Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Question about SF/IF supplements

According to this FiberSmart page, FiberSmart is "about" a 1 to 1 ratio of SF to IF. According to Heather's Soluble Fiber FAQ, Metamucil is a blend, also - 2 parts SF to 1 part IF.

The greater proportion of SF might make Metamucil easier to tolerate than FiberSmart. I would think you could achieve the same effect by mixing a pure Soluble Fiber SFS into the FiberSmart in whatever proportion seems reasonable to you.

FiberSmart contains fructooligosacchides (FOS). I don't know what kind of FOS it contains, but - if I'm reading what I'm finding correctly - inulin is a FOS and in the FAQ I refer to above, Heather specifically mentions psyllium and inulin as ingredients "which can seriously worsen" bloating and gas in some people with IBS. Since FiberSmart contains FOS and Metamucil contains psyllium, this would seem to leave you between a rock and a hard place.

Perhaps you could switch to a pure Soluble Fiber SFS (non-FOS) and add more IF to your diet by eating higher IF foods, pureed if necessary to be easier on your digestion. You could then eat SF food or take a pure SF supplement first, followed by whatever IF you choose to eat. Hopefully, this would result in your digestive system being triggered gently by the SF before being "revved up" by the IF.

That's the theory, anyhow, but as Yogi Berra so brilliantly put it, "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."

HTH.

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