fiber

I'm 28 and I know I don't get that. Also, I found that a chewable supplement that I tried made my C worse when I had C and made my D worse when I had D. I am in the minority here when it comes to that odd reaction to fiber supplements, but there are a few others who get it too. Granted, that may not happen if I try a different brand of supplement, but as my guts are okay right now, I'm not interested in finding out.

Yogurt is not normally constipating UNLESS you have a diary intolerance. At which point it's not good for you to have. If you know for sure that yogurt constipates you, then you should not eat it, and should avoid all other dairy products (cheese being something that IS normally constipating, even for normal people).

This sounds defeatist, but there are plenty of people with C on here who get all of the recommended daily allowace of fiber and then some and still have C. There are people who don't get that much fiber who don't have C. While fiber supplements can really turn some people's lives around, they can't for some other people. I'm suspicious of the statement that because you have C, you don't have enough fiber; it's not always that simple or fixable. It may be for you, so you should try, but don't think it's your fault somehow if it doesn't work.

And I keep saying "fiber supplement" because it's generally hard for IBSers to get everything they need from food alone. Most IBSers have some problem with a lot of fruits and some vegetables. In people with D, it tends to make the D worse, in people with GERD, it tends to cause more indigestion, and in everyone it tends to cause more gas.

Bananas, by the way, are one fiber source you should avoid as they are naturally constipating.

Do a fiber count to see how much fiber you are getting a day, and then try to slowly increase that amount to see if you get any better. I say slowly because if you try and add a lot of fiber all at once you are sure to get gas and cramps.

Yeah, no one thinks about how much food you have to eat to get that much fiber, and that a small person is not going to have room to eat that much food. Fiberous foods typically don't have a lot of calories, but they have a lot of bulk. No matter what others say, don't eat more than you can hold/ don't make yourself sick with overeating. That's no help. Besides, smaller people have smaller intestines and should therefore need smaller amounts of fiber to get the same job done, right? Unfortunately, it sounds like you fall into the group of people who doesn't get much help from fiber.

Although, did anyone tell you that with C, you need more SOLUABLE fiber and less INSOLUABLE? Soluable fiber turns into a gel and it helps grease the works, as it were. Insoluable fiber is just bulk. Needless to say, you need more grease and less bulk (the opposite is true for people with D, which is why fiber can sometimes help them). The pulps of many fruits are mostly soluable fiber, as is most of the fiber in bread and crackers. Insoluable fiber is mostly located in the skins of fruits and veggies. Broccoli and cauliflower and apple skins and bell peppers are all very high in insoluable fiber. Now, everything that has fiber has both kinds--even fiber supplements--however, many things have more of one than another. If you peel an apple, you will have more soluable than insoluable fiber. It's the opposite with a bell pepper, though. You can get fiber supplements that have a lot more soluable than insoluable fiber in them.

Hi, I have IBS-C and I don't go on a regular basis even with taking a probiotic and using benefiber. Which one is better for constipation? soluable or insoluable?

Thanks.

I have IBS-C and seem to get better results with insoluble fiber (high fiber bran cereal) than with soluble fiber (metamucil, citrucel).  Maybe it's the miralax I also take that helps move the fiber along.

Gutastrophe:  What is a normal day of eating for you?  I too was taking fiber supplements when I was first diagnosed with IBS (Citrucel and Met.) but my C got worse. 

Mom2sophia said...
Gutastrophe:  What is a normal day of eating for you?  I too was taking fiber supplements when I was first diagnosed with IBS (Citrucel and Met.) but my C got worse. 

Oh boy.  Well, I don't think anyone should follow my plan BUT I don't eat anything until late afternoon BECAUSE if I did, I would be down for the count.  My first meal (and often my only meal, depending on how I react) is usually around four or five o'clock in the afternoon, after I've finished work and have no committments for the evening.

I always have a protien.  Along with that I include one or two of the following:

sweet potato, butternut squash, yam, brown rice, barley, lentils, turnips, rhutabaga, fennel, and so on.

On occasion, I will have a baked white potato or white rice, BUT I do find that they either don't help with elimination or, in the case of the latter, actually impede the process.  So I try to avoid them.

I use a lot of olive oil when I cook.

I drink 50-60 ounces of water a day.

However, even with the best possible diet, I still experience pain and discomfort (and some level of C) every day. 

I've concluded, over the last 30 years with this nonsense, that it's not the food itself but the eating and digesting of food.  I have done every diet imaginable for this disorder (including 2 full years of macrobiotics) and have never experienced a complete remission of symptoms.

My digestive system is just a bust from the mouth to the butt!