too much fiber?

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xdudeitsliz
xdudeitsliz Posts: 38
in Health and Weight Loss
Is too much fiber bad for you? I know for women, you should eat around 25 grams a day but there are days where I am hitting between 30-40 grams and I don't know if it is bad to get too much or not really something you should be concerned with? I have no digestion issues or anything like that because I eat what I should in protein.. Just a question because I'm not sure of the answer :)

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  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    There are 2 main issues with eating too much fibre... first is digestive problems but that is easily rectified with increased water intake. The second is that too much fibre can affect the way nutrients are absorbed ie fibre will push the food through your system more quickly and you risk malabsorption and therefore nutrient deficiencies. That said, I don't think that would be the case at 30 or so grams a day. Hope that helps.
  • MacguyverMommy
    MacguyverMommy Posts: 104 Member
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    I find that I need to get at least 30 grams to be "regular," and I'm a vegetarian who eats lots of fruit and veggies-- I love my cereal and protein bars though, which also give me extra fiber.

    Sometimes if I have too much tho, I get the reverse effect and thats not fun...:embarassed: ...also when the BMs aren't solid, thats too much fiber. (and the malabsorption of nutrients is very evident when that happens)

    35 grams for women I think is a good goal... unless you're like my mother or my husband who have amazing digestive systems and could eat cheese all day ad still poop! :ohwell:
  • perrim
    perrim Posts: 117
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    really we should be getting more like 40-50 grams of fiber a day but SLOWLY increasing to that amount. Like previous posters have said, it can cause major digestive issues otherwise. Drink lots of water and try to get all of your fiber from whole foods (not the store!), produce, whole grains, etc. Not but supplements unless you need to, which you don't if you're already getting 30-40 grams.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
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    really we should be getting more like 40-50 grams of fiber a day but SLOWLY increasing to that amount. Like previous posters have said, it can cause major digestive issues otherwise. Drink lots of water and try to get all of your fiber from whole foods (not the store!), produce, whole grains, etc. Not but supplements unless you need to, which you don't if you're already getting 30-40 grams.

    Thanks for that, I was getting worried! I eat 40-50g fiber daily and probably have for years (just only noticed the official total with MFP) I love my All-Bran but I do limit it to one bowl a day, sometimes I have an All-Bran bar but that is rare. My digestive system is great, much better than it used to be years ago before I started watching what I ate. Restaurant food would instantly make me sick but hey, I'd like to think I didn't gain any weight as a result, lol! (I know that is incorrect - no worries!)

    I drink 4+ Siggs a day so that almost 10 glasses of water.

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