# white bread...confusion



## whitescarf (Jul 11, 2011)

I thought white bread was my safe food, isn't it supposed to constipate people?Yesterday morning I had diarrhoea so I ate nothing but white bread for the rest of the day. Now it's worse!?My sister said her workmate can't have white bread and that it makes her go. But my mum has stomach problems too and says it constipates her if she has too much.Confused!


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

There are a couple of things, and depending on how they bother you, it can have different effects.White bread doesn't have anything in it to bind you up/constipate you, but if you need a fair amount of fiber to stay regular filling up on low fiber foods mean you don't get enough fiber in the day so you end up constipated.White bread also has a lot of what is called resistant starch. No human can digest this and it feeds the colon bacteria. Depending on how you respond to that gas it can make you more uncomfortable or make you go more. Especially if you eat a lot more than normal, or don't eat anything else.For people with IBS-D low starch diets sometimes help control symptoms.You may also check the ingredient list as high-fructose corn syrup can make diarrhea worse for some people and many commercial breads use that. May not be a problem with a slice or two, but if all you eat is bread you probably ate more than that.If you can only handle eating something really bland rice is a better option as it has much less resistant starch than wheat.


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