Fiber/fibre: good or bad?

[HalfHeartedHeroine]

Hi! I've been getting a lot of mixed messages about fiber. Is it always good for people with Crohns? Always bad? Good during busy-bathroom days, bad during busy-bathroom days?

Personally, I'm still figuring out my trigger foods, and breads and pastas seem to be consistantly okay. Would fiber be an alright addition? Or is this yet another "try it and see" experiments (*sigh*, I just wish there was a set list of food I could eat!)

Sorry that last bit seems bitter. But if you have any advice about fiber, that would be great!

 

[vonfunk]

So soluble fibre is good, insoluble is bad. For example, the inside of a potato is soluble, the skin is insoluble.
Soluble fibre adds bulk by absorbing water, this can greatly help when you've got D. Insoluble adds bulk by simply being undigestable.

Most fibre supplements are made of soluble fibre. As far as foods go brown rice has oneof the highest soluble fibre contents.

 

[handle]

Hi,
If you ever find that your Crohns is causing narrowing from inflammation or scarring, then you would need to avoid both types of fiber, and go to a low residue diet until it is resolved. The bulking effect can be painful in those circumstances as it increases peristalsis. Pressure on the bowel walls triggers the pushing response...
(Yeah the spelling is confusing...'fiber' in the U.S. and 'fibre' in Australia and England!)

 

[vonfunk]

It's fibre in Canada too.