Acacia Tummy Fiber
#369599 - 06/11/13 06:15 AM
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I'm a little confused about the statement below;
'For the powders (Acacia Tummy Fiber, Citrucel, Benefiber, Metamucil) start at 1/2 - 1 teaspoon twice a day and over the next week or two (or three or four) work up to 2 tablespoons twice a day, or whatever is the equivalent of 10-12 grams of soluble fiber per day.'
As I understand it each tablespoon of Acacia contains 6 grams of soluble fiber. If you were to take 2 tablespoons twice a day (4 tablespoons total) would that not equate to 24 grams of SF per day? Not 12 (2 tablespoons per day) as it says above?
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IBS A. Managing my symptoms with the EFI/FODMAP diet and probiotics.
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"How much should I take? How often? When?"
If you're not currently taking a soluble fiber supplement, begin with a low dose of Acacia (try 1/2 level teaspoon twice daily) and gradually increase. This means a level measuring/baking teaspoon - not a teaspoon that you'd use to stir a drink or eat soup. A utensil teaspoon is much larger than a measuring teaspoon. And a level teaspoon is about half of a fully rounded teaspoon. So you can inadvertently start at a much higher dose than intended if you're not using a level measuring teaspoon. As you gradually increase your dose, you can get to a maximum level of about five tablespoons a day total (divided doses are preferable). This means a measuring/baking tablespoon. You do not HAVE to get to the maximum dose, and if you stabilize at a lower dose please feel free to stay there. Take your time as you increase your dose - slow and steady is much, much better than racing to a higher dose before your gut is used to the increase in fiber.
Raise your Acacia fiber dosage level by 1/2 - 1 teaspoon at a time, every few days or every week, until your bowel function has stabilized. Diarrhea and spasms should resolve in just a few days, especially as you increase your fiber dose; constipation, particularly if it has been chronic and severe, may take several weeks. Try to gradually increase your Heather's Tummy Fiber™ until you're taking 15-25 grams daily (this is about 2-4 level tablespoons); if you stabilize at a lower dose, simply stay there. It's always best to divide your daily dosage of Acacia into two or three doses (or even four), as the whole point of taking a soluble fiber supplement is to keep your gut filled with soluble fiber at all times. This will help to prevent bowel dysfunction and abdominal pain in the first place, and with IBS it's always better to keep yourself stable and head off problems, instead of trying to resolve attacks once they've begun.
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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Okay, so there is between 6-7.5 grams of fibre per tablespoon of acacia. thanks.
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IBS A. Managing my symptoms with the EFI/FODMAP diet and probiotics.
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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