The INSIDER Summary:

• After dealing with chronic bloat and stomach problems, I decided to ditch salads.
• Raw, cruciferous vegetables are tough to digest because they're fibrous.
• If you have an unhealthy gastrointestinal tract or food sensitivities, then you're more likely to have a bad reaction to digesting raw vegetables. 
• I feel much better and way less bloated now.

If there's one food that screams "healthy," it has to be salad. The humble salad is the bland but dependable nutritious lunch choice that will make you look like a responsible eater (unless you add croutons and creamy dressing — no judgment). 

But this summer I learned that salad, unfortunately, just may be my body's enemy. 

I usually buy lunch every day and, up until a few months ago, my go-to choice was usually one of those build-your-own salad places, where I'd load up on kale, avocado, and other raw veggies, topped with an olive oil dressing.

But in the beginning of 2017, I began to notice a strange pattern of bloating.

It started when I was sitting at my desk at work and I realized that my pants did not fit. It felt like I had just finished a Thanksgiving meal: I was fatigued, felt extremely full, and had a full-on muffin top. The kicker? I had only eaten a healthy, protein-rich breakfast and a salad that day. Luckily, I was wearing a long shirt which allowed me to discretely unbutton my pants. 

The next day, the same thing happened. This time, I was wearing a loose top and only felt comfortable after I unbuttoned and unzipped my pants.

Some days I would feel like myself, but most of the time it looked like my abdomen had ballooned to almost twice its normal size. Even though I rarely over-ate and worked out regularly, I was never happy with how I looked or felt. 

My concern quickly turned into an unhealthy obsession.

Since I am naturally very thin, any weight gain on my frame is instantly noticeable, so I became paranoid. Even though it was the middle of winter, I spent one entire evening trying on last summer's bikinis and scrutinizing my reflection the mirror. Over the span of just five months, I looked like a reverse weight loss before and after photo. I felt about five to 10 pounds heavier, even though the number on my scale was no different than usual. 

I downloaded a food diary app and began chronicling everything that I ate — convinced that I had some form of food allergy. As a pasta-loving Italian, having a gluten intolerance would seriously be the end of my world. But after weeks of obsessively writing down everything I wrote, results were still inconclusive. I thought it might have something to do with my cycle, so I started researching both dietary and gynecological issues related to bloating online.

What made things worse was my job. I write about food for a living and love doing it. But these new issues caused my my passion for finding and reporting on everything delicious to become a source of endless frustration and plummeting self esteem. 

I felt uncomfortable wearing jeans and limited my wardrobe choices. With multiple friends who have suffered from eating disorders,  I know how easily an obsession with self-image can become something much darker. Thankfully, I did not go down that path.

I decided to ditch salads for good.

I was pretty close to scheduling an appointment with a gastroenterologist when I happened to speak with a friend's husband who told me that his wife had stopped eating salads because her body could not handle digesting raw vegetables. Since nothing else was working, I tried giving it a shot.

I had my last salad about six weeks ago. Since then, I try to bring lean proteins, brown rice, and cooked vegetables into work for lunch (or I at least buy the equivalent). I've found that by forcing myself to rely on home-cooked meals, I can control portion size and the cooked vegetables are noticeably much easier to digest than my usual fiber-rich salads.

Over the past two months, I've felt much better. My bloating issues have diminished substantially and I am no longer embarrassed to wear form-fitting clothing. I feel confident knowing that my appearance won't drastically change (at least in my mind) over the course of the day.

But is there any truth to the results of my experiment, or is it just pure coincidence?

I wasn't sure if the "fix" I was experiencing was the real deal, so I reached out to a registered dietitian about my raw vegetable conundrum. 

"Raw vegetables contain cellulose, a naturally occurring fiber which is good for your diet, but can be hard to break down," Grace Derocha, a registered dietitian at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan told INSIDER.  "What aids the breakdown of cellulose is cellulase,an enzyme. Your body produces cellulase naturally, but those with an unhealthy gut [...] may not produce enough to properly break down the cellulose in raw vegetables. Based on dietary restrictions like food allergies, some people may not be able to consume enough of the foods that create a healthy gut to produce cellulase effectively, making it more difficult to break down the cellulose found in raw vegetables."

In other words, some people with food allergies, sensitivities, or gut imbalances are prone to issues with digesting fibrous vegetables, which will lead to "bloating and discomfort."

Derocha suggested eating allium vegetables like garlic, ginger, onions, leeks, apples, and kiwi, which are rich in pre- and pro-biotics, to help aid with digestive issues. 

The important thing is eating what makes you feel good and best fuels your body.

I found a diet that works for me  — eating smaller portions of lean proteins, cooked vegetables, and healthy grains, while avoiding raw vegetables and fruits — but that might not work for everyone. Maybe you're the type who thrives on crunchy kale salads or you prefer to try a gluten-free keto diet. Perhaps you need to practice intuitive eating and quit beating yourself up over those extra calories consumed over the weekend.

Do I still have bloated days? Of course, especially when I haven't been to the gym for a week or two. But I no longer feel like a prisoner on a roller coaster ride of body image that fluctuates daily. That alone is worth doing away with salads for good. 

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