Fiber and bloating?

hinaisold · February 2015

So recently I've stared doing two new things and I really can't tell if this is normal or not.

I've just recently shifted into maintainance. I kept on adding a 100 calories after every 4-5 days until I reached the maintainance calories which is 1850 on a very lazy day.

I've also recently added a buttload of bran to my diet. They sell these 80% fiber breads here which essentially claim to have 80% wheat bran and 20% AP flour.

Now I can't tell if it's the increase in calories or the increase in fiber but I've been bloated a lot as of lately. I've been gassy and somewhat puffy. Added to that I've gained 3 kg over what I started maintainance on.

What I want to know is, could the increase in fiber or calories have caused the bloating? I highly doubt it's weight gain because the 3 kg gain happened over the span of a few days.

If so, will it subside? Any tricks to help it go away faster?
Other than the fiber bread and increase in calories, I haven't really changed the food I've been eating. I'm still eating what I did before.

Any help would be appreciated

nxd10 · February 2015

Too much fiber. My husband is a fiber expert, as he has serious GI problems.

In general, they recommend increasing fiber slowly as your guts get used to it. Exercise helps. WATER helps. Too much fiber without enough water and exercise will cause exactly the problems you describe.

Rather than eat extra fiber with bread, he uses Metamucil (plus good fiber in his diet). It's a vegetable fiber you mixed with water and drink. Easy and cheap and measured. Mix and drink it fast so it doesn't set up. You can get it at any pharmacy.

89Madeline · February 2015

Good to know! I also use Metamucil because of IBS (easily constipated) and that helps. But I just added more fiber in my diet with more fruit, chia seeds, etc. I am getting more gassy since a couple days, perhaps also too much fiber... (I'm going over the 25 grams a day). Twistytwist148, would be interested to hear if it gets better when you decrease fiber! I'll send you a friend request.

hinaisold · February 2015

nxd10 wrote: »

Too much fiber. My husband is a fiber expert, as he has serious GI problems.

In general, they recommend increasing fiber slowly as your guts get used to it. Exercise helps. WATER helps. Too much fiber without enough water and exercise will cause exactly the problems you describe.

Rather than eat extra fiber with bread, he uses Metamucil (plus good fiber in his diet). It's a vegetable fiber you mixed with water and drink. Easy and cheap and measured. Mix and drink it fast so it doesn't set up. You can get it at any pharmacy.

Well that explains a lot. I've been eating nothing but that toast as it fills me up and doesn't add much weight in calories.

monikker · February 2015

Lay off the fiber lol! My big question was why I didn't have more bowel movements when consuming more fiber...like, if I eat a Quest bar with 17 g fiber I should have to poop right? According to popular knowledge about fiber anyway...I don't have a problem with constipation but was curious, and I'm also trying to get some substances out of my body. So I googled it, and apparently fiber can make constipation and GI issues way way worse, and irritate those areas. So be careful I guess.

nxd10 · February 2015

You need a healthy balance. Many people who eat a diet that's too refined get very slow bowel movements, especially with little exercise. They get constipated if they guts move slowly or they can have chronic lose stools if they have active guts. You need a balance of lots of water, lots of exercise, and a decent mix of less refined foods. If you don't get enough fiber in your normal diet, you can add it by eating more bran or eating more digestible fiber - like what you find in fruit. Metamucil has the latter.

Forget bloating and feeling lousy, you need better nutrition than living on bread.

hinaisold · February 2015

nxd10 wrote: »

You need a healthy balance. Many people who eat a diet that's too refined get very slow bowel movements, especially with little exercise. They get constipated if they guts move slowly or they can have chronic lose stools if they have active guts. You need a balance of lots of water, lots of exercise, and a decent mix of less refined foods. If you don't get enough fiber in your normal diet, you can add it by eating more bran or eating more digestible fiber - like what you find in fruit. Metamucil has the latter.

Forget bloating and feeling lousy, you need better nutrition than living on bread.

Well, on the exercise part I do move around moderately throughout the day but not proper exercise. I've started slowly reintroducing dancing, though.

On the water front, I was a diet soda junkie a month ago but I've cut that out entirely and shifted to teas and water but I'm still working on finding water appealing.

I'm still around my macro ratios and I eat plenty of fruits and veggies. It's just that I find it hard to eat proteins without carbs, specifically: bread. But I'm working on eventually replacing the bread with vegetables, proteins and hopefully more healthy fats.

Also, update: I skipped the bran bread yesterday, drank plenty of water and did around 30 minutes of exercise and the bloating is down a bit today.

gothchiq · February 2015

These super high fiber products will totally do that to you. My husband once binged on an entire box of Fiber One bars and proceeded to pretty much blow himself around the room like a deflating balloon. I burned all the incense we had. lol

Pupslice · February 2015

gothchiq wrote: »

These super high fiber products will totally do that to you. My husband once binged on an entire box of Fiber One bars and proceeded to pretty much blow himself around the room like a deflating balloon. I burned all the incense we had. lol

omg i'm sorry but lololol....if I eat two of those I could probably power a few dozen cars with all the gas, I CANNOT imagine what a whole box would do!

lisabinco · February 2015

Yes, an initial influx of fiber above what you are used to will cause bloating and gas because your gut flora have not adjusted to it yet. It takes your gut about 2-4 weeks to get used to a higher fiber load. Eventually, however, your gut flora changes and will be able to handle the extra fiber well. I wouldn't worry too much about getting too much fiber, once your gut adjusts. Only you can tell how much is too much, as having to run to the bathroom 2 or 3 times a day means it's probably too much. I eat way more fiber than MFP calls for, but I've been doing it for almost 3 years now. Plenty of well-adjusted gut flora. Whatever fiber level makes you feel best is what is the best level for you.

FinFoxPT · February 2015

I think it depends on the type of fibre. I've always found changing this up makes a huge difference.

MACnificence · February 2015

oh this is interesting I've been having psylium husk in my oatmeal and I've blown up like a balloon , I've gained like 10Ibs scale weight , i normally have like 6g of it, could this cause it ?

jgnatca · February 2015

I did the very same thing years ago and got bloated. I asked my doctor-sister about it and she told me there are two types of fiber. Who knew? So now I tell everybody.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/insoluble-soluble-fiber
As others have already noted, gradually increase your intake and increase the water you drink at the same time. Get more soluble fiber in your diet through fruits.

Springfield1970 · February 2015

MACnificence wrote: »

oh this is interesting I've been having psylium husk in my oatmeal and I've blown up like a balloon , I've gained like 10Ibs scale weight , i normally have like 6g of it, could this cause it ?

Why eat the ph in the porridge? That must be quite horrid!

daniebanks · March 2015

interesting, I didn't know this about fiber

i thought it was important to have more, obviously not

jordanify · March 2015

Aside from fruits and veggies I take a Tbsp of chia seed twice a day, in water and sometimes in yogurt. My son has constipation, he eats mostly whole foods but a daily dose of probiotic works great for him (it also improves immune system)
If bran fiber causes such a gut reaction...How can it be healthy?

JiveDoc · March 2015

Too much fiber all of a sudden will definitely cause problems! Gas, bloating, etc. But if you gradually increase your fiber intake, as other posters have said, your body will usually adjust. If you are prone to diarrhea or constipation, fiber can help both conditions - or may worsen them. You have to play around with your intake to see what works for you. Best advice is to go slowly!

Fiber and bloating?

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