Fiber For IBS

Many people are confused about fiber and i understand why. I used to be very confused as well. With all the labels saying dietary laxative or stool bulking agent. What does this all mean in simple terms.

There are two common types of fiber, soluble, and insoluble.

Soluble fiber absorbs water and turns into almost a gel type substance when water is added. So if you have diarrhea this is the type of fiber you want to concentrate most on having in your diet. This can be done by using foods such as rice, potatoes, ect. This can also be achieved by using a fiber supplement. If you are going to use a supplement(which you should use both a supplement and food) then you need to start gradually by using 1/6 of the daily recommended dose each time 3 or 4 times per day(morning evening, and once or twice with big meals). If you jump in all at once and your body is not used to having the fiber then you will most likely run into the opposite effect. It will give you MORE diarrhea.

TIP-Remember soluble fiber is water soluble so there must be water in your diet equation. try drinking 7-10 8 ounce glasses per day.  Spread the water out and don't drink within a half hour of each meal. The water can dilute your digestive enzymes and you don't want that.

Insoluble fiber is just the opposite of soluble, it is not water soluble so for those of you that are having constipation then you need to try to incorporate more of this in your diet. Don't worry this is very easy to do. Almost all Green veggies have insoluble fiber as well as nuts and legumes. You can find full lists online. 

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER- You MUST have both types of fiber in your diet. It is like a balancing act. You have to find the right soluble to insoluble ratio for you and try to stick with one that gives you 1-3 good bowel movements a day. Don't give up because this can take some time. Increase you dose 1 time per week until you reach the full daily 20-30 grams of total fiber usually closer to 30 is better.

TIP- If you find yourself going pee alot with drinking all this extra water try two things. Do some kind of exercise for 20-60 minutes per day. Usually starting with light stretching or yoga is good. Also put just enough celtic sea salt in your water that you can't taste it too much. This will slow the movement of water through the body because your body will try to extract all the minerals from the water. ALSO get your sleep 8-9 hours per day if not more will help in fighting ibs.

ANY QUESTIONS OR NEED MORE TIPS JUST ASK IN THE COMMENTS

Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Stress

THE FACTS

So there has been this on going discussion among the IBS world whether stress contributes to IBS. The answer is YES hands down, no questions about it. I could ramble on about all this proof and this and that clinical study but we all know that would be extremely boring. The bottom line is yes it can increase symptoms for those of us blessed with this disease.

DEALING WITH STRESS

There are many ways that people deal with stress. Some people remove large chunks of hair from their skull. Some people take it out on those around them, and then some people deal with is the right way. Stress works differently for different people, therefore there are different ways of dealing with it. My favorites are exercise, yoga, sleep, and tea.

EXCERCISE FOR STRESS

I think that dealing with stress through exercise is one of the best forms of release. You get to sweat out the stress and take your mind off of what is bothering you. Even if you can't seem to shake those negative thoughts subconsciously you are doing so. This also ties into sleep. We all know when you are tired you sleep better.

YOGA FOR IBS

This is by far one of the best ways to release stress and it also greatly aids in digestion for many people. This is not only because it reduces stress but many of the moves stregthen stomach muscles to help with motility. Many of the movements are geared toward digestion. Just make sure that when you go to a class or watch a video and at the same time have IBS-D that you are careful with the moves.

SLEEP AND TEA

I early on discovered a direct correlation between the amount of sleep I got and how I felt throughout the next day. Do yourself a favor and try to sleep as much as you can. Take naps or just close your eyes and relax completely it can help tremendously. As for tea, there are many teas geared toward stress reduction which are great. For me they just make me relax more and even for some of the stronger ones make me a little out of it. Sometimes I feel like I just need to be out of it for a couple hours. My only warning for tea is to make sure you read the ingredients carefully as to not drink anything that does not agree with your stomach.

Any questions just fire them off in a comment.