Sport Why does fiber make you gassy?

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Lettuce

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Why is it that fiberous foods give you loads of flatus and how come it happens so fast?

Yesterday I had a Fiber One bar as part of my breakfast (keep in mind I haven't been eating high fiber foods) and within about a hour or so, I had horrible gas pangs and flatus. I had one serving of FiberOne Caramel cerial this morning and within about the same time span I had gas pangs and flatus again. I may have just screwed myself out of the bed by having a second bowl with dinner.

Why does this happen?
 
Because what you ate was unable to digest in your small intestine.
Then it passed into your large intestine - undergoing microbial fermentation.
The bacteria have enzymes capable of digesting otherwise undigestible foods but as a consequence releases a number of different gases one of which as an odour - hydrogen sulphate.
 
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matt182 said:
Because what you ate was unable to digest in your small intestine.
Then it passed into your large intestine - undergoing microbial fermentation.
The bacteria have enzymes capable of digesting otherwise undigestible foods but as a consequence releases a number of different gases one of which as an odour - hydrogen sulphate.
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But why did it happen so fast? I mean, it took about 20 hours to pass a meal I had the other night (I know cause it included corn, another indigestable food). How it is that fiber goes thru you so quickly and the gasses even faster? I'm passing the gasses caused by a food I ate only a few hours ago, all while it'll be another 10+ hours before I pass the food itself?



On another note, my wife picked up this suppliment the other day, supposedly, it's fiber without the gas effects. She has been taking it for 2-3 days and I'm the one stinking her out of the room. LOL!!

Side note: This is great. I can let my inner child out and talk about farts! LOL!!!
 
are you saying your guilty of doing a number 2 everyday! :p

Dont get passing and digesting mixed up because they arnt very good indicators of each other. When you eat, the food doesnt just shoot through your system poop it out within 10 hours as you say. The gas occurs quick because it can easily escape out from your body, the faeces however is stored in the sigmoid colon. When there is enough faecel material in your sigmoid it stretches the sense receptors which give you the sense of needing to poop. :cool:
 
matt182 said:
are you saying your guilty of doing a number 2 everyday! :p
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Actually, I'm guilty of 2 number 2's a day. :eek: :eek2: :rofl:


Dont get passing and digesting mixed up because they arnt very good indicators of each other. When you eat, the food doesnt just shoot through your system poop it out within 10 hours as you say. The gas occurs quick because it can easily escape out from your body, the faeces however is stored in the sigmoid colon. When there is enough faecel material in your sigmoid it stretches the sense receptors which give you the sense of needing to poop. :cool:
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It took a little under 20 hours for my KFC big bowl to come back out, if my calculations were correct. :yelrotflmao: :p
 
matt182 said:
i couldnt imagine hohw inconvenient that must be :rofl:

If i wanted to i could go without a whole week!:p
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Inconvenient? It gets me away from work. I make sure to save them for when I'm on the clock. I get paid **** for taking a ****! LOL!!!
 
matt182 said:
i couldnt imagine hohw inconvenient that must be :rofl:

If i wanted to i could go without a whole week!:p
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Me too....I've done it!

Lettuce - It might not be the fiber in the cereal and the bars. You could be lactose intolerant or be reacting to the soy ingredients.
 
philsaigon said:
Me too, consistently. And on days when it's only once, I hafta make sure it's a toilet with a powerful flusher!
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Damn skippy! That was today actually. LOL!!!


:eek: That can't be comfortable or good for you either
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+1

WTF?! I would be rather concerned if I didn't poo more than once a week.

You should poo between 3 times a week and 3 times a day. I, personally, would not enjoy more than 2 poo's a day.



BTW, I'm not lactose intolerant nor do I have a problem with soy products. I did think of that as well, but any other time I have either of those, I don't have this problem. It's strictly with fiber rich foods.
 
matt182 said:
i couldnt imagine hohw inconvenient that must be :rofl:

If i wanted to i could go without a whole week!:p
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Wow, that must be really bad for your gut. I go at least twice a day, sometimes 3 if I'm eating hard. It's good to clear out your bowels frequently
 
philsaigon said:
:eek: That can't be comfortable or good for you either
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At the time I was in traction and if I went I would have had to go in a bucket with the assistence of a nurse. I don't think an experience like that would have been good! So I held it and refused to take the laxatives they were trying to give me.
 
Lettuce said:
BTW, I'm not lactose intolerant nor do I have a problem with soy products. I did think of that as well, but any other time I have either of those, I don't have this problem. It's strictly with fiber rich foods.
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What other foods other than this brand do you have problems with?
 
Having the same problem here. Oats give me horrible problems. Other fibrous carbs also give me problems. But I was wondering, is there anything that I can do about it besides stopping eating them?
 
calcium said:
What other foods other than this brand do you have problems with?
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Nothing. Just any food I eat that is full of fiber gives me horrible gas. My wife has the same problem as well, so, she started taking this suppliment they talked about in Womens Health. I can't remember what it is called off the top of my head, but it's full of fiber and doesn't give you the gassy side-effects.
 
Yeah but what other foods that are full of fiber give you problems? Name them...

And I would love to know the supplement your wife is taking :)
 
calcium said:
Yeah but what other foods that are full of fiber give you problems? Name them...

And I would love to know the supplement your wife is taking :)
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Anything with fiber! LOL! The Fiber One stuff, Beans, anything with a high fiber count. Probably anything with more than 15g/serving (not that I eat just one serving).

The supplement she is taking is called glucomannan

It's touted as a way to keep you fuller (the way fiber tends to do). You're supposed to take it at the beginning of each meal and eat a normal serving. Than afterwards, you'll feel fuller the way you would if you ate a high fiber meal, without the painful gas. You have to stay on top of it, just as you would eating correctly or going to the gym.
 
What an interesting thread!

Matt obviously has some expertise in the biology field, so this is more of a question for him...

I take HUGE doses of soluble fiber every day...in whole food form and what I'll call supplements...oat fiber (not oat bran),psyllium, and ground flax seed. I do this mainly as a way to help in cholesterol control and blood glucose stabilizing, but I don't really understand exactly how it works. I have serious problem with low HDL, and I'm convinced that this is a part of the success I've had in raising my HDL significantly. But maybe I don't understand things well enough to make that claim.

To get back into the spirit of the original post, I will say that all this fiber, especially the psyllium it seems, tends to add significant bulk to the "end" product. I'm in the bathroom at least 4 times every day for this reason. Makes travelling interesting.
 
Krodad said:
To get back into the spirit of the original post, I will say that all this fiber, especially the psyllium it seems, tends to add significant bulk to the "end" product. I'm in the bathroom at least 4 times every day for this reason. Makes travelling interesting.
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It turely does. I've noticed since I added higher amounts of fiber to my diet, I've been going better and more frequently. I must say, I rather enjoy that fact that I can almost set my watch to my poo cycle.
 
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