Fiber for IBS - 101a
Sometimes it seems so simple I take it for granted. There are two kinds of fiber for IBS. One is FiberSure ™, which is 100% inulin and is made from chicory. The other is Heather’s Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber ™, which is 100% acacia fiber, from the acacia gum tree.
These are the fibers that are PREbiotic - see PREbiotics 101. One way you can tell is that they dissolve completely in warm water, leaving either clear liquid you can see through (FiberSure) or a suspension that settles into clear liquid if you don’t touch it for a while–Acacia Tummy Fiber.
I have seen posts uncorrected by the communities on forums (that I’ve recommended in the past) that say something like “I’ve changed to Weetabix–or Shredded Wheat–and I still have problems with IBS-C!” or it might be “Now I have yoghurt crunchies for breakfast, so that’s my fiber, but I still have IBS-D!”
I think there’s a disconnect in communication about your need for fiber if you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in any variety.
What I am talking about, and what Heather’s web site talks about, and what medical sites like the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Gastroenterology - IBS are talking about is not changing your breakfast cereal to treat your Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
We are all talking about
- the gradual increase of your daily dietary fiber amount from the maybe 3 gms of fiber to ten times that much,AND
- starting to get at least half of that amount in soluble fiber, AND
- gradually increasing the amount of fiber, most of it soluble, you have EVERY DAY to the recommended range.
In short, ignore the TV ads for cereals or other products that are “high fiber.”
Most of the time a serving of these advertised high-fiber products has as much as 3 gms of fiber in it. That’s one tenth of what you need in a day. Do you want to have ten servings of whatever it is? With milk, and/or containing wheat, and/or containing citric acid? Are you serious or just playing around?
It would be terrific if we people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) could get a lot of our fiber from fresh fruits and vegetables. Sadly, I at least don’t have the nerve to challenge my system with fresh carrots or apples, or GrapeNuts Flakes ™. Oatmeal–mixed soluble and insoluble fiber–works okay after your first dose of soluble fiber (Acacia or FiberSure).
[…] Warmup In this warmup for the second part of the series on Fiber for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), I want to talk about daily fiber intake. Isn’t that dull! There is almost nothing in the world that will convince me that I should keep a daily record of what I eat and its fiber content. […]
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