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So should I be a bit careful about eating a sweet potato on an "iffy" day as to not make the stool TOO soft or more frequent? Or should I have another sf with the meal too?
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Originally IBS-D for a million years!
Then IBS-A, Now a transformed slightly C
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Can someone please help me with the SF/IF question of which one makes me go? If I am C then which do I try and increase? I always eat SF with each meal. Thanks, Debbie IBS-C
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I believe if I understand it correctly that IF is what makes you have your bms. The SF helps to bulk up your stool and provide a "base" so that the IF is not so harsh on your system if that makes any sense. Yes, you should be eating SF/IF at each meal and the ratio depends on the person (and I have found for me that it depends on the day). This thread had just confused me too though b/c of the sweet potato thing...not sure myself. Maybe someone can clarify.
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Originally IBS-D for a million years!
Then IBS-A, Now a transformed slightly C
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Line, that is correct, IF makes you go and SF stops it from killing you  This is how I understand the rest.
Sweet potatoes are supposed to have more SF than regular ones, right. That means that they have less starch. Starch constipates usually. For example, if you ahve diarhea, you are recommended to stick to a diet of only potatoes (regular, or white rice) and rice milk (also constipating) for awhile. I don't think the SF in the sweet potato will help you evacuate, but it would help C by giving you some food that looks like/feels starch, but is not and that helps your stool become softer and more prone to get out.
If you eat sweet potatoes that just gives you more of a chance to eat some healthy IF (because they contain more SF) which would in turn help you go.
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Trust me, the sweet potato will help her go. I'm an A so I get pretty C sometimes. When I eat a whole sweet potato for a couple of days, it really helps me go...and no D with it.
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This is taken directly from Heather's explanation of Soluble Fiber:
Why is soluble fiber so special? Because unlike any other food category, it soothes and regulates the digestive tract, stabilizes the intestinal contractions resulting from the gastrocolic reflex, and normalizes bowel function from either extreme. That's right – soluble fiber prevents and relieves BOTH diarrhea and constipation . Nothing else in the world will do this for you.
How is this possible? The "soluble" in soluble fiber means that it dissolves in water (though it is not digested). This allows it to absorb excess liquid in the colon, preventing diarrhea by forming a thick gel and adding a great deal of bulk as it passes intact through the gut. This gel (as opposed to a watery liquid) also keeps the GI muscles stretched gently around a full colon, giving those muscles something to easily "grip" during peristaltic contractions, thus preventing the rapid transit time and explosive bowel movements of diarrhea as well.
By the same token, the full gel-filled colon (as opposed to a colon tightly clenched around dry, hard, impacted stools) provides the same "grip" during the muscle waves of constipation sufferers, allowing for an easier and faster transit time, and the passage of the thick wet gel also effectively relieves constipation by softening and pushing through impacted fecal matter. If you can mentally picture your colon as a tube that is squeezing through matter via regular waves of contractions, it's easy to see how a colon filled with soluble fiber gel is beneficial for both sides of the IBS coin.
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Have you tried papaya?
I have found that it really helps me out. I had that incomplete evacuation feeling for a while as well as the feeling to push something out all the time.
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Quote:
Starch constipates usually. For example, if you ahve diarhea, you are recommended to stick to a diet of only potatoes (regular, or white rice) and rice milk (also constipating) for awhile.
Rice milk causes constipation?! I am literally just about to switch to using rice milk instead of dairy but now I am confused and scared! My main symptoms are severe constipation and bloating...so should I avoid rice milk in this case? Eeek! 
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Don't be confused and scared. Check my post below about Heather's explanation of soluble fibre.
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Quote:
Why is soluble fiber so special? Because unlike any other food category, it soothes and regulates the digestive tract, stabilizes the intestinal contractions resulting from the gastrocolic reflex, and normalizes bowel function from either extreme. That's right – soluble fiber prevents and relieves BOTH diarrhea and constipation . Nothing else in the world will do this for you.
But if soluble fiber relieves diarrhea AND constipation, why is rice milk constipating?? I'm sorry, I'm still dreadfully confused
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