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Fiber

Posted , 7 users are following.

linda18628
linda18628

I’m 3 weeks out form my last flair up and finished my antibiotics. I’ve been on bland food. How long before I can add fiber into my diet.  Are salads too much to start back with? 

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • jeremy04220
    jeremy04220 linda18628

    Posted

    Every body is different. I would start adding fiber slowly trying to introduce different things. I am convinced that it was an artichoke that gave me my last bleed so beware of things with little woody bits or spikes. I have never stopped eating salads even when having a bout I like raw spinach and have it on toast with marmite or peanut butter at breakfast. I tried psyllium for a year which you can buy in health food shops and this increases fiber in a benevolent way. I have stopped as it didn't seem to help me much but others I know swear by it.

    • georgie82565
      georgie82565 linda18628

      Posted

      You can eat green beans. Start with a few to see how you do. That was the only bean my dietitian recommended for this stage of DD.  No broccoli etc.  Do only green beans first and see how you do.  I have had too many people including my dietitian say no to salad at all for awhile.  No raw vegetables or fruit. Cooked carrots, cooked sweet potato and regular potato without skins, frozen fruit or canned fruit.  That is what I have been told by my dietitian my Dr recommended.  I hope this helps.  I have missed salad too but after my setback from not knowing what to eat, this time I am following directions and doing only one new thing at a time.  I have progressed to a tiny and I mean tiny, about a half of a 1/4 measuring cup, bit of oatmeal with some frozen blueberries. So far that has done well.  But I am going slow and steady. I am feeling too well to risk it.  Good luck to you. Start with green beans.
  • Guest
    Guest linda18628

    Posted

    I personally start with home made veggie soup, which I blend.  That is because the veggies are cooked and softer, and a blend slips down easily.  You get the fibre from the veggies with less risk.  Later I part blend and leave part chunky.  I am lucky as I can eat salad, but I skin and de-seed peppers, tomatoes and cucumber.  I too take Fybogel (psyllium husk) daily and have done for 17 years.  I notice if I don't for whatever reason, I start to become constipated.  Soluble fibre with plenty of water is the route to take.

    • linda18628
      linda18628 Guest

      Posted

      thanks, i was just going to try a salad with cheese and dressing only. I'm not brave enough to add anything else yet.

       

    • ashdankail
      ashdankail linda18628

      Posted

      Little by little is the way to go... Add one thing at a time to your diet so you can tell what causes upsets your tummy and what is ok to eat.  I was told after 2 weeks you can slowly start adding fiber into your diet, but go slowly.  You don't want to irritate your colon anymore than what is already is/was.  I have yet to try salads, but I love salads, so this is VERY hard for me.  From my understanding, you are also not supposed to eat raw vegetables; however, everyone's body is different. Some may be able to tolerate them while others are not.  Good luck.  THis is a trial and error fase.  You can get through this too.

    • ann55375
      ann55375 ashdankail

      Posted

      Are beans a culprit? I like butter beans and am not sure whether to try them or not as i have just got the flare up down.   I have added problem of not being able to use certain foods like green veg, broccolli, cranberries and more due to having warfarin.
  • jeremy04220
    jeremy04220 linda18628

    Posted

    I would agree with felinia. Home made vegetable soup  contains water soluble fiber, lots of nutrients and taste good and are satisfying as well as giving you good food.
  • t58949
    t58949 linda18628

    Posted

    I've read somewhere they recommend insoluble fiber rather than soluble fiber for diverticulitis. However, when I ate 2 bowls of All Bran cereal (which is packed full of insoluble fiber) it caused me to empty colon the next morning but have more pain that lasted a few days. Has anyone have better results with one or the other?

    • Guest
      Guest t58949

      Posted

      You are not the first person to suffer after eating All Bran, particularly such a huge portion.  Did you know the recommended portion size is 30gm or 1 oz a day?  If you measure that out you'll be surprised at how little that is.  The poster reporting a problem switched to Bran Flakes.  But I can't understand anyone recommending insoluble fibre - this forum is full of people who say don't eat skins, pips, seeds, corn if they trigger flares.  All Bran in particular is very harsh on your insides, aggravating an already compromised colon.  My own GP prescribes a soluble fibre supplement daily for my DD.

    • t58949
      t58949 Guest

      Posted

      If you do a search on google under "diverticulitis insoluble fiber" the first thing you see is this sentence "Remember, it is the increased pressures that the colon can exert within itself that causes diverticulosis. A bulky stool helps prevent this. Plant fiber, especially theinsoluble fiber, is the best. ... The easiest to take are wheat bran, amaranth, barley and others as listed in Fiber Content of Foods" 

      Also there's other articles such as this one:

      Case closed? Diverticulitis: epidemiology and fiber. - NCBIhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16885692by JR Korzenik - ?2006 - ?Cited by 71 - ?Related articles

      Insoluble fiber, but not soluble fiber, has been viewed as the principal component which has been deficient in western diets and is the culprit which leads to the establishment of diverticular disease and in turn, diverticulitis.

      Although there's plenty of information recommending insoluble fiber I agree with you based on personal experience, too much insoluble fiber causes more pain & agony. The all bran cereal "swells up" when you add liquid so maybe that's why it causes pain (assuming it continues to "swell up" in the colon putting pressure on the colon wall.)

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