Why YSK: fiber is important for optimal human health. It helps us avoid diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer, obesity, and other diseases. This is particularly important in developed countries such as mine (USA) that are suffering greatly from these diseases.
The recommended daily fiber intake is 25g for women and 38g for men in the USA, and 95% of us don’t meet this amount. This suggests an urgent need for us to increase our daily fiber intake, which can be achieved by swapping out ultra-processed foods and animal foods that are void of fiber with whole plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
I once had a consultation with a surgeon about hemorrhoid surgery. Her recommendation was to use fiber supplements because it’s almost impossible to get enough fiber from food alone.
(I ended up getting a bidet, and now my fiber-poor garbage diet doesn’t cause that particular problem anymore )
I had to start supplementing with psyllium fiber (powder) several months ago after a massive hemorrhoid attack last fall. (Surgeon gave me the identical advice.)
If I don’t get at least 40 g a day of total fiber (about 20+ of which are the powder), stools get large ‘n’ hard. It’s working, and my ass is thanking me.
What I’m having trouble squaring is I don’t think we evolved eating that much fiber every day. Pre-agriculture it would have been (depending on which part of the planet) lot’s of animal protein and whatever roots & berries you could find, right?
How do you consume so much psyllium? I find it difficult to get down because it turns to goo very fast
mix it quickly with cold water and chug
Exactly. I use a blender (stirring never worked) with a squirt of water flavoring. The key part is the immediate chugging!
This is purely anecdotal, but I started meal prepping with a pile of mixed vegetables and chicken, and my bowel movements have never been smoother. Like, the difference was legitimately addicting. Haha. An effortless shit everyday is such a massive game changer.
Thing is, I never have better shits than when I eat like absolute crap.
Hotdogs or a fry up, and it just flies out like a greased otter. Draw an ace every time.
When I go on a health kick and eat vegetables, it’s legit like wiping a marker pen.
Ease your way into the healthy diet.
Here’s my unsolicited recipe for overnight oats, you sweet, fiber-deficient lemmies:
1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1 Tbsp chia seeds, a glob of honey, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 3/4 cup of milk, then in the morning add 1/4 cup crushed walnuts and a ton of blueberries.
I can’t seem to get it together to do the night before, so I make morning oats
I normally make a few portions at once since imo they have better texture anyway if you give them two+ days to absorb moisture. I try to make another portion every day, but since I have a few in the fridge it gives me breathing room if I’m feeling lazy any particular day.
