10 Jul Fiber… The good the bad and the ugly.

Consuming fiber is one thing your Dr will harp on about… because yeah it’s important, but like everything there is always a flip side. Especially when dealing with digestive issues and gut health/healing fiber can be a huge no-no!! So let’s clear up a few misconceptions about fiber because sometimes the worst thing you can do for healing your gut, depending on where about you are in your health journey..

Healing your gut is definitely going to force you to surrender to your body. Take a step back and really (and I mean REALLY) listen and take note of what’s working and what’s not. Do more of what works and don’t push through if something doesn’t feel “right” or causes symptoms to flare up.

Your body wants to regenerate and return to homeostasis.

Do you remember those “all bran” commercials on tv? Or the “metamucil” ones??

Haha it always used to make me laugh because I used to think constipation was a side effect of old age because the ads were full of old grey haired people.

The good news is there are plenty of other ways to add fiber into your diet other than cardboard disguised as cereal (cough cough all bran) and artificial sweeteners, gmo corn bulking psyllium husk drinks.

The bad news is that if you suffer from gut discomfort (ibs, ibd, sibo, gut dysbiosis) excess or added fiber could be doing more harm than good.

So now you’re totally confused dial into your body to see what might be helpful for YOU.

Health is all about individuality. No one treatment or approach will work for everybody especially when talking gut health. You gut ecosystem is so delicate is can start to change, damage AND heal in as little as a few days to a week.

Gut Health Fiber Don’ts:

The first thing you should do if you are going to attempt to heal your gut and gut health related issues is to remove all and any suspect foods such as sugar, dairy, eggs, wheat and gluten (pasta, bread and pizza are off the menu, so now would NOT be a good time to visit italy, even though its summer in the med), coffee and alcohol. The latter can be highly damaging and some of the other items can be aggravating or inflammatory on a damaged gut. However…one food group you might not suspect is FODMAP foods. Yes… some vegetables can be aggravating for some people.

FODMAP foods are foods high in fermentable fibers such as Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols, so for all of our sakes we will just call this group of foods FODMAP foods. These fibers act as a food source for your gut bacteria (good and bad) and ferment away in your gut. For someone that has a low diversity of the right species of gut bacteria fodmap foods can be a real issue because they can cause a lot of digestive upset such as bloating, gas, pain and diarrhea (but not limited to those symptoms only, it could be less obvious like brain fog or skin rashes). If you are going to eliminate fodmap foods (try 2 weeks) you want to pay really close attention to how you feel when you start to introduce then back into your diet. (Disclaimer: For someone that suffers from something like IBS or crohn’s you may never tolerate fodmap foods but that is a very extreme and worst case scenario, if you are suffering either of those i would highly recommend seeking medical intervention and work with a dietitian).

If you continue to have severe and uncomfortable symptoms or symptom flare ups… it’s wise to stay off them for a while longer until you continue along your health journey. It’s definitely a temporary measure, not a long term fix. Fodmap foods are highly nutritious and the fiber (in a healthy gut) can be very healthful.

The reason for the gut discomfort and symptom flare up could be due to an overgrowth of bacteria in your gut. Eliminating Fodmap foods will starve the population causing the issues. As i mentioned “in a healthy gut” you should have the right balance of bacteria to digest these fibers… but it might take you a few weeks or months to get your gut in a better place to tolerate fodmap foods.

FODMAP Foods are extensive so I recommend doing a quick google search to see if you might eat excess of these foods… maybe, just maybe could be a possible issue for you right now. Food for thought 🙂

Gut Health Do’s for fiber:

Now we have covered the dark side of fiber, let’s turn up the positive vibes because once your gut is in a more healthy way fiber can be very health promoting.

In a gut that has no overgrowth of issues with fodmaps, starting to add prebiotic fiber can be super beneficial to boost the right bacteria species to multiply and promote better health… because we know all health starts at a gut level.

Fiber is traditionally known for adding bulk to your stool, to help move your food along the pipe. However there are actually 2 types… prebiotic fibers that feed the bacteria and fiber that bulk up the stool and help it move along. Both can be beneficial.

Prebiotic fiber is amazing for helping to maintain and increase your bacterial diversity… it’s helpful but shouldn’t be overdone… just adding in a few veggies a week will help and be enough to keep your gut bugs happy and well fed. These foods are things like asparagus, onions, carrots, jerusalem artichoke, radish, leeks and tomatoes. Almost all other vegetables will contain the other type of fiber needed to bulk your stool and help everything along (as well as delivering an abundance of micronutrients, vitamins and minerals).  

For a healthy gut or for someone trying to replenish health and repopulate your gut bugs all types of fiber should be consumed as they offer a multitude of health benefits. Aiming for diversity in your choice of fruit and vegetables is ideal and to eat seasonally. Eating the same foods all year round and limiting your shopping cart to the exact same fresh foods can hinder your health… remember diversity is key in the foods you eat to ensure you are getting enough of both types of fiber.

So now the question you need to ask yourself is what are you eating lots of? Do you think you need to go back to gut health boot camp and test out a few foods that might be the cause of your digestive and gut related symptoms?