to my coffee produced a similar, though more severe, result. If I’ve been fasting and someone offers me a piece of dark chocolate, I’ll eat it with some additional food. Cocoa powder in my coffee is something I avoid completely. Experiencing it twice (the first time out of ignorance, the second time to confirm my suspicions) was enough for a lifetime.
Otherwise, I break my fasts with abandon. I practice OMAD most days of the week, and I eat fried foods and high-carb meals with no issues. In late 2018, I did a 5-day fast, and I broke it with a charcuterie board (meat and cheese plate, for the uninitiated) and peanut butter M&M’s. I had no digestive problems at all. Go figure.
I wish you success with your investigations and experiments!
Kayla