TO wonder if my chronic constipation IS actually my own fault?

[BladdersRoom]

Been chronically constipated for years. A while back, this resulted in me being rushed to hospital in agony with an impacted bowel.

Doctor's have always said I need to eat more fibre and my response was always "I do! That doesn't work for me!"

However I've been following my fibre intake on MFP recently and have realised I NEVER hit target. In fact, the most I've ever managed was 15g one day but most days it's between 2g and 7g

So is this actually the cause of my constipation?? I'm considering going veggie so that my meat substitutes contain so much more fibre but I'm worried that I'm going to end up a bloater.

Is my fibre intake (or lack of) really enough to have caused this long battle with constipation?

Are you currently underweight, OP? Your attitude to food is a little concerning, tbh - are you speaking to anyone about this ATM?

You say you are worried about being bloated, but surely being constipated must make you bloated?

Your sample diet has almost no fibre and most of the fat is saturated. Out of interest, why are you having a whey shake for breakfast? You need fuel for your body in the morning, not highly digestible protein. If you really must have a shake then, in addition to the fruit that has already been suggested, add a couple of generous scoops of ground oats. That will give you fibre and slow release carbs for energy.

I appreciate everyone's replies and advice, thank you :-)

Not wanting to drip feed but I have food issues so am terrified of putting on weight and have a phobia of sugar making me fat. I'm working on it.

I've just done a trial day of MFP -

Breakfast - all bran with milk

Lunch - wholemeal roll with quorn burger and salad

Dinner - quorn mince with wholewheat spaghetti and homemade tomato sauce - now the fibre is off the scale and in the red so I'm scared it will make me put on weight. Can too much fibre make you put on weight?

It might be best to ask for a referral to the community dietitian for individualised advice. You'll probably have to wait, but this sounds like a long-term issue. In the meantime, it sounds like you have already looked at the NHS advice for increasing the fibre in your diet but here's the link anyway.

Eat 3 big oranges a day at least. And cheese substitutes made from coconut oil. Trust me a combo of this and you'll be fixed

I have always had problems too. I started having colonics and taking a supplement called co-ton a 00 from a website called cleansing herbs.co.uk. I don't have colonics anymore as the tablets work well on there own. I would definitely recommend.

OP I think given your food issues you really need to see a dietician and get some professional advice.

Being constipated does make me bloat but I take bisocodyl for that and spend the day in agony

OP, get yourself a big bowl of All Bran in the morning, soak it in milk for about half an hour, add what ever flavour yogurt. Jobs a good un.
You seem to be having lots of white flour foods stuff, this will block you up.

A banana a day works to keep me regular :-)

Fibre won't make you put on weight because its not digested. It may make you weigh a little heavier but that is only because it is sitting in your guts waiting to be passed. It is not adding to your body fat because its not providing calories only digestive bulk.

I often have a smoothie for breakfast but I add oats, chia, flax and nuts and some greens like spinach and hemp protein to soya / almond /coconut milk

You eat ready meals and pasta twice a day but won't eat cereal like allbran in case it makes you fat?! Really?!

Op, looking thinner is no where near as important as being healthy inside.

Salads and veg are your new friends - high in fibre and no sugar, win win.

OP, try mixing some white flour and a bit of water, this is what's in your system, it's like glue.

HarderAndHarder, that's because I can see exactly how many calories, fat and carbs are in ready meals!

A magnesium tab at night is the business. Helps you sleep too. Win win.

Check out the dosage for you.

Remember Milk of Magnesia when we were kids? Well there you go.

Eat what you like, ignore the food police, it will be fine. People survived on much less during famine and war.

Try Soya mince instead of quorn. Tastier, low fat and goes through you like a bullet!

Fibre does the opposite of putting on weight - it literally can't be digested. It's why it helps you poo, because it come out the other end.

Not that I'm trying to encourage unhealthy eating attitudes. If you're underweight and worried about being fat, see your GP or at least talk to someone.

Olive oil on salads and vegetables, at least 2 teaspoons per day. If you can drink it so much the better. Or take Omega 3 capsules. Adjust the dose according to results. This is also good for dry skin.

Water, orange juice with bits, not too much tea and coffee.

OP you're worried about putting on weight yet you eat pasta twice a day.

You're calorie count on MFP must have been through the roof?

*your

Fibre can't possibly make you fat - it isn't digested.

I second the suggestion that you get a referral to a dietitian. Your current diet is fairly horrible and it's no wonder you're bunged up. Are you currently getting psychological input around your food issues as well?

No tippy I only eat small amounts of pasta, even if I eat it regularly

BladdersRoom, have you ever had any help with your relationship to food/weight etc?

You bowel needs real food to process for it to function properly.
Digestion starts in the mouth (enzymes in saliva), continues in the stomach (acid), carries on in the small bowel (liver/pancreatic enzymes) which renders your small bowel content in to something resembling lumpy, watery 'soup' (apologies for the analogy). The role of the large bowel is to extract water out of this 'soup' which means the longer something is inside the drier and harder it becomes (which is why often the first poo of the day is much harder than any subsequent ones).

The bowel wall is muscular and contains receptors that when your bowel is active (often after breakfast when the gusto-colic reflex kicks in: something landing in your stomach makes your rectum want to move. That sensation is known as 'the call to stool' and should always be obeyed ) causes a peristaltic wave to push a stool out without much straining or pressing or eyes popping out.

While there can be a genetic predisposition to slower or fast bowel transit times, you can 'train' a bowel to become slower and more sluggish, less responsive than an active, well functioning GI system.

You need to eat, Real Food.
Sugar does not make you fat.
Fat does not make you fat.
Amounts of various foods can be more or less healthy for you, but really, we should just eat a variety of foods that our great-grandparents would recognise as food (no ready meals on a regular basis), eat when we are hungry and stop when we are full. We should eat mainly plant-based non-starchy food, fat and protein. Refined sugar is not required but the sugar in fruit comes with so many vital vitamins, minerals and micronutrients that it pales in to insignificance. And most of us could do with being far, far more active than we are as a rule.

Bisacodyl is a 'stimulating' laxative. Chronic use will make your bowel MORE lazy and will make chronic constipation worse.

Please go and see your GP and get some RL advice: on your food issues and how to manage your constipation safely in the long term.

Sorry about the assay. Your issue/s is/are common ones but really are very addressable.