More than half of the people that I’ve consulted with over the past 2 years have chronical problems with constipation (find it difficult to take a poop) and bloating (stomach get’s big after eating meals).
Having digestive problems is extremely common for skinny-fat men, because the way you digest food is a good representation of your overall health, and the same goes for the way you look.
The medical term for chronical constipation and bloating is called Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
A lot of you reading this have Irritable Bowel Syndrome without knowing it. I know because I had it for my entire life and thought that it was normal to spend 30 minutes each morning on the toilet and looking like a balloon full of air the entire day.
Well, it may be normal, but it’s not optimal.
In this article, I will explain how I cured irritable bowel syndrome.
Let’s get started:
How I Cured Irritable Bowel Syndrome With Pineapple
Here’s what I do everyday to keep my bowels moving smoothly while eating almost all of my favorite foods: I eat a slice slice of pineapple with breakfast and my Irritable Bowel Symptoms symptoms are +90% gone.
I got this tip from a random thread that I stumbled upon on reddit a long time ago while googling around for Irritable Bowel Syndrome-relief:
This person recommended pineapple, and I’m a guy of action, so I ran to the grocery store right after reading it and got a pineapple.
The next day I ate a slice of pineapple with breakfast, and to my surprise I spent no more than a few minutes on the toilet and felt light the entire day!!
I continued with this for a few weeks, and the trend persisted: pineapple completely transformed my digestive system.
Here’s another reddit reader who added pineapple to her diet and thereby eliminated her irritable bowel symptoms:
Now, the big question is: Can science explain the usefulness of pineapple for treating irritable bowel syndrome?
Potential Anti-Inflammatory and Digestive Benefits of Bromelain (Found in Pineapple)
According to whfoods.org, pineapple contains bromelain which has anti-inflammatory and digestive benefits.
Pineapple also reduces excessive coagulation of the blood and certain types of tumor growth and healthcare practitioners have reported improved digestion in their patients after adding pineapple to their diet.
Finally, pineapple is also a great bodybuilding food since it’s high in potassium, and potassium helps you achieve that “vascular” look where it looks like your veins are popping out of your body.
6 Awesome Meals I Can Eat After Adding Pineapple To My Diet
After adding pineapple to my diet, I’ve not only improved my digestion and vascularity, but I’m also able to eat a big variety of great meals which I previously couldn’t.
If you’re a long time Irritable Bowel Syndrome-sufferer and you’ve tried an elimination diet, you know how much of a relief it would be to be able to eat your favorite foods without getting constipated and bloated.
The kind of meals you can eat on an elimination diet are pretty much TASTELESS and boring unless you stock up on special spices and sauces from health shops and cook all of your meals.
The problem with IBS elimination diets is that you start looking at food as fuel and you eat for function rather than pleasure.
That’s a huge problem because food has always been something that brings people together for enjoyment, and missing that enjoyment means giving up an important part of your day.
Contrary to what some fitness gurus would like you to believe, food is not just fuel. Food is used for pleasure after doing hard work and it brings people together.
Luckily, pineapple saved me and I can now eat a huge variety of food, including low fat dairy products. (All dairy used to give me bad acne, constipation and bloating, but now I can eat low fat dairy products without issues).
In other words, pineapple has improved my life quality a lot by making it much easier to eat out and having a varied diet where I look forward to my meals instead of dreading eating the same cleans foods over and over again.
You can see 6 of my recent meals below…
(1) Salmon and Guacamole on Rye Bread
(2) Double Burger and Peanut Butter Smoothie
(3) Home Made Double Burger
(4) My Favorite Polish Meal: Pierogi Ruskie and Kielbasa
(5) Pistachio Cake
(6) Rib-Eye Steaks and Sweet Potatoes
(For regular picture and video updates of my meals, workouts and travels: follow me on Instagram)
While eating these meals is delicious, I want to emphasise that I don’t eat huge burgers and pistachio cakes all day everyday.
I eat healthy clean meals such as rib eye steaks and sweet potatoes 80% of the time, and then use the remaining 20% to eat whatever I want.
Besides that, I eat moderate portions throughout the day and reserve big feasts such as the burgers above to after a 1.5-2 hour workout because your body’s digestion is heightened after a rigorous workout.
With that said, I do still get constipated and bloated once in a while, but it’s so infrequent now that it doesn’t bother me.
Will Pineapple Alone Cure Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
After reading this article, you may be convinced that eating pineapple alone will fix all your digestive issues, but that’s unfortunately not the case.
When I added pineapple to my diet, I was already living a healthy life style which means I exercised daily, ate foods that my body does well with 80% of the time, managed my stress well.
No amounts of pineapple can make up for huge lifestyle flaws such as lack of exercise, eating too much food on a daily basis and being chronically stressed and burned out.
To find the diet rules that will work for you, I suggest that you keep an open mind and experiment.
A good place to start is to add that slice of pineapple to your breakfast, eat light meals throughout the day, exercise 60 minutes daily, cut out wheat and high fat dairy products, and then see how you feel after a week.
Besides that, also consider reducing your protein intake to 80-130 grams a day, since foods high in protein can be difficult on the digestive system.
And that’s about it. This article explained exactly how I cured irritable bowel syndrome, so I hope you found it useful.
Be proud but stay hungry,
Oskar Faarkrog
PS: Added tip: Try dandellion root tea. 2 big tablespoons per day with breakfast! I found this to be the best remedy for constipation and water retention.
Toilet photo credit: BuzzFarmers
Pineapple Photo Credit: Denish C
12 Training and Diet Lessons for Skinny-Fat Guys
I bought a small can of Del Monte pineapple juice and it is yummy!! I hope it helps my IBS symptoms. I have both, diarrhea and constipation with what I call “labor pains” when I’m having a flare up. I’ve been to the ER several times, with nothing helping-my GI dr did a colonoscopy and endoscopy and really found nothing very alarming. Put me on Levsin and Zofran-it helps some but there has got to be more that I can do for myself to help my stomach and intestines. When the pain comes, it literally almost makes me pass out! I think I’m going to add pineapple and pineapple juice to see if it helps. Thank you for all your posts! I would’ve never known about this without scrolling online. Keep fingers crossed for me🤞
Use real fruit or vitamin enzymes. Canned foods have added sugars and chemicals
Hi Oskar,
I’m on my fat loss but i’m not certain if i should do fat loss or bulk because when i look at my body.
My workout right now:-
– Squats (12 reps)
– Bent over rows/Inverted rows (10 reps)
– Dips (10 reps)
– Diamond push up (First set: 20 reps, Other sets: 17 reps)
– Push up (10 reps)
– Sit-ups (15 reps)
[ I did this for 4 sets ]
I want to ask what should i eat because when i eat lunch and dinner i always got bloated. Can u give me a sample meals for my fat loss?
Hope u can help me Oskar :)
Not everyone with IBS has constipation. Some people have chronic diarrhea and some cycle between the two, dealing with alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhea.
Pineapple is often not a good choice if your IBS causes you to regularly struggle with diarrhea.
Hi,
Actually Bromelain has been the only thing that has helped me with my IBS and my inflammation throughout my body.
I am able to function now.
Hi Oskar – are you still benefiting from pineapple and still eating just one slice a day? Any other tips?
Yes I am. I also found that water melon works very well for constipation.
Thank you for the reply.
Hows the watermelon going? What quantity do you recommend?
I’ve been drinking this fiber drink. After i drink this i end up pooping 1-3 times a day. It is good for me to continue drink this fiber drink? And i eat pineapple but still bloating after drink some water or after eat some meals. How do i prevent this from happening?
Thank you Oskar! :) tried eating a slice of pineapple today with breakfast and had absolutely no IBS problem in a long, long while.. I owe you one. Cheers! :)
That’s great to hear Sudarshan. I’m glad the pineapple advice helped you out!
To the bloated people, myself included.
Try the bloodgroup diet, there’s a plenty amount of food you can it, while keeping non effective food away.
I can eat up stomach burst amount of food just before sleep, and have no discomfort, tightness and bloating over night and in the morning.
All I do have in the morning, is healthy appetite.
Also, I drink mostly water, sometimes in the morning seep squeezed lemon, honey, kurkuma mix.
Throughout the day, only pineapple 100% juice is what I occasionally drink.
Also oats is healthy, bu do you soak it for 7 hrs? I avoid it alltogether an use buckwheat instead.
All flours should be soaked 12, even better 24 hrs.
Not soaking grains, flours and seeds makes you nutrient deficient, not rich.
Eating too much goitrogenic vegetables? Broccoli, cabbage and others, look on the net for them.
Unexplaiable throat pain in the morning…thats it.
It’s all in the blood group specific food types. There are positive, neutral and negative foods.
Eat neutral foods and cure youself with positive. Avoid negative to the fullest amount.
Once your digestion improves, and it in a matter of days, you can do occasional bu only occasional negative food intake. You will feel no harm from it, with sorted digestion.
Thanks I’m 53 yrs old female and so tired of suffering ,I also take protonix,bentyl,I really think it helps have u tried these meds,
I was brought here because I am so bloated I cannot sleep, and I remembered a pineapple experiment I did in an Anatomy & Phisiology lab for college. FRESH pineapple contains the digestive enzyme bromelain, however bromelain is absent in canned pineapple due to the processing. We experimented with Jello. If you try to put FRESH pineapple in gelatin, the gelatin will never “set” because the bromelain reacts (digests, if you will) with the protein in gelatin. Gelatin will set with canned pineapple in it though, because the bromelain is no longer present. Super interesting to figure out at the time.
Very interesting Amanda, thank you for sharing!
Pineapple also makes a fantastic addition to a spinach salad for a between-meal snack. It’s so moist and flavorful that you don’t even need dressing. :D
hey oskar
ı tried pineapple several times.ı can confirm that it helps digestion a bit.ı prefer to eat 1/3 of pineapple with my post workout meal where ı need help with digestion the most.
there is one thing ı want to know your opinion.ı am bulking for like 3 months except a 10 day break.ı have been experiencing a bloat but last 2 weeks,its like hell.ı am gaining strenght and weight in the same rate before but this bloat kills me.ı lowered my protein intake but it didnt matter.my suspects are beans and oats.
you have any suggestions other than pineapple?maybe its time to do a mini cut(not to lose fat but to get rid of the bloat)ı plan to decrease kcals from 3000 to 2200 for two weeks then get back to bulk
Great to hear Michael.
Try cutting out gluten, dairy, oats, bananas and beans. Also cut out whey protein powder.
What is left to eat after cutting out all of those groups??
Hi Oskar i love pineapple but unfortunately since I have gotten IBS now the pineapple gives me cramping and pain! Has anybody else found this? I cannot eat most fruit or veg ????
Hi Oskar Faarkrog,
Thanks a million for your article. It is very informative. As, I was wondering whether it is due to pineapple improved my IBS in these few days after eating pineapple for 12 days, until I found your article and the IBS symptom that you have described (i.e. problems with constipation, difficult to take a poop, bloating, stomach get’s big after eating meals) exactly match my symptoms. Besides, previously I have diagnosed with normal ileum inflammation too which you have mentioned pineapple is anti-inflammation, so all these points seem show that pineapple improve my condition and relieve me from EVERYDAY painful haemorrhoid and bleeding, at least no stomach cramp or pain these few days, no hard bowel movement and even 2 bowel movement every morning. Currently continue eat pineapple everyday and monitor the condition. Hope to see more article posted from you again, especially about IBS and diet =). Thanks again. Lastly, would like to share that enough 8 hours sleep everyday is important to improve IBS symptom too, so that bowel have enough time to rest.
Prebiotics like soluble fiber also help. From what I gather, tubers like sweet potatoes and jicama have more soluble than insoluble which are found in most fruits and other greens. Starches like potatoes and white rice can be mostly converted to resistant starches which act like soluble fiber; this involves cooling completely after cooking. They can then be reheated to retain the benefit.
This has helped me tremendously.
Is it one slice before or after breakfast or before / after every meal?
Last question, I read in one of you other blogs that you rarely eat chicken – any reason why?
If u r talking abt bromelain, then there is another good source of it..its BANANA..but not sure if it will work same as PINEAPPLE..btw also do some yoga and asanas..it will also help..btw today is world yoga day.
Great point about yoga. Stretching can help a lot.
I found that bananas make me constipated, so Im not sure why thats the case.
This article is fantastic, just what I needed.
I’ve always had constipation problems, but back when I ate a diet full of processed, unhealthy foods, I was managing to go regularly 1-2 times a day with ease (most of the time).
When I switched over to a healthy diet (paleo-ish with low carbs), my constipation became absolutely horrible.
The only time I could manage to go was when I was working out heavy on an exercise like squats or deadlifts, but that becomes annoying when you have to stop in the middle of a set to shit.
After reading this article and a few other sources online, I now wake up early in the morning to eat a breakfast consisting of unsweetened Greek yogurt with cut up pineapple thrown in it, some fatty nuts like almonds, and I take a magnesium pill and a probiotic pill and wash it all down with 2 big glasses of water. Hopefully that helps. Thanks again!
Also worth noting that the main source of bromelain is in the core of the pineapple. A lot of tinned pineapple has the core missing. I only came across this because I felt no difference in symptoms (gas,indigestion) by eating the tinned rings. Hope this helps :)
What about pineapple juice? Is it better to eat the slice?
When you say slice, how thick do you cut the slice? A photo of the slice would be great to know how much to have as I often get IBS as well.
If it’s 100% pineapple juice without added stuff, it will be the same as the slice. I often blend my pineapples with spinach and it works just as well.
Here’s my best description of the thickness: If you cut a thin slice, eat two slices at least. If you cut a very thick slice, one is enough.
I could take a photo, but the thickness differs everyday and the overall size also depends on the width of the pineapple. Better take a bit too much than too little :)
Let me know how this works out for you Michael.
Thanks Oskar, I will give this a try and see how it goes. I eat Pineapple often, but never really payed attention to the bloating until I read this article.
I will experiment with different types of pineapple, as some varieties can be sweeter or more sour than others.
Cheers!
So it’s been about a week. I have bought and finished 5-6 pineapples of different types, I’ve had it almost everyday. I have noticed a difference by feeling sort of lighter, and less bloated. I also have taken a few other tips and advice from other posts, so I’m not sure if it’s the pineapple, or the other tips too. Cutting out wheat, breads, sugars, helps, as well as avoiding dairy. I also noticed a negative response from too much Caffeine, and am tapering off of it now.
Your posts have made me pay more attention to my meals overall, so thanks a lot!
Great to hear Jon, I’m happy to hear the tips are working out for you! See you on Saturday
Hey hi I want to ask you a question. should a skinny-fat follow push/pull/legs or one muscle a day split ? because i read one of your post that you used to do somnys 5 split.
Pineapple is good, like you say, canned also, but please, dont drink canned pineaple water. Its like coca cola on steroids in sugar quantity.
Also completely avoiding gluten is a good bet. No need to be celiac, for gluten to do you harm.
Bloating, constipation, gas, too soft and smelly dump, more constipation, stomach pain in the morning…GLUTEN. Its everywhere…
I can now fill myself crazy just before sleep (rice, meat, veggies…), and wake up like a flower.
Excretion is tight, dehydrated (you loose liquid with soft sh*t), no more need for 10 papers to wipe ones a$$ etc ;)
Of course, drink a lot of water. At first, you WILL NEED to pee a lot, but after awhile, body will adapt, you will control peeing urge easier, body will be hydrated, more resistant, more powerful.
You wont have problems gulping 1/2 a liter at once and use it, not leak it.
Once you clean yourself, you will know exactly, when you eat “poison” (like processed junk), as your urine will smell toxic (similar to asparagus smell). But at least you know, your kidneys get the job done.
What do you think about water retention during a bulk?i can always keep my four pack but there is always a bloat and some water weight in my lower abs unless i am cutting
İt is the only thing that keeps me from bulking this summer
Hi,
Unfortunately we’re in winter now in the Southern Hemisphere and fresh pineapple is hard to come by. Just wondering if anyone has tried canned pineapple in unsweetened pineapple juice, if so does it work?
Canned pineapple is good too. I tried both fresh and canned, and both work.
I am so glad you mentioned that because not always easy to find it fresh here in the desert where I live
I’m happy to hear Linda
Any specific canned brand recommendations?
I’ve tried pre-sliced fresh pineapple from the supermarket, but they were not all effective. I’ve found only one supermarket fresh type to be effective.
I don’t understand how a canned version would benefit, as the bromelain content would be zero.
I find – no joke – grass fed butter a miracle cure for IBS. Adding grass fed butter (a teaspoon to coffee in the morning) keeps ‘everything working’.
The science behind it, short-chain-triglycerides in grass-fed butter nourish the fast-growing stomach and bowel cells (the life cycle of a bowel cell is just 4 days) and inhibit the growth of yeast which kills them.
I’m gonna try pineapple too. Love how much health giving benefits there are in simple food and lifestyle changes!
Thanks for the comment, I’ll definitely look into this.
I found that coffee helps me deal with constipation. I dont know if i “cheat” through the problem,or actually fix it though. What also helped me is to always accompany my meals with some sort of salad(lettuce,brocoli etc) and also adding vinegar on top of my salads (vinegar is proven to “ease” digestion)
Whatever works man :) I find coffee to give me the opposite effect, but everyone is different so keep doing what works for you. I’ll give vinegar a try and see how that works for me.
Hello Oskar,
I want to tell you briefly about my life for the past 3 1/2 years. I was a healthy, active, in great shape female until one day I awoke in stomach pain. My life has never been the same since. I have been diagnosed with 2 autoimmune disorders in addition to whatever is REALLY going on in my gut – I have been in the hospital dozens and dozens of times. I, like you, tried to find things to ease my pain and discomfort. I have 2 daughters and they are all I could live for. If not for them I no longer wanted to be alive. I have tried many, many, many, many things, flown to see expert, studied many theories, I cry as I sit here recounting the horror my life has been these past years. EVERY SINGLE MORNING I wake up (and at least now I do sleep, I went years in so much pain I couldn’t sleep) Along with other supplements, I started eating tons of papaya, I noticed that I felt better for sure. I travel to Hawaii frequently and found that Molokai papaya are the best so I had them shipped to my home once a week at a hefty price. I tried pineapple on and off, didn’t seem to get the same result – I like pineapple so I do eat it but it really hurts my mouth, like REALLY – so I have to eat small amounts. Well here is where your story comes in. I was out of town for a week but had bought an organic pineapple at Whole Foods. I cut it and left it in the fridge. I saw it last night and thought what a shame I had wasted the pineapple. I tool it from the fridge and it looks pretty good, super ripe I could tell. EVERY SINGLE DAY for 3 1/2 years – Oct 12, 2012 to be exact, I have been in SEVERE pain every morning – I manage the day after recovering but I am in so much pain I am hyperventilating. I have had several endoscopy studies, colonoscopy studies , swallowed a camera to see certain parts of my intestines, had a hida scan to see if my gall bladder was functioning properly, MRI’s CT scans, and I am sure I am missing something – countless blood tests. The doctors think that I had a very rare virus that they couldn’t find and it devastated my body. Well, keeping in mind that EVERY MORNING HAS BEEN HORRIFIC for me. I cut the pineapple up last night and decided to have it in bed at 11:00 pm – very late for me but I couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to waste the pineapple. In addition to being in pain, I just have this overall sick feeling like I swallowed gasoline or something (not that I have before but it’s so bad it seems as if that’s how you would feel) I ate a decent amount of the pineapple – very ripe pineapple, and immediately the roof of my mouth hurt very badly, it’s usually my tongue with pineapple but this time was the roof of my mouth. I probably have one of the highest levels of pain tolerance around so it didn’t bother me too much but was certainly painful. WELL GUESS WHAT Oskar!!!!!!!!! I woke up today, for the first time since October 12, 2012 and the pain was not there, I did still feel ill but not nearly as bad as normal. You have NO IDEA HOW IT FEELS TO NOT HAVE THAT PAIN FOR ONCE. I have been eating tiny amounts throughout the day (rinsing with water btw because it helps to wash the enzymes from the roof of my mouth) and I have hardly been in pain all day. I am typically just in pain on some level ALL DAY EVERY DAY – way worse in the morning. I just started looking up pineapple – I am pretty much a digestion expert at this point and have known very well that bromeline is a powerful digestive enzyme – for some reason, in this amount, at that time at night, right before falling to sleep – something happened. Something absolutely amazing, something that a couple hundred thousand dollars in medical bills over these past several years have not been able to accomplish, something that every pain medication and every other medication has not come close to accomplishing. I know it was only one night so far but I plan on eating it again tonight right before going to sleep. I know that the gut takes time to heal even when things are running smoothly so I don’t expect to wake feeling like my old self any time too soon – BUT this is an amazing start. I am so glad I came across your article. I suspected the pineapple may have played a role but now reading your article I am convinced and so excited to keep up the pineapple. I wish you were a trainer in my area I am soooo looking forward to trying to get my life back in many ways. I am going to the gym this evening for the first time in a VERY VERY VERY long time because I am in very little pain and just feel overall BETTER for the moment. I know it’s long and I could even make it longer but just know that I appreciate your article very much. I would love to get some tips from you on how to go about starting to lift weights again, etc when I haven’t done anything in so long but that can be another article. Thank you again so very much.
Hey Brenda,
I’m so happy to hear this article helped you! I’m about to go get some pineapple myself now after a few days of constipation.
Regarding training: I do online coaching with instructional videos of all exercises and weekly check-ins, and I’ve already trained a few females succesfully (one can do 10 pull ups after having kid) so if you’re interested just shoot me an email at [email protected]
Hi! I read about the possitive influence of pineapple on IBS and decided to try it. My main symptom was bad abdominal cramping that I had almost every day of my life. After starting the pineapple, the last 5 days hardly any cramping, so it seems to be working. I will continue on with the pineapple regimen!
Brenda, try kefir for your gut problems. Have had terrific results! Contains more probiotics than any pill. This is for pain, not constipation. Pineapple is wonderful, so keep it up and try kefir,also. Some stores have it with milk! Products , or order kefir grains online and make your own at home. Super easy and cheaper too. God bless!
How are you doing now?
This is also how I cured my stomach gas, they’ve been really helpful since I have stomach aches at night after a huge meal. Also I eat them when fresh since they really spoil much faster than any fruit. Thanks for the great post!