30-40 Grams of Fiber Per Day !!!

[prs]

I had my annual colonoscopy last week and, for the first time, the write-up included a recommendation to take a fiber supplement. Apparently a healthy colon requires 30 grams of fiber daily for women, and 40 grams for men.

I did some research and realized my consumption was less than 20 grams per day. I looked online and found that fiber supplements come in two types, soluble and insoluble. I asked my Doctor what was best, and was told it didn't matter.

More research and it seemed to me the easiest and quickest way to get the extra fiber was with Fiber One Original breakfast cereal. This is an insoluble fiber supplement and only 1/2 cup delivers 15 grams of fiber with only 60 calories. I take mine with a few fresh berries and coconut milk. I'm actually starting to enjoy it every morning, and it keeps me from feeling hungry till lunchtime.

I've only been doing it for a week but I have to say that I am now more regular and my poops are larger and easier (like many of you here my radiation fried rectum has turned me into a poop expert!)

I probably need another 5-10 grams daily to get me up to 40 grams. Do any of you take a supplement and, if so, what do you recommend?

[horizon]

I take Citrucel every day. It doesn't give me gas.

[Tupelo honey]

I use Nopalina, a fiber mix one of my coworkers has taken for years.

I used to be afraid of fiber, convinced it would constipate me after a bad experience with Metamucil and inadequate fluid intake years ago.

I tend toward constipation these days since I take immodium every morning to keep my spazzy colon quiet during working hours. After I gave myself a nosebleed trying to evacuate a few hard milk dud sized stools recently, I gave Nopalina a try. And it, combined with a half dose of miralax two or three times a week really creates the most satisfying poop habits I've experienced since my surgery back in March 2016. Infrequent trips with normal sized stools that are quite satisfying and easy to evacuate. I'm sincerely appreciating the normalacy after months of battling periodic bouts of painful impaction that kept me making multiple fruitless or minimally productive toilet trips while taking 3-5 colace or sennakot tabs a day.

[NHMike]

I've used the Fiber One cereal in the past, along with things like Quest Bars and Trader Joe's High Fiber Cereal but I'm trying a more Whole Foods approach these days and will do that with fiber when my digestive system stabilizes.

I like the approach of Greens, Grains, Nuts and Beans. There are various ways of getting more fiber from synthesized foods if you want it or need it but some of these things have artificial sweeteners and other things. I consider it a personal choice on composition but I've been leaning more away from sweeteners. One example is Bobs Red Mill Protein powder. 20 grams of protein and 12 grams of fiber for 180 calories. A good supplemental source if you do strength training.

Fruits often have fiber but the calorie count may b higher because of the sugars in fruit.

One way to build up an intuitive database of nutritional information is to track your calories using a web and mobile tool like LiveStrong MyPlate. You enter in the name of the food and the serving size and it tracks your calories and a lot of other nutritional information so you can try to optimize for a bunch of things besides fiber. You get to the point where you know how much fiber various types of food have.

[veckon]

I've used the Fiber One cereal in the past, along with things like Quest Bars and Trader Joe's High Fiber Cereal but I'm trying a more Whole Foods approach these days and will do that with fiber when my digestive system stabilizes.

I like the approach of Greens, Grains, Nuts and Beans. There are various ways of getting more fiber from synthesized foods if you want it or need it but some of these things have artificial sweeteners and other things. I consider it a personal choice on composition but I've been leaning more away from sweeteners. One example is Bobs Red Mill Protein powder. 20 grams of protein and 12 grams of fiber for 180 calories. A good supplemental source if you do strength training.

Fruits often have fiber but the calorie count may b higher because of the sugars in fruit.

One way to build up an intuitive database of nutritional information is to track your calories using a web and mobile tool like LiveStrong MyPlate. You enter in the name of the food and the serving size and it tracks your calories and a lot of other nutritional information so you can try to optimize for a bunch of things besides fiber. You get to the point where you know how much fiber various types of food have.

Just a friendly warning; certain nuts, seeds, and legumes can cause significant distress for some individuals with intestinal disease. In my case, they irritate it and cause colitis-like symptoms. So be aware of this when starting new diets. You’ll learn quickly which foods you can eat and which you can’t if you keep a food diary.

Edit: another thing, and I don’t want to be a downer but it will be important if you ever go on chemotherapy or other treatment that affects the digestive system for an extended period of time: carlorie counting to lose weight will be the least of your problems soon. I was overweight before treatment and now I have to calorie count to make sure I’m eating enough! Basically food can become the enemy with cancer treatment. I also thought along your lines before things got bad, thinking a healthy diet certainly can only help at this point, my doctor tried to warn me my problem would actually be finding ANY food I can tolerate to get down my throat. I quickly learned he was right. Now he tells me as a matter of dieting advice to eat more high calorie foods like burgers and ice cream. Cancer nutrition depending on stage of treatment can get really wonky since you’re dealing with a situation in which foods you normally enjoy will become reviled.

[NHMike]

I've used the Fiber One cereal in the past, along with things like Quest Bars and Trader Joe's High Fiber Cereal but I'm trying a more Whole Foods approach these days and will do that with fiber when my digestive system stabilizes.

I like the approach of Greens, Grains, Nuts and Beans. There are various ways of getting more fiber from synthesized foods if you want it or need it but some of these things have artificial sweeteners and other things. I consider it a personal choice on composition but I've been leaning more away from sweeteners. One example is Bobs Red Mill Protein powder. 20 grams of protein and 12 grams of fiber for 180 calories. A good supplemental source if you do strength training.

Fruits often have fiber but the calorie count may b higher because of the sugars in fruit.

One way to build up an intuitive database of nutritional information is to track your calories using a web and mobile tool like LiveStrong MyPlate. You enter in the name of the food and the serving size and it tracks your calories and a lot of other nutritional information so you can try to optimize for a bunch of things besides fiber. You get to the point where you know how much fiber various types of food have.

Just a friendly warning; certain nuts, seeds, and legumes can cause significant distress for some individuals with intestinal disease. In my case, they irritate it and cause colitis-like symptoms. So be aware of this when starting new diets. You’ll learn quickly which foods you can eat and which you can’t if you keep a food diary.

Edit: another thing, and I don’t want to be a downer but it will be important if you ever go on chemotherapy or other treatment that affects the digestive system for an extended period of time: carlorie counting to lose weight will be the least of your problems soon. I was overweight before treatment and now I have to calorie count to make sure I’m eating enough! Basically food can become the enemy with cancer treatment. I also thought along your lines before things got bad, thinking a healthy diet certainly can only help at this point, my doctor tried to warn me my problem would actually be finding ANY food I can tolerate to get down my throat. I quickly learned he was right. Now he tells me as a matter of dieting advice to eat more high calorie foods like burgers and ice cream. Cancer nutrition depending on stage of treatment can get really wonky since you’re dealing with a situation in which foods you normally enjoy will become reviled.

I've already found that out. The diet for cancer, chemo and radiation is certainly different but I was thinking that this was about after chemorad, surgery and chemo again. My main problem the last several weeks has been in getting enough calories.

To be clear, the original poster seems to have had his cancer stuff wrapped up in 2015 and was looking to increase fiber in a caloric-efficient way implying that his digestive system was back to normal. There's a hint that weight-loss is a goal as well which is in the context of the suggestions that I made.

[Stewsbetty]

More research and it seemed to me the easiest and quickest way to get the extra fiber was with Fiber One Original breakfast cereal. This is an insoluble fiber supplement and only 1/2 cup delivers 15 grams of fiber with only 60 calories. I take mine with a few fresh berries and coconut milk. I'm actually starting to enjoy it every morning, and it keeps me from feeling hungry till lunchtime.

I have been using fibre one original for many years now to keep thing regular and to avoid constipation. It is tasty with some fresh berries and it doesn't take much to get a decent helping of fibre. I prefer this to any of the extras that I have tried.

[ashima2016]

Found this calculator which might be helpful. http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-fiber-meter

I find it interesting that the fiber required for female is 1/3 less than for the male. Anyone knows why?

[NHMike]

Found this calculator which might be helpful. http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-fiber-meter

I find it interesting that the fiber required for female is 1/3 less than for the male. Anyone knows why?

I think that RDA.is based on weight and maybe women typically weigh one-third less.

That's true of my wife's weight compared to mine.

[prs]

To be clear, the original poster seems to have had his cancer stuff wrapped up in 2015 and was looking to increase fiber in a caloric-efficient way implying that his digestive system was back to normal. There's a hint that weight-loss is a goal as well which is in the context of the suggestions that I made.

I actually gained 20 lbs over six months of chemo because the only foods I could eat were bland and carb loaded. A full stomach helped soften the effects of the Xeloda pills. I had to force myself to take those damned pills, and body weight was the least of my concerns.

Mike, you are correct that my digestive system is back to normal. In the last year I have lost those 20 lbs plus another 10 by cutting out processed carbs altogether, eating mostly protein and plant food, limiting portion size, and getting lots of exercise. My weight is exactly were it needs to be, and has been stable for the last three months or so. However I was still astonished that my fiber intake was less than half recommended. So yes, my goal is to increase fiber without taking on too many extra calories.