I was reading a thread wherein one poster said fiber was bad because we were pampering the muscles in our intestinal tract by using fiber to power wash material out of our body (I paraphrased)
So what is the deal? I watch my fiber, if I have too many protein shakes and not enough vegetables I supplement, or if I am taking iron pills.
Is this really something worthy or a daily worry or a conspiracy theory?
I just eat fruit and vegetables and don’t worry about my fibre intake the same as I don’t worry about any particular vitamin or mineral.
Our bodies respond well to fruits, vegetables and animals.
KISS.
Hi, you are probably paraphrasing me. Look, I am not anti-fiber, per se. However, I don’t think fiber supplemention should be taken as a cover-up for poor bowel health. A lot of people start getting constipation and immediately head for the psyllium or, worse, Metamucil. I think it would be wiser to head for the bottle of probiotics instead.
A lot of us have poor intestinal flora due to past/present use of antibiotics, etc. Probiotics can restore healthy intestinal flora and thereby restore healthy bowel movements. Mind you, probiotics aren’t new (though the name is). People have been getting probiotics from such sources as kefir, yoghurt, fermented foods, pickled (real pickles, not the crap soaked in vingear) for ages.
In my opinion therefore, adding fiber supplementation is not getting at the root cause of the problem. It is addressing a symptom. Constipation is the symptom. Fiber supplementation might be a quick, temporary fix, but probiotics go to the source of the problem.
This is just my opinion, based upon my readings.
[quote]Spry wrote:
I just eat fruit and vegetables and don’t worry about my fibre intake the same as I don’t worry about any particular vitamin or mineral.
Our bodies respond well to fruits, vegetables and animals.
KISS.[/quote]
I am taking iron for low iron and calcium to protect my bones!
but I was thinking simple is best also
[quote]entheogens wrote:
Hi, you are probably paraphrasing me. Look, I am not anti-fiber, per se. However, I don’t think fiber supplemention should be taken as a cover-up for poor bowel health. A lot of people start getting constipation and immediately head for the psyllium or, worse, Metamucil. I think it would be wiser to head for the bottle of probiotics instead.
A lot of us have poor intestinal flora due to past/present use of antibiotics, etc. Probiotics can restore healthy intestinal flora and thereby restore healthy bowel movements. Mind you, probiotics aren’t new (though the name is). People have been getting probiotics from such sources as kefir, yoghurt, fermented foods, pickled (real pickles, not the crap soaked in vingear) for ages.
In my opinion therefore, adding fiber supplementation is not getting at the root cause of the problem. It is addressing a symptom. Constipation is the symptom. Fiber supplementation might be a quick, temporary fix, but probiotics go to the source of the problem.
This is just my opinion, based upon my readings.[/quote]
it might have been you!
so it isn’t you are anti-fiber, you are pro-probiotics
got it!
It does help, but as with anything I’m sure that moderation is key.
[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:
entheogens wrote:
Hi, you are probably paraphrasing me. Look, I am not anti-fiber, per se. However, I don’t think fiber supplemention should be taken as a cover-up for poor bowel health. A lot of people start getting constipation and immediately head for the psyllium or, worse, Metamucil. I think it would be wiser to head for the bottle of probiotics instead.
A lot of us have poor intestinal flora due to past/present use of antibiotics, etc. Probiotics can restore healthy intestinal flora and thereby restore healthy bowel movements. Mind you, probiotics aren’t new (though the name is). People have been getting probiotics from such sources as kefir, yoghurt, fermented foods, pickled (real pickles, not the crap soaked in vingear) for ages.
In my opinion therefore, adding fiber supplementation is not getting at the root cause of the problem. It is addressing a symptom. Constipation is the symptom. Fiber supplementation might be a quick, temporary fix, but probiotics go to the source of the problem.
This is just my opinion, based upon my readings.
it might have been you!
so it isn’t you are anti-fiber, you are pro-probiotics
got it!
[/quote]
I eat yoghurt and volia - I have calcium and some bacteria!
But I don’t supplement these things.
Those special pro-biotic drinks have been found to do more harm than good by the way with more bad bacteria being found in some test subjects.
The root cause of any dietary problem is not eating fruits, vegetables and animals.
Again, KISS.
[quote]Spry wrote:
Those special pro-biotic drinks have been found to do more harm than good by the way with more bad bacteria being found in some test subjects.
[/quote]
Which probiotic drinks? Surely, you don’t mean ALL probiotic supplements have more bad bacteria than good. Please specify.
Besides, as I said, most diets of healthy cultures include fermented foods that supply good bacteria (otherwise known as probiotics). It’s only fairly recent with industrialization that our pickles, sauerkraut, etc stopped being fermented naturally. These fermented foods are cheap, easy to make, and great sources of good bacteria. With a small effort, you can make them yourself andy don’t need to buy them at Whole Foods for exorbitant prices.
I got a bit too into my fiber intake recently - Was routinely having 45+g of total fiber a day… the end result was epic constipation and constant bloating.
[quote]entheogens wrote:
Spry wrote:
Those special pro-biotic drinks have been found to do more harm than good by the way with more bad bacteria being found in some test subjects.
Which probiotic drinks? Surely, you don’t mean ALL probiotic supplements have more bad bacteria than good. Please specify.
Besides, as I said, most diets of healthy cultures include fermented foods that supply good bacteria (otherwise known as probiotics). It’s only fairly recent with industrialization that our pickles, sauerkraut, etc stopped being fermented naturally. These fermented foods are cheap, easy to make, and great sources of good bacteria. With a small effort, you can make them yourself andy don’t need to buy them at Whole Foods for exorbitant prices.
[/quote]
I’m sorry I don’t have any links to studies but this was on 60 Minutes about a fortnight ago (Australian version).
Its not that the probiotic drinks were found to have ‘bad’ bacteria.
But with random subjects (I think there was only 10 people in the group) about 3 of were found to have more ‘bad’ bacteria in them after a few weeks of taking probiotics.
Something like half reported no change.
The rest did indeed have more ‘good’ bacteria.
The report stated that we don’t know enough about this to actually gurantee that these drinks will work (and not actually cause more harm than good).
The test was conducted using a popular brand of pro-biotic drink but I don’t remember the name.
[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:
I am taking iron for low iron and calcium to protect my bones!
but I was thinking simple is best also
[/quote]
If your drinking a whey shake that has a surprisingly high level of calcium in it. More so then milk or yoghurt. It might be a better, cheaper, substitute for Ca tablets. Also, Ca can prevent the absorption of iron, or at least hinder it. So you shouldn’t consume them at the same time.
I think the whole fiber thing is mostly a conspiracy theory unless your taking huge amounts of fiber beyond the rest of your dietary intake. For example, if you get under 10g from your food and then supplement with 40g… Probably a bad thing. But i don’t think supplementing with 10g would be a bad thing.
Shit all those probiotics that people are consuming need something to cling to, feed from, etc.
I remember an interesting article that explained the problem with poorly function smooth muscle tissue and the digestive system is the excess consumption of stimulants. which prevent the stimulation of the muscles in the digestive system. just a thought.
[quote]Beatnik wrote:
OctoberGirl wrote:
I am taking iron for low iron and calcium to protect my bones!
but I was thinking simple is best also
If your drinking a whey shake that has a surprisingly high level of calcium in it. More so then milk or yoghurt. It might be a better, cheaper, substitute for Ca tablets. Also, Ca can prevent the absorption of iron, or at least hinder it. So you shouldn’t consume them at the same time.
I think the whole fiber thing is mostly a conspiracy theory unless your taking huge amounts of fiber beyond the rest of your dietary intake. For example, if you get under 10g from your food and then supplement with 40g… Probably a bad thing. But i don’t think supplementing with 10g would be a bad thing.
Shit all those probiotics that people are consuming need something to cling to, feed from, etc.
I remember an interesting article that explained the problem with poorly function smooth muscle tissue and the digestive system is the excess consumption of stimulants. which prevent the stimulation of the muscles in the digestive system. just a thought.[/quote]
I am supplementing with calcium due to mother and grandmother having severy osteoporosis… I am fine right now… so this is just a precautionary.
I have had low iron levels before so I don’t take it daily, I just take it every other day, but I didn’t know about the interaction with calcium so thanks for that!
The whole fiber thing has just been such a buzz word lately. I don’t take my supps near when I take my fiber supplement. At work folks are trying to consume 30gs of fiber with that Metamucil lemonade stuff before breakfast! They read an article that said if they do that it will reduce the amount of calories they absorb.
now… do you know how awful it is to sit in cubicle city with fiber victims?
[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:
now… do you know how awful it is to sit in cubicle city with fiber victims?[/quote]
I’m a fibre villian myself.
Brocili and Sardines everyday.
I’ve had death threats.
The action of fiber reducing the amount of fats absorbed is when the fiber is eaten with a fatty meal. A small amount of fat is absorbed by the non-soluable fiber and carried through instead of being digested.
Fiber for breakfast wont have much effect on a peperoni pizza at dinner.
[quote]Spry wrote:
OctoberGirl wrote:
now… do you know how awful it is to sit in cubicle city with fiber victims?
I’m a fibre villian myself.
Brocili and Sardines everyday.
I’ve had death threats.
[/quote]
he he… he typed fibre… oh the exotic foreigner!!!
do you seriously eat that stuff at work?
I bet everyone is afraid to light a match
[quote]SkyzykS wrote:
The action of fiber reducing the amount of fats absorbed is when the fiber is eaten with a fatty meal. A small amount of fat is absorbed by the non-soluable fiber and carried through instead of being digested.
Fiber for breakfast wont have much effect on a peperoni pizza at dinner.
[/quote]
wait a minute…
so if I eat oatmeal with a piece of pizza I won’t absorb as much fat?
but unless I have a cholesterol problem my main concern would be calories not fat… right?
[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:
Spry wrote:
OctoberGirl wrote:
now… do you know how awful it is to sit in cubicle city with fiber victims?
I’m a fibre villian myself.
Brocili and Sardines everyday.
I’ve had death threats.
he he… he typed fibre… oh the exotic foreigner!!!
do you seriously eat that stuff at work?
I bet everyone is afraid to light a match
[/quote]
Bah. None of you can spell the Queen’s english correctly.
Actually I don’t fart all that much with respect to my previous life of McDonalds, KFC and Kebabs for lunch at work.
In fact, my shit doesn’t stink either.
But the fish and steamed greens? They smell like shit when warmed up…
I’ve noticed this too…
Ever since getting my diet on track a couple of years ago, my shits haven’t stunk (well I’m sure they do but not like it used to). My roommate, who is a fatass and eats like nothing but burgers (literally, all I’ve seen him eat so far these past 2+ months was burgers and fries) has the nastiest shits. I almost throw up when I go in after he’s done with the toilet. Thank god for Febreeze.
[quote]pzehtoeur wrote:
I’ve noticed this too…
Ever since getting my diet on track a couple of years ago, my shits haven’t stunk (well I’m sure they do but not like it used to). My roommate, who is a fatass and eats like nothing but burgers (literally, all I’ve seen him eat so far these past 2+ months was burgers and fries) has the nastiest shits. I almost throw up when I go in after he’s done with the toilet. Thank god for Febreeze.[/quote]
oh man
only on this website
but you mean you have dialed in your veggies and fats right?
[quote]pzehtoeur wrote:
I’ve noticed this too…
Ever since getting my diet on track a couple of years ago, my shits haven’t stunk (well I’m sure they do but not like it used to). My roommate, who is a fatass and eats like nothing but burgers (literally, all I’ve seen him eat so far these past 2+ months was burgers and fries) has the nastiest shits. I almost throw up when I go in after he’s done with the toilet. Thank god for Febreeze.[/quote]
Reason #8,943,537,323,621 why I will never have a roommate.
I hate smelling other’s poop.