Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Nutrition labels, oatmeal, bananas, trust Heather's list, and brown rice

Some products list only INsoluble fiber, some products list both combined, and some break them out. As HanSolo says, many health claims today consider only INsoluble fiber, which is insane not only because of IBS but also because soluble fiber seems to be the one that best removes cholesterol from your system. Oatmeal, on the other hand, lists both types of fiber because oatmeal's health claims are based on the fact that is has both: soluble fiber to "sweep" cholesterol out of your system and insoluble fiber for the benefits it seems to bring with regard to some colon cancers.

As if that isn't confusing enough, some products label like this:

Fiber: 4 grams
Soluble Fiber: 4 grams

Now, does that mean 4 grams of IF *and* 4 grams of SF, or just 4 grams of fiber all of which is SF? It depends on the product. (I actually emailed one of the banana companies about their bananas because of this type of labeling. For bananas, it was all SF.)

Everyone will have a little variance, but I strongly recommend you begin by trying the EFI Diet as Heather lays it out: avoid the triggers like the plague; make SF (as defined on Heather's list) the basis of every meal and snack; eat safe proteins; eat IF safely - always cushioned by SF and, if you need to, chopped, cooked, and pureed to make it easier to digest.

If you're IBS-C, you want to eat as much IF as possible while cushioning it with enough SF to keep your gut from spasming. Think of starting with SF as getting your digestive motor going, priming the pump, and cushioning the blow all at once. (how SF works; cars and charts; metaphors; SF is your friend - and so is your SFS)

As for brown rice, it's one of those strange foods like oatmeal and cornmeal - some SF, some IF. All three show up on Heather's list of SF foods, but tolerance for them varies a lot. I wouldn't make brown rice or oatmeal my SF base, but some people may be able to - and I do fine with cornbread as my SF base. Here's an old thread that will tell you more about brown rice than you probably ever wanted to know.

HTH.

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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