# Donut digestion:Why it cause flare?



## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

Is it because bile production raise that i feel my bowel in fire with donuts?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

They are very fatty (usually deep fat fried) so that could be a problem.I do not know that it has to be bile dependent.K.


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

Thanks.If anyone know why fat cause constipation i would like to know.


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## megflyin (Jun 16, 2007)

Foods high in fat and sugar (such as many soft, processed foods) can slow the digestive process, causing too much fluid to be absorbed from stool, and leading to constipation.Although to make my own disclaimer... I have fat malabsorption so if I eat too much fat I have D.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

A lot of people (even if they do not have any fat absorption issues) get diarrhea from fat so it is not universally constipating.Most high fat foods are also devoid of fiber so if you avoid the diarrhea inducing part of the problem they aren't likely to form nice stools as there isn't the fiber in there to help with the process.K.


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

megflying,interesting.You know what,i got constipation followed by diarrhea with donuts.Do i have fat malabsortion?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Very very few people who get diarrhea with fats have malabsorption problems.A few do, but most people absorb fat just fine.Spas, do you have trouble maintaining your weight even when you eat enough? Typically if you can't absorb fat you end up losing weight.That is how Alli (now over the counter, but was prescription under another name) works to cause weight loss. It prevents you from absorbing fat.K.


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## megflyin (Jun 16, 2007)

Yeah Kathleen is right - I lost a lot of weight and although I would eat twice as much as my boyfriend, I just kept losing. It wasn't until I stopped eating fats (or significantly decreased my intake) that my weight finally stabilized. If you are really concerned about malabsorption, you can ask your GI about the fecal fat test, as that is typically how it is diagnosed. On the ...com site it says this:Fat is quite simply the single greatest digestive tract stimulant. When food enters your stomach, it triggers the gastrocolic reflex, which cues your colon to start contracting. (Have you ever had an IBS attack within minutes after eating the wrong thing, even though common sense tells you that the food was nowhere near your colon at that time? The gastrocolic reflex is why.) Fat will trigger this reflex more powerfully than any other category of food. While this is normally something that would simply result in a a bowel movement, it is paradoxically likely to cause problems for people with IBS constipation OR diarrhea. This is because people with IBS do not have a normal gastrocolic reflex response, and their colons tend to spasm irregularly and often violently. In people prone to constipation, if those spasms are too strong they'll actually "seize up" the colon in a type of charley horse, and motility can halt altogether. This will cause severe pain from the ongoing cramping of the colon, and it wll also result in or worsen constipation, because motility has shut down and fecal matter is not moving through. Only when the muscles finally relax will you begin to feel a little better, but it can take quite a while after suffering such violent spasms for normal colonic motility to return. In a corollary way high fat foods also typically worsen IBS diarrhea, as the muscle spasms triggered by fats result in gut contractions so fast and hard they rush matter through the colon, without enough time for water to be absorbed. This causes pain from the spasms and diarrhea from the hypermotility. So, though it sounds odd, high fat foods are triggers for BOTH diarrhea AND constipation if you have IBS, as they are each a possible result of the gastrocolic reflex gone awry.


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