too many carbs = constipation?

lately i've been constipated and i don't know why aside from the fact that everything i eat (except for nuts and peanut butter sometimes) are carbs.. processed stuff like chewy bars and weight watchers stuff.. could this make me constipated? i get a lot of fiber though, like i mean a LOT, i eat fiber one daily, sometimes even 2 servings so that's over 100% DV. what do you think?

I would think it more to be down to your fibre intake. Especially if you aren't drinking enough to counteract it. How many grams do you get a day?

i'd also like to know this, as i'm sort of experiencing the same issues.

i eat like 80% carbs and i dont have that problem.  maybe its something else.

I don't usually keep track of my fiber intake but when I have a few days I found I get 80+.  Generally I don't have a problem because I drink tons and tons of water..but lately I've added a few foods back into my diet and I've been backed up since.  I have also been drinking a little less water but I still drink a lot!

Are you adding new foods in?  Could it be possible your system is having trouble with some foods you are eating?  I have found carrots and popcorn cause problems in me..but not others.  You may just have to experiment with cutting out a certain food for a couple days and see what happens.  Just because a food doesn't back others up doesn't mean it might not back you up!  And vice versa =P

Could you be dehydrated?  I have also added coffee back into my diet after not having it for a while and I think that could be a cause as well.

Good luck!

hm, well i don't count my fiber grams, but i know i get plenty, if i can finish off a box of fiber one in a week.... haha

also i eat a lot of carbs that contain fiber like oatmeal.

 

as for water, i counted yesterday and i know i got at least 90 oz of water. i also drink green tea (2 tea bags daily, which is i believe 16 oz)

 

so i don't think i'm dehydrated... ): but no i haven't introduced any new foods lately, so i dunno

Are you eating enough? If you're not that could be it.

no honestly since i'm trying to recover from an ED, but it's hard for me to eat a lot, though some times i make it up to 1700 cals but i'm scared and go back down most of the time. thing is i've never had this problem even when i was restricting really badly soo i don't see how that could be the problem (im at least eating more than idid during the bad part of my ED but even then i wasnt constipated)

It could be because your system isn't used to processing more food.  Everytime I increase cals it happens

but i've been doing it for a while, and the constipation only started recently..

 

well is it constipation if there isn't really any waste in my anus (i don't feel any)? it feels like all the food i eat is just stuck in my stomach, and i have a lot of gas but its very hard to pass and usually gets stuck. i also have hemroids now, which makes me feel like i have waste up there which makes me push and make it worse, but i think all the food is stuck somewhere else... i took a laxative like two days ago, it made me get rid of a LOT, including stuff i ate a couple days back (i saw corn lol), and it HURT like hell, but now everything is all stopped up again.

oh and i just counted, i guess i get about 32-35 grams of fiber daily

so i don't think fiber is the issue at all, and i drink a lot of water too

You need volume of food rather than simply fibre in order to keep the digestion working properly.  There's a big difference between getting fibre from 3 x 4oz servings of steamed vegetables and 1 x bowl of high-fibre cereal.  Too much neat, heavy-duty fibre can block you up like a hairball in a cat's stomach.   Vegetables and fruit, on the other hand, contain lots of bulk and water which really helps the transit of food in the gut.

Watch the chewy bars and WW products as well.  Too much artificial sweetner can have a really bad effect on the guts.   And processed foods tend to be lacking in bulk....  

ohh i see... so do you think i should stop eating so much fiber one? maybe limit myself to 1/2c a day for a little while until things get better?

 

i'm thinking for fiber i could eat carrots.... as they're the only high fiber vegetable i have in the house (or vegetable in general actually, the fridge is very empty) right now. good idea?

oh and does boiling the carrots destroy the fiber?

I think you should cut back on the fibre one and eat a lot more bulky fruit, vegetables and salads.  "5-a-day" is really a bare minimum for a good reason and a 'portion' is about 3-4oz ideally. So you're aiming for 1lb - 1.25 lbs vegetables/fruit per day.  Fill half your plate with vegetables before adding the other elements of a meal... even if that's a frozen dinner.  Snack on plenty of fruit between meals.  Carrots are fantastic and if that's all you've got then eat carrots.  But they're just one vegetable.  NB Boiling doesn't remove the fibre but if they're over-cooked you lose a lot of the goodness. 

As soon as you can, track down a nice supermarket, greengrocer's shop or market stall and stock up on as good a range as you can get....  Best of luck.

hey there...just wanted to chime in and say i second gi-janes advice! I've been suffering from constipation for quite some time, and I just talked with a doctor a few days ago, and one of the things she said was make sure you aren't having too much fiber, and concentrate on getting fiber from fruits and veggies, and drink tons of water.

I have this tendency too, and I've found that artificial sweeteners are definitely a no-no for me, so I don't eat any of the WW stuff or any bars.  Shredded wheat each morning does the trick.  Also, watch out for soy protein found in many bars.  That's problematic for me too.

thanks for your input everyone, but i'm afraid nothing is helping, even though i've been eating more fibrous bulky fruits and vegetables...

 

also for some reason its becoming hard for me to stomach small amounts of food, and i'm starting to involuntarily throw up a little every once in a while, could my intestines be blocked....?