# FIBER - good or evil???



## ChriszSweetie (Aug 28, 2002)

I posted this same question on the main discussion board, but I thought I would post here too in case anyone reads this instead. I have IBS-D and was wondering what benefits fiber has for people with D. I know that it is supposed to help people with C but does it just make you "go" or can it help to make you "not go"? I would really appreciate any advice you can provide. Thanks a bunch! ~Ashley


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## Nikki (Jul 11, 2000)

Soluable fibre is good for C and D. If you want to start looking at your diet get heather van vorous book " Eating for IBS" Will tell you pretty much all you need to know.www.eatingforibs.com


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Fiber does NOT make you go. It doesn't in anyway stimulate the nerves of the colon to make you move things along. So it is NOT a stimulatory laxative.What fiber DOES is absorb water. Now when you are constipated it keeps the water in the stool making the stool softer, bulkier and easier to pass. IF you have problems with the nerves in the colon so that you can't move things along, fiber won't help you go. In those cases you actually have to avoid fiber because no matter how wonderful the stool consistancy is you can't pass it anyway.So why take it for D. IT ABSORBS WATER. In the constipation case it is absorbing water when the stool is still liquid and keeping it there. HOWEVER it can also absorb water once you get to the more solid state and for SOME people that little bit of extra water absorbtion means the difference between having a watery loose stool that when it gets to the rectum will set off a MUST GO NOW response (because that is what your rectum does when it is filled with liquid rather than solid stool) and having solid stool get to the rectum, which IN SOME CASES will not set off the MUST GO NOW signal.Now some people's rectums go off too much regardless of stool consistancy so for them it may not matter as much. AND for some people the extra ability to absorb water doesn't make that much difference to the diarrhea.BUT for some it does.FIBER is NOT universially GOOD or EVIL for people with diarrhea, or even that matter constipation. It is how YOUR particular body is misbehaving. For SOME people fiber will make a HUGE difference and some people can completely control IBS-C and IBS-D with additional fiber in the diet.HOWEVER, NOT EVERYONE will find fiber to be a cure-all. It may help some, or it may not help at all. The only way for YOU to know if fiber helps or not is to experiment with it. For those that is does help it can be a very effective and low-risk method for controlling IBS.K.


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