dman2013

My biggest health concern has been maintaining good regularity, and I was able to do so for almost 18 years from age 38 through age 56 by eating lots of high fiber bread (Bran for Life from Food for Life, no longer available) after battling irregularity and constipation from age 19 through age 37. But unlike most people, I've had to avoid drinking too much water or else my stools would become too soft and I wouldn't be able to get a full evacuation. I found the optimum liquid intake for me was about 35-40 ozs a day while consuming approx. 20 grams of fiber per meal or 60 ozs total per day.

Everything I've read about fiber and liquid intake says you shouldn't consume more than or only need about 40 grams of fiber per day but should consume upwards of 68 ozs of liquid. I don't think I could get a normal bowel movement if I drank that much liquid every day. I wish I knew why my system seems to be so different from others. Now my hi-fiber diet no longer seems to be working for me and my irregularity issues are coming back.

I'm concerned that somehow the fiber itself may be causing issues, but it could also be this strange virus I think I contracted back in May 2008. It came on like it was the flu and I recovered from it like it was the flu, but brain fog, irregularity and heartburn resulted and these issues plague me now. Have I possibly developed a wheat allergy? The heartburn arrived a couple of months after the flu episode, assuming it was the flu. Then again they could be completely unrelated. I visited my doctor at the time and blood/urine tests all came back negative or within normal limits, so I'm perplexed.

Now when I'm feeling backed up, I'll gorge on sweets or something to overwhelm my system with calories and that usually gets things moving again by the next morning, but this causes weight gain.

My hi-fiber diet worked so well for so long. I'm curious to know if anyone else has experienced this after being on a hi-fiber diet.

Kathy13118

Nope. But here's a suggestion: try a variation of intermittent fasting in which you allow quite a bit of time to elapse between two meals. For example, from dinner time one day until a very late lunch the next day. Or, for example, have your last food of the day at 4 and don't eat until at least 9 a.m. the next day. See if you can make a routine of that for awhile and see how that affects you - you can always drink coffee, tea, or water in the interval.

It may be that your digestive system is just slowing down a bit. Also, your doctor can comment on this. He could have some opinions about allergies or viruses and knows a lot more about such things! Good luck!