Bioslife II Fiber Supplements
#22667 - 10/07/03 09:11 AM
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I was recently diagnosed with IBS and my doctor wants me to buy a $42 can of fiber called Bioslife II. He said that all the over the counter fiber supplements have very little fiber to talk about, like 2 or 3 grams per serving, which is inconsequential when you need about 30 grams per day. He said this Bioslife II has 5 grams of fiber per tablespoon and wants me to have 2 a day. Has anyone ever heard of this stuff?
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Personally, I've never heard of it, nor would I spend $42 for it either. I use Citrucel which works just fine for me, plus all my meals are based on eating the soluble fiber & adding in insoluble, so I think I get plenty of fiber - not all from supplements, but from diet also.
But, that's just my opinion. 
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Hi, wow, that's expensive. It's actually not too tough to get enough fiber from most of the over the counter supplements at all. And you don't necessarily want 30 grams of soluble fiber just from your supplement. You want a minimum 30 grams of fiber per day TOTAL - which means supplement plus foods (both soluble and insoluble) combined. Taking 30 grams of soluble fiber supplement per day is a lot. You'd have to really work up to that gradually and slowly, and even then, considering that soluble fiber should be 1/3 of your fiber intake in terms of grams, that means that you'd be eating 60 grams of insoluble fiber a day. That's 90 grams total. That's completely over the top. I'd ask your doc if this is really what he intended.
Also, make sure that the supplement he's talking about is pure soluble fiber, and no insoluble.
You can really easily get 12-15 grams of supplement soluble fiber per day with Benefiber or Citrucel. And I'm going to introduce a pure soluble fiber supplement called Acacia that will also be concentrated enough to get you the dose you need.
Ask your doc more questions...something isn't sounding right here.
- Heather
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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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Heather, thank you for responding to my question. No, my doctor does not want me to get 30 grams of fiber from supplements, he wants me to get 10 grams, 5 in the morning and 5 in the evening. He said this Bioslife II has three kinds of fiber in it. I am confused however about the fiber in Citrucel. The packaging says it provides 2 grams of fiber per each 19 gram serving (1 scoop). Where are you figuring in the other grams? Am I missing something here? Perhaps it has been improved since my husband purchased this a year ago. I am newly diagnosed and am using the Citrucel that we have on hand. Also, would it be incorrect for my supplement to contain some insoluable fiber? I may cancel my order based on your response.
Off the subject, I tried the red-lentil soup in your second book and it was delicious. The cinnamon, cardamom, cumin and ginger base with onions and garlic was a combination I would have never considered but it was great. I am going to pick up your cookbook tomorrow. Thanks!
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As an addendum: There is a study on Bioslife 2 you may be interested in. The website is www.preventivehealthtoday.com/hot_topics/bioslife_study.htmlThis product is mostly soluable fiber, but has some insoluable fiber. Since we are suppose to have some insoluable fiber in our diets anyway, is this a bad ingredient to have in a fiber supplement?
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Hi Suzanne - Okay, now your doc's dosage sounds good! You could even divide that dosage up into three times per day instead of two. Having a dose before each meal can help a lot.
To be totally safe, especially because you're usually taking the supplement on an empty stomach, it's best to have a pure soluble fiber supplement. That way you know that it's completely safe. Some supplements have a bit of insoluble in them, though they're mostly soluble. This can cause problems - it's one reason psyllium (Metamucil) can be troublesome for a lot of people. So if you can get a pure soluble fiber supplement instead, that would be my first choice.
For the Citrucel, go by what the bottle label says. The dosage for the different brand name supplements can vary by flavor, texture, whether it's sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners, etc. Just the different varieties of Citrucel alone vary a lot in this way. What counts is the grams of soluble fiber the label says you're getting. This whole area of confusion is one reason I'm adding a soluble fiber supplement to my website. I've got something coming in that is nothing but soluble fiber - no other ingredients, no insoluble fiber, no nothing except the soluble fiber. That way you know how you're tolerating the supplement itself, instead of wondering if you're having a problem with some artificial flavor or color or filler that's been added. That's a big frustration for me with most of the commercial supplements - Benefiber is the only one out there that just has soluble fiber and nothing else. But it's really overpriced. 
Glad you liked the lentil soup! I like it too... 
- 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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I've been taking Citrucel since August and found it helped a great deal. However, I couldn't stand the taste of the powder mixes, so I took the maximum dosage of the capsules each day. I noticed a great difference in my IBS-C, but always ended up with a very acidy feeling in my stomach from the citrus.
So after talking with my doctor earlier this month, I switched to Benefiber. I figured this was great because I had read in one of Heather's posts that it was pure soluble fiber with no added junk in there and when I disolved it into drinks, I couldn't taste it at all! Remembering to take it was a problem but I had been pretty good lately.
However, since I have switched to it, I've had a horrible problem with gas. I've been walking around constantly "stepping on a duck", as my 3 yr old cousin refers to it as. I read one of Mag's posts that said that some people have had problems with gas and Benefiber. My question is if it is pure soluble fiber, why all the gas? I am a little dissapointed now that I've discovered that's my problem as I will probably have to go back to the Citrucel and acid stomach.
Thanks for any and all help.
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- Jennifer
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Unfortunately, everyone is not the same with the soluble fiber supplements, so there's no one answer. Sorry...
Have you tried Fibercon or Equalactin? If the Citrucel pills worked for your C, these pills may work too.
Also, I remember Sharon (the one that used to be the moderator) had gas with the Benefiber, and she used Fibercon which worked great for her.
Edited by Mags2003 (10/16/03 03:58 PM)
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Thanks for the advice, Mags. I've tried Fibercon and didn't notice any difference. I think I'm going to wait to get stable on Citrucel before trying any other ones. Plus the suppliments are getting mightly expensive.
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- Jennifer
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Well, hopefully Heather will have her supplement available soon, and maybe you can try that. I hope you find something that agrees with you all around soon! 
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