Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: question for Heather -- amounts of Acacia fiber

Hi Barb - I'm so glad your daughter is doing better! That's wonderful.

There are actually no hard and fast guidelines for fiber intake. The average recommended total daily amount (from various nutritional authorities) is 25-35 grams, and anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 that amount should be from soluble fiber. But, many medical and nutritional folks think that this amount is a bare minimum, and there are entire countries where people's average fiber intake is 50, 60, even up to 80 grams a day. So, there's a lot of leeway here.

If you're up to 4 T Acacia a day, and doing just fine with that, I honestly don't think that's too much. It's just 18 grams, which is not a tremendously huge amount. I'd be mostly concerned that you're dividing your dosage (which you are), and not taking a single whomping dose all at once.

I haven't seen varying fiber recommendations for men vs. women, though I have seen some different amounts for children vs. adults. Honestly, I think there's so much variation in the amounts that are recommended, and in the amounts that healthy people around the world eat, that whatever works for you and is at least up around the 35 grams per day total as a minimum should be just fine. It's darn difficult to have too much fiber - your gut would definitely tell you - and you'd have to deliberately abuse a fiber supplement as well as eat tremendous amounts of high fiber foods.

I think you're just fine.

- H

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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!

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