Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Insoluble fiber is not the answer!

Please please PLEASE read about the IBS diet on this site. Eating loads of insoluble fiber will not help with IBS-C! You must get both soluble fiber and insoluble fiber, and soluble fiber must be your priority.

I speak from experience: in my 20s, I tried real hard to deal with my constipation by eating bran cereal and raw carrots. It really didn't help for more than a week, and I would still suffer a lot from cramping and bloating. I occasionally get D from stress, and believe me, that diet was a real misery then!

Now that I max out on a soluble fiber supplement (acacia most of the time) and make sure I eat bread or rice before my fruits and veggies, I am much happier. The cramping is managable, and I'm truly regular for the first time I can ever recall.

I highly recommend Heather's books. You do have to make a mental note to yourself to emphasize insoluble stuff a bit more than she does, since us C-predominant folks need it more than D-predominant ones. But insoluble fiber has to play second fiddle to soluble fiber.

Take a look around the site - you can start learning a lot here!

--AC

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