# Leftovers?



## Guest (Aug 22, 2001)

Hello Everyone. Is it just me, or does anyone else have a bad time with their bowels after eating heated up leftovers? I am IBS-C with diverticulosis, and when I even eat a small portion of say, heated leftover skinless chicken with maybe some green beans and mashed potatoes, about 40 minutes later (if not sooner) I have pain, bloating and the urge to "go." I take Librax before my meal along with Acidophilus/Bifidus capsule.....without relief. It is even worse if I heat up leftover Italian food. Why is this? Does anyone know or have you experienced this? Your input is appreciated as always. God Bless, Chris


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Chris, I have been a chef for over 12 years and I have heated up a lot of food and I cannot give you an answer to this, it might even be physcological which you might not want to hear, but the brain is powerful when it comes to food and if it happened once and you had a bad experience the brain will remember that, However, are you heating up the food so it is very hot?------------------Moderator of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Anxiety and Hypnotherapy forumI work with Mike and the IBS Audio Program. www.ibshealth.com www.ibsaudioprogram.com


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Chris, I have been a chef for over 12 years and I have heated up a lot of food and I cannot give you an answer to this, it might even be physcological which you might not want to hear, but the brain is powerful when it comes to food and if it happened once and you had a bad experience the brain will remember that, However, are you heating up the food so it is very hot?------------------Moderator of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Anxiety and Hypnotherapy forumI work with Mike and the IBS Audio Program. www.ibshealth.com www.ibsaudioprogram.com


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Not for nothing Chris, but I remember somebody here saying leftover rice, if allowed to cool to room temp. after the initial cooking before being put in the fridge, harbors some kind of bacteria. That particular bacteria evidently survives the re-heat. Best as I can remember anyway. So I'd watch leftover rice. Or put it in the fridge after the initial cooking while it is still hot. BQ[This message has been edited by BQ (edited 08-22-2001).]


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Not for nothing Chris, but I remember somebody here saying leftover rice, if allowed to cool to room temp. after the initial cooking before being put in the fridge, harbors some kind of bacteria. That particular bacteria evidently survives the re-heat. Best as I can remember anyway. So I'd watch leftover rice. Or put it in the fridge after the initial cooking while it is still hot. BQ[This message has been edited by BQ (edited 08-22-2001).]


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## Mike NoLomotil (Jun 6, 2000)

Ah. Leftover Syndrome. Great topic.BBQ'as reference to rice is bacillus cereus. It is a spore former and cooking does not kill the spores. Statistically it is one of the foods with a higher probability of causing contamination-trouble as people sometimes let the rice sit around after cooking it instead of getting it in the fridge quick. Even so it is a good idea not to eat leftover rice more than a day old, and never feed it to a little child or baby for sure if it is left over due to their diminuitive stature and immature defenses. Whats rice the cheapest #### in the world? Steam the iittle one a fresh batch and play it safe.As for the other leftovers you do not say how long they are left over. Cooked food is an excellent culture medium, and the longer the time span between exposure after cooking to putting it in the fridge the more time allowed for contamination and growth to begin. Without getting all technical the fridge retards gorwth but does not stop it, some peoples fridge is not cold enough, and they leave the food out to long, and some food is a better growth medium than others.So cover unused portions, refrigerate quickly, keep the frige cold, and eat them MAXIMUM before 72 hours has passed. Personally the 48 hour rule is safer because it errs on the side of caution.Also keep in mind that the primary function of the mucosa of the small bowel is immunologic" the digestive system and the respiratory tract are the two main protals of entry to the body for pathogens, and in IBS the gut immune function (and sometimes the respiratory immune function two) are, simply stated, "compromised" in a number of possible ways. So your tolerance can be lowered...and there may be certain foods that the initial dose (first time you ate it it) elicited a moderate or mild sensitivity reaction which is subclinical, and the second dose of the provoking food ingested later or the next day once in the small bowel provides a second provocation. Added to the first the "dose" is hiogh enough to elicit a clinically noticeable reaction.Food intolerances unlike food allergies are dose-time dependent and variable. You could write a book about this stuff.Oh. Someone did.ï¿½FOOD ALLERGIES AND FOOD INTOLERANCE: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THEIR IDENTIFICTION AND TREATMENTï¿½, Professor Jonathan Brostoff (M.D.. Allergy, Immunology and Environmental Medicine, Kingsï¿½ College, London) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089...6487508-3420903 Also here is a link that will lead you to stuff on food borne illness I think: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/3629.html Eat well, think well, be well.MNL_______________ www.leapallergy.com


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## Mike NoLomotil (Jun 6, 2000)

Ah. Leftover Syndrome. Great topic.BBQ'as reference to rice is bacillus cereus. It is a spore former and cooking does not kill the spores. Statistically it is one of the foods with a higher probability of causing contamination-trouble as people sometimes let the rice sit around after cooking it instead of getting it in the fridge quick. Even so it is a good idea not to eat leftover rice more than a day old, and never feed it to a little child or baby for sure if it is left over due to their diminuitive stature and immature defenses. Whats rice the cheapest #### in the world? Steam the iittle one a fresh batch and play it safe.As for the other leftovers you do not say how long they are left over. Cooked food is an excellent culture medium, and the longer the time span between exposure after cooking to putting it in the fridge the more time allowed for contamination and growth to begin. Without getting all technical the fridge retards gorwth but does not stop it, some peoples fridge is not cold enough, and they leave the food out to long, and some food is a better growth medium than others.So cover unused portions, refrigerate quickly, keep the frige cold, and eat them MAXIMUM before 72 hours has passed. Personally the 48 hour rule is safer because it errs on the side of caution.Also keep in mind that the primary function of the mucosa of the small bowel is immunologic" the digestive system and the respiratory tract are the two main protals of entry to the body for pathogens, and in IBS the gut immune function (and sometimes the respiratory immune function two) are, simply stated, "compromised" in a number of possible ways. So your tolerance can be lowered...and there may be certain foods that the initial dose (first time you ate it it) elicited a moderate or mild sensitivity reaction which is subclinical, and the second dose of the provoking food ingested later or the next day once in the small bowel provides a second provocation. Added to the first the "dose" is hiogh enough to elicit a clinically noticeable reaction.Food intolerances unlike food allergies are dose-time dependent and variable. You could write a book about this stuff.Oh. Someone did.ï¿½FOOD ALLERGIES AND FOOD INTOLERANCE: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THEIR IDENTIFICTION AND TREATMENTï¿½, Professor Jonathan Brostoff (M.D.. Allergy, Immunology and Environmental Medicine, Kingsï¿½ College, London) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089...6487508-3420903 Also here is a link that will lead you to stuff on food borne illness I think: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/3629.html Eat well, think well, be well.MNL_______________ www.leapallergy.com


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2001)

Thanks alot friends for your replies. I am going to just stay away from reheated food for awhile. I still have pain to-day!! I know that I store my leftovers properly and in the safe time-frame...so who knows what it might be? Someone even suggested that it might be fats coming to the surface after the food has sat in the refrigerator or freezer a couple of days, and my bowel rejecting that fat. Huh? Baffled By Bowel Blues Again....sounds like a good tune. Thanks again, God Bless, Chris


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2001)

Thanks alot friends for your replies. I am going to just stay away from reheated food for awhile. I still have pain to-day!! I know that I store my leftovers properly and in the safe time-frame...so who knows what it might be? Someone even suggested that it might be fats coming to the surface after the food has sat in the refrigerator or freezer a couple of days, and my bowel rejecting that fat. Huh? Baffled By Bowel Blues Again....sounds like a good tune. Thanks again, God Bless, Chris


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## Rose (Mar 25, 1999)

Hi Chris,As you know, I have "C" and diverticulosis also. Heated leftover food has never been a problem for me, unless it is a no-no food to begin with..in which case it would bother me whether is was just cooked or heated up the next day! As Eric said, it could be something psychological. I know lots of people who absolutely refuse to eat leftovers of any kind, because they just don't think its healthy to do so. The power of suggestion is pretty strong. It could be you once ate leftovers that were somehow contaminated and made you sick, so now every time you eat them you associate them with the time they really made you sick...hence you get sick. A perfect example with me is; I grew up eating and loving Fried Clams. When I was a kid, we used to get them every Friday night during the summer and I ate loads of them. Then once when I was a teenager, I ordered Fried Clams, that were obviously bad..because they made me deathly ill. To this day, I can't eat Fried Clams...I've tried several times, but I always get sick just like when I was a teenager.







And it's not that I can't eat fried food, because I can eat anything else that is fried. It is also not that I suddenly became allergic to clams...because I can eat clam chowder. I just cannot eat Fried Clams..it has to be psychological. Could be the same with you and leftovers?------------------"Remember To Stop and Smell the Roses"Rose (C-type)


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## Rose (Mar 25, 1999)

Hi Chris,As you know, I have "C" and diverticulosis also. Heated leftover food has never been a problem for me, unless it is a no-no food to begin with..in which case it would bother me whether is was just cooked or heated up the next day! As Eric said, it could be something psychological. I know lots of people who absolutely refuse to eat leftovers of any kind, because they just don't think its healthy to do so. The power of suggestion is pretty strong. It could be you once ate leftovers that were somehow contaminated and made you sick, so now every time you eat them you associate them with the time they really made you sick...hence you get sick. A perfect example with me is; I grew up eating and loving Fried Clams. When I was a kid, we used to get them every Friday night during the summer and I ate loads of them. Then once when I was a teenager, I ordered Fried Clams, that were obviously bad..because they made me deathly ill. To this day, I can't eat Fried Clams...I've tried several times, but I always get sick just like when I was a teenager.







And it's not that I can't eat fried food, because I can eat anything else that is fried. It is also not that I suddenly became allergic to clams...because I can eat clam chowder. I just cannot eat Fried Clams..it has to be psychological. Could be the same with you and leftovers?------------------"Remember To Stop and Smell the Roses"Rose (C-type)


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2001)

Rose, Thanks for your input once again. Yes, it could be that I have like a "mental block" when it comes to frozen leftovers. I know that I cannot and I mean CANNOT eat store bought frozen entree's or tv dinners without having a bad bout with my bowels, so maybe this has something to do with it. Food for thought as they say. But, Rose......fried clams? Yikes!! lol. God Bless, Chris


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2001)

Rose, Thanks for your input once again. Yes, it could be that I have like a "mental block" when it comes to frozen leftovers. I know that I cannot and I mean CANNOT eat store bought frozen entree's or tv dinners without having a bad bout with my bowels, so maybe this has something to do with it. Food for thought as they say. But, Rose......fried clams? Yikes!! lol. God Bless, Chris


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## Jennifer7 (Nov 13, 2000)

A doctor I went to 4 years ago was treating me for Candida (I know the controversy!) and he told me not to eat leftovers. Of course, sometimes I can't resist. The other day I had leftover spaghetti & for the first time since starting Lotronex I had a real case of D.


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## Jennifer7 (Nov 13, 2000)

A doctor I went to 4 years ago was treating me for Candida (I know the controversy!) and he told me not to eat leftovers. Of course, sometimes I can't resist. The other day I had leftover spaghetti & for the first time since starting Lotronex I had a real case of D.


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2001)

you mentioned potatoes.When potatoes cool there starch level increases dramatically. This is the case with some other foods as well (forgotten though). So perhaps thats why reheating them is giving you problems.


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2001)

you mentioned potatoes.When potatoes cool there starch level increases dramatically. This is the case with some other foods as well (forgotten though). So perhaps thats why reheating them is giving you problems.


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2001)

Thanks Jennifer and Dill. Your thoughts are appreciated. Dill, you mentioned potatoes and the starch thing, well, potatoes, or too much of them can bring on bloating and pain for me, so you might be on to something there. God Bless, Chris


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2001)

Thanks Jennifer and Dill. Your thoughts are appreciated. Dill, you mentioned potatoes and the starch thing, well, potatoes, or too much of them can bring on bloating and pain for me, so you might be on to something there. God Bless, Chris


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