dietary fiber
 

So I try to eat fairly healthy and do a decent job at succeeding. One of the more recent (last 5 months) things I've incorporated in my diet is more fiber. But my body seems to be particularly sensitive to it. I know it can take a little time for your digestive track to get used to changes in the amount of fiber in your diet but mine has been just ridiculous. I skip a bowl of cereal...diarrhea. I have a sandwich on whole wheat that I normally don't have...diarrhea. I have my main source of fiber at night instead of in the morning (but still get the same amount in a day)...diarrhea. I'm sensing a pattern here. Is everyone else this sensitive? Do you think I'm getting too much or too little fiber? Basically my main source is from a big bowl of Fiber One (cereal) every day.

How much fibre are we talking about here? Historically, how much (or how little) fibre have you eaten? How much of a change in fibre intake was it?

That seems a bit excessive. You should speak with your doctor, especially if this has been going on for five months.

HI Zeraph,

A few things to keep in mind. When you normally eat a diet that is generally low in fibre, to introduce it into the diet, it must be done so slowly and gradually. No more than 2-3 g at a time and see how your body tolerates it. If you introduced it too quickly when your system is not use to it, it can cause diarrhea, bloating, flatulence and digestive problems. Remember, lots of foods contain fibre: fruits, vegetables, cereals, breads and legumes. You need 25-35g per day to get the maximal benefits and need to drink at least 2 L of water per day.

Try cutting back and sticking to fruits and vegies for a while. Once symptoms resolve, add 1 slice of multigrain/wholemeal bread see how you feel and go from there...

Good luck!

She-lish

Thanks.

What I was saying is that I've been doing it for 5 months or so and I'm fine unless I change it. I only get diarrhea when I change something, like eating cereal at a different time. And I was wondering if everyone is that sensitive.

I might be getting too much fiber but that's not my main question. Sorry if I phrased it badly earlier.

To my knowledge, I have never suffered from problems that can be attributed to fiber intake. I would consult your doctor about this, especially since no one else seems to be responding with a similar experience.

Do you have gluten sensitivity that you know of?

No. But what are the symptoms?

Symptoms of Celiac Disease(Gluten intolernace)

You may also be lactose intolerant.
Try the one week off, one week on and see if things change.

Have you considered that it could be the milk? Lactose intolerance will often be overlooked by other things.

Listen to She-lish though, I am told she is a pro. :) (Welcome to the forums)

this doesn't sound like a fiber issue - this sounds like something else. I second the notion of lactose intolerance. skip dairy and see what happens.

Yeah, sounds like some sort of intolerance to something, gluten or other.

It's not the milk. I only drink soy milk.

It looks like Celiac disease is hard to say because of all the possibilities, but I don't think so. I'll look into it further though.

I actually experienced stomach pain/nausea/diarrhea my freshman year of college when I used soy milk on my cereal in the morning. When I switched to regular dairy milk, the stomach pain and problems went away.

I'd look at certain elements in your diet on the days you have issues and try to cut things out individually. It's probably a sensitivity to something.

One thing I would definitely do is look at the balance of fiber in your diet--Fiber One is fine and dandy, but it mainly consists of insoluble fiber. You might want to think about increasing your soluble fiber intake; many of the health benefits associated with fiber are attributed to soluble fiber.

I think you do have a sensitivity somewhere, and I'm not sure it's the fiber that's the cause; I eat upwards of 30g of fiber a day without issue. Admittedly, I am not getting my fiber from a single source. Instead, I eat whole-grain breads, lots of legumes, lots of fruits and vegetables, and various kinds of cereals (oatmeal with flax seed is a favorite). Fruits, veggies, and legumes are all good sources of soluble fiber. Yum.

Try keeping a food diary for a couple of weeks. Every time you have an issue, make note of it. You may notice a pattern before too long.

Didn't know that! Good to know. Didn't realize F1 was mostly insoluble. But oatmeal is soluble? Guess it's time to head back to that.

Yeah, I've already started trying to narrow it down to what might be causing it. Today I skipped the cereal altogether, but still drank the soy milk.

Keeping a food and symptom dairy is always a recommended approach, especially when your not sure which food is causing the symptoms. If your symptoms to not subside though, see your doctor....he may diagnose you with Irritable Bowel Syndrome which is common when nothing specific is found in the stomach and gut area. Treatment is usually without meds and will be very much related to your diet and keeping a food diary to establish what you can or cannot tolerate. Diagnosing Coeliac disease is more invasive and needs a biopsy. You dont want it diagnosed unless its through this diagnostic procedure...trust me. Hope your feeling better soon.

Oh and thanks for the thumbs up Katyanna :)

I've experienced similar problems when my fiber intake goes up dramatically; I try to get a decent amount in my diet, but if I up that too suddenly, I get rumbly in the tumbly as it were. I'm also slightly lactose intolerant (I can handle a little bit of skim, organic milk; anything heavier and i'm screwed).

I really liked previous poster's idea of keeping a diary to diagnose food-related problems. Thanks, she-lish!

For one thing it doesn't work to get all your fiber from one source at one meal. Get some every meal and go for soluable and non.
There are many sources if you eat right. Fruits, veggies, whole grains - not just a bowl of cereal. And stay 100% away from refined flour and sugar - period.

As for side effects, that is normally lot's of gas, not the aquirts. You should probably see a doctor for that.

A lot of people are soy intolerant, me included. Some of us evolved to take in cows milk!

My wife tells me you should avoid soy that isn't fermented. Also, it's better to avoid estrogen-containing foods from a cancer perspective and unfermented soy is just that. It's why they tell women to drink it to help with menopause symptoms.

I think more people are lactose intolerant than they are soy intolerant.

Also, the estrogenic qualities of soy are different than the actions found in the human body, so much so that they actually compete with each other. This is why it has been documented that soy helps decrease the risk of prostate cancer and in some cases breast cancer.

Besides, soy milk has more fibre than dairy milk. :)

It seems like the constant here is diarrhea, not fiber. Perhaps your diarrhea has little to do with fiber.:confused:
I myself don’t usually eat a whole lot of fiber, because my usual “diet” is a carnivore’s diet, high in protein, quite a bit of fat, no sugar or white flour, and little in the way of other carbs, except for salads, berries, melon, and some from dairy.:)
However, with winter coming up I eat somewhat more carbs (and fiber) mostly because oatmeal in the morning is to me a kind of a “winter comfort food,” though I don’t eat it the rest of the year.
So, I’ve done this transition before, I go through a transition every winter, oatmeal gives me gas, and it usually takes me a few days to get past that. One thing that I do notice, though, is the effect of coffee. If I eat the oatmeal, and follow it with a couple cups of coffee at work it’s bad news. That oatmeal goes through me like a hot knife through butter. I tend to blame the coffee more than the oatmeal, but there is nothing worse than diarrhea and gas. Eeew.:thumbsdown: Anyway, yours sounds like more than just a transition problem.
I’m with onesnowyowl and she-lish on the food diary, too. Could really help you (or your doctor) in a diagnosis. I still keep one kind of off-and-on, (especially when traveling) and kept a dairy for several months when my new doctor wouldn’t believe that I really ate 1800 calories a day while maintaining a 112 pound weight.:)

Lindy