Metamucil Advise

skyhawke4u
skyhawke4u Posts: 4 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Hello all. I’ve just recently started taking Metamucil and started up a twice daily dosage of Kyolic aged garlic formula 104, all to help lower my cholesterol. I’m also hitting the gym 3 to 4 days a week and trying to eat right before I go in for blood work in a few months. I have read that when taking Metamucil, you should always take your meds, or vitamins 2 hrs. before your fiber intake, or two hrs. afterwards. Being that I’ve read this on several sites, I tend to agree with the advise so I’ve been complying. I suppose it makes since being that this soluble fiber might diminish the medicinal properties in your meds and or vitamins. But here’s where I’m a bit confused on food and nutrition when taking Metamucil. Someone at the gym recently told me that if you eat a meal that’s high in cholesterol, you should wash it down with a glass of Metamucil immediately. Hmmmmm. Well then I started thinking about it. If this is true then I suppose the fiber gels up and sops up some of the cholesterol before it gets into you blood stream? Is this just a myth or is there some truth to it? I’ve read mixed notes on this, where some advice is if you take Metamucil before you eat, then you won’t eat that much. Ok…makes since. What about afterwards? I guess my main question is, will Metamucil take away some of the natural vitamins and nutrients in your plate of healthy food if you take the fiber either before or afterwards? Is it a myth that if you take Metamucil after a plate of unhealthy high cholesterol foods, that it will actually sop up some of the bad stuff before it hits you blood system? Lol I suppose if you eat a healthy meal, don’t wash it down with Metamucil! Lol Only if you eat a bad meal? Lolol. Can anyone with a better nutritional background help me out here? Thanks!

Replies

  • hecky83
    hecky83 Posts: 3 Member
    A fibre supplement such as Metamucil is best taken 30 mins before your largest meal of the day. The fibre helps by making you feel full sooner, less chances of overeating.

    Just be careful when using a product such as Metamucil, sometimes these products have too much sugars, and if I'm going to add sugar to my day, I would rather have it be I. The form of chocolate instead of in a drink. Lol

  • skyhawke4u
    skyhawke4u Posts: 4 Member
    Thanks...I am taking the Orange Sugar Free. Just was wondering if taking this will diminish some of the nutrients in healthy foods.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited March 2017
    Fiber, no matter if it is in food or a supplement, slows down the absorption of nutrients (this is a good thing for some things like glucose). It does not stop them. The reason you want to avoid taking your medications close to the time you ingest fiber is because many meds have a short half-life and if they are not absorbed quickly they are not as effective.
  • hecky83
    hecky83 Posts: 3 Member
    I've never heard that before. The vitamins and nutrients we get from food absorb into the blood stream pretty quickly as they are natural and our bodies don't have to do much work to absorb them.

    In regards to taking vitamins, I'm not sure if the fibre would help or hinder. Most vitamins only have a 10-15% absorption rate. This is why most people can't feel if vitamins are working for them. Most vitamins are bound with synthetic materials, therefore the body doesn't recognize them, and stops the break down process.
  • skyhawke4u
    skyhawke4u Posts: 4 Member
    Thanks guys...great advice! I heard of some wacky stuff before, but washing down a bowl of cholesterol like shrimp, which is high in cholesterol (as most shell fish are) with Metamucil was kind of weird. lol
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited March 2017
    hecky83 wrote: »
    I've never heard that before. The vitamins and nutrients we get from food absorb into the blood stream pretty quickly as they are natural and our bodies don't have to do much work to absorb them.

    In regards to taking vitamins, I'm not sure if the fibre would help or hinder. Most vitamins only have a 10-15% absorption rate. This is why most people can't feel if vitamins are working for them. Most vitamins are bound with synthetic materials, therefore the body doesn't recognize them, and stops the break down process.

    This is why diabetics are told to eat foods with fiber at each meal, it slows down the absorption of the glucose into the system so it doesn't spike. Eat whole fruit, not juice, etc. Fiber actually helps absorption of vitamins, etc. It just may hinder the effectiveness of some medications which is why some tell you to take with food and some say not to take with food.

    In other words, check the label of your meds and follow the directions. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about it. Metamucil isn't that much fiber anyway. You get more from a bowl of oatmeal (4 g) than you do from a serving of Metamucil (3 g). Obviously the 20 calories for Metamucil is different than the 150 for the oatmeal so there is an advantage.

    There really is more of an issue combining supplements and medications with foods or each other. Grapefruit cannot be eaten when someone is on most statins, for example. If you are on an iron supplement, it should not be taken at the same time as calcium (either calcium-rich foods like dairy or a calcium supplement). Acid blockers like Prilosec should not be taken at the same time as any other meds or supplements because it blocks the absorption. etc
  • dudebro200
    dudebro200 Posts: 97 Member
    I have had high cholesterol since I was 22 years old (total cholesterol 170). I was 5'9 and 165 at the time, and ate very healthy.


    I am now 34 years old and weigh 186lbs with a higher muscle mass. I have eaten oatmeal regularly and taken metamucil daily for nearly a decade. My cholesterol is now over 300. I rarely eat red meat, twice a year if that, and almost never eat dairy and exercise regularly

    The only thing that works to lower cholesterol in my case is a statin regime. Maybe it's my genetics but all these natural remedies for high cholesterol have proven to be nothing but a bunch of BS with no results. Statins have some pretty messed up side effecs, which I have experienced, and I stopped taking them because of it. However, they are the only way to lower my cholesterol. Not exercise and not diet.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    dudebro200 wrote: »
    I have had high cholesterol since I was 22 years old (total cholesterol 170). I was 5'9 and 165 at the time, and ate very healthy.


    I am now 34 years old and weigh 186lbs with a higher muscle mass. I have eaten oatmeal regularly and taken metamucil daily for nearly a decade. My cholesterol is now over 300. I rarely eat red meat, twice a year if that, and almost never eat dairy and exercise regularly

    The only thing that works to lower cholesterol in my case is a statin regime. Maybe it's my genetics but all these natural remedies for high cholesterol have proven to be nothing but a bunch of BS with no results. Statins have some pretty messed up side effecs, which I have experienced, and I stopped taking them because of it. However, they are the only way to lower my cholesterol. Not exercise and not diet.

    True. They have found that dietary cholesterol has very little effect on serum cholesterol for most people. Because the liver produces cholesterol, what you eat (or don't eat) may not change your numbers or will have minimal effect.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I have psyllium husk powder every day, and to be on the safe i don't take any supplements/medications less than 1 hour before, or less than 2 hours after.

    I take 20g which = 18g of fibre, which is substantially more than 1 dose of metamucil.
  • JohnnyPenso
    JohnnyPenso Posts: 412 Member
    dudebro200 wrote: »
    I have had high cholesterol since I was 22 years old (total cholesterol 170). I was 5'9 and 165 at the time, and ate very healthy.


    I am now 34 years old and weigh 186lbs with a higher muscle mass. I have eaten oatmeal regularly and taken metamucil daily for nearly a decade. My cholesterol is now over 300. I rarely eat red meat, twice a year if that, and almost never eat dairy and exercise regularly

    The only thing that works to lower cholesterol in my case is a statin regime. Maybe it's my genetics but all these natural remedies for high cholesterol have proven to be nothing but a bunch of BS with no results. Statins have some pretty messed up side effecs, which I have experienced, and I stopped taking them because of it. However, they are the only way to lower my cholesterol. Not exercise and not diet.
    Have you ever taken a look at your Omega 3/Omega 6 fat consumption ratio? My Dad was in a similar situation, not overweight, eating what he thought was a healthy diet and his meat sources at the time were mainly chicken and turkey. He started taking a statin drug and it really messed him up so he went looking for alternatives. Gone was the chicken and turkey, replaced mainly by fish and combined with other dietary changes, voila, no more cholesterol issues.
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    I have psyllium husk powder every day, and to be on the safe i don't take any supplements/medications less than 1 hour before, or less than 2 hours after.

    I take 20g which = 18g of fibre, which is substantially more than 1 dose of metamucil.
    I was going to suggest simply buying psyllium husk instead of metamucil myself. It's dirt cheap compared to metamucil and you can flavour it however you like or just take it with water.

  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    edited March 2017
    I think your gym buddy is wrong, fiber isn't like a sponge that directly blocks or 'soaks up' cholesterol. I had to look up the explanation (below) on how it indirectly reduces your blood cholesterol
    When the soluble fiber binds to and removes bile acids from your body, the amount re-circulated decreases so your liver must use more cholesterol to produce more bile acids, therefore lowering the amount of cholesterol in the body available to make LDL.
  • skyhawke4u
    skyhawke4u Posts: 4 Member
    edited March 2017
    Wow thanks for that info! It did sound promising though...My cholesterol was 240 and I'm fit, but for the past month I've been on Metamucil, garlic, and more cardio in my workout. One other thing that I started doing a few days ago is taking unfiltered raw apple cider vinegar with raw organic honey mixed with about 8 oz. water daily...I've read a lot of good things about this elixir in helping to reduce cholesterol. My Dr. said he's giving me 3 months to do my thing and eat better, then I go in for more blood work. He said that my ratio was borderline because my HDL was so good. Also I will try the husks too. Thanks all for the advice!
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