I'm on a low carb/high protein plan. One of the side effects can be constipation and I did experience this in the beginning. What helped me is probiotics. I also drink tons of water...tons! Many of the people that are on my plan recommend Smooth Move tea. I saw this at Walgreens and at the grocery store in the herbal tea aisle.
Hope you find relief soon!
Last edited by GirlyGirlSebas; 03-29-2011 at 08:55 AM.
Picked up some 100% psyllium husks at Trader Joe's yesterday...wasn't thinking it was doing much - still bloated and uncomfortable during the evening. However, this morning, after a large dose of Benefiber, it seems the combination spells relief for me!
Not completely better, but I finally feel like I'm making progress.
Now, I'm just playing with different preparations of with the psyllium husks to find one I actually like, because it's not exactly an enjoyable beverage texture as far as I'm concerned I'm actually working on a microwave pumpkin cookie/muffin/bread thing right now ~
I actually like my pumpkin bread thingie - I may even post my recipe in the recipe section
2tbsp psyllium husks
2 oz canned pumpkin (slightly more than 2 tbsp)
1 tsp Truvia
lots of pumpkin pie spice (didn't measure)
pinch of salt
3 tbsp water
Mix ingredients, flatten onto a plate with parchment paper. Microwave 2 minutes - let sit one minute...and enjoy with a giant glass of water! Makes one very large cookie/bread thing ~
I'm having a hard time coming up with a way to describe the texture. It's kind of like Chinese mochi, soft - but kind of chewy. It's not like a cookie, bread, or a muffin - I'm not going to lie. But it is way more edible (in my opinion) than drinking psyllium fiber. Plus, it has only about 20 cals for the pumpkin and 35 cals for the psyllium (most of which is negligible since it's nearly pure fiber).
I've heard it disappears in oatmeal...and I may have to experiment with adding a tbsp or so of oats in my concoction with a bit more water just to see what I get
Great to hear you're feeling better. I know when I was having this issue for just two weeks it was driving me mad.
I'm officially regular now since adding flax. I've also been OD'ing on fruit smoothies with protein powder and flax lately. But they are tooooooo good and seem to help.
I do want to point out that soluble and insoluble fiber are not equal.
One could be getting plenty of one side in a high fiber diet but not the other. Products like Benefiber and psyllium husks are soluble fiber and tend to help us produce gas and prebiotics while INSOLUBLE fiber helps us... poop. Insoluble fiber is like flax and fiber one cereal (but not oatmeal), whole wheat, green beans, zucchini, and cauliflower.
Obviously, they're BOTH needed but keep it in mind when you're figuring your fiber content. I often see posts from people who can't handle the Fiber One bars or cereal and they think it's something from the manufacturer because they have a high fiber diet -- but it might not be a diet high in insoluble fiber!
Last edited by Goddess Jessica; 03-30-2011 at 07:21 PM.
I do want to point out that soluble and insoluble fiber are not equal.
One could be getting plenty of one side in a high fiber diet but not the other. Products like Benefiber and psyllium husks are soluble fiber and tend to help us produce gas and prebiotics while INSOLUBLE fiber helps us... poop. Insoluble fiber is like flax and fiber one cereal (but not oatmeal), whole wheat, green beans, zucchini, and cauliflower.
Obviously, they're BOTH needed but keep it in mind when you're figuring your fiber content. I often see posts from people who can't handle the Fiber One bars or cereal and they think it's something from the manufacturer because they have a high fiber diet -- but it might not be a diet high in insoluble fiber!
This is true, I wasn't eating enough of a balance, and now that I am, I'm fine. I'm vegan, so was getting a bit too much insoluble fiber and not enough soluble, now that I'm doing both it's better.
I do want to point out that soluble and insoluble fiber are not equal.
One could be getting plenty of one side in a high fiber diet but not the other. Products like Benefiber and psyllium husks are soluble fiber and tend to help us produce gas and prebiotics while INSOLUBLE fiber helps us... poop. Insoluble fiber is like flax and fiber one cereal (but not oatmeal), whole wheat, green beans, zucchini, and cauliflower.
Obviously, they're BOTH needed but keep it in mind when you're figuring your fiber content. I often see posts from people who can't handle the Fiber One bars or cereal and they think it's something from the manufacturer because they have a high fiber diet -- but it might not be a diet high in insoluble fiber!
I totally get you on this one... I do my best to make sure that I eat whole fruits and veggies, since the skins tend to contain insoluble fiber and the food itself tends to contain soluble. I also make sure to get plenty of spinach, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, whole wheat tortillas, and an occasional Fiber plus bar (for insoluble), in addition to beans, lentils, etc. Oh, and you can't forgot popcorn - that's a good one too
Glad to hear you're feeling better. The thing I have found that works best for constipation is pear juice, usually found in the baby food section if nowhere else, and you can add some epsom salt as well.
I'm actually working on a microwave pumpkin cookie/muffin/bread thing right now ~
