hmmmm fiber? :) possibly TMI..
Is it bad if you have a lot of fiber but don't ..."see a man about a horse"... ? lol Today and yesterday I had a decent (a lot...) amount of broccoli and cauliflower, but havent had a bowel movement and its already nighttime again. Is this bad? And is there way I can encourage one?
you need to drink A LOT of water when you up your fiber intake, or else it will have the reverse effect.. and you will end up constipated. good luck :)
I don't know the details, but I think that you'll eventually learn to know what your body can and can't handle. I know that my body can handle boatloads of carbs and protein, but not much in the way of sugar and fiber. But like Ohohcherri said, make sure to keep drinking! :)
with me, my body can handle a lot of fiber, even in one sitting i can eat at least 14 grams and be perfectly fine! but i can get easily sick from sugar.
Also, the soluble fiber often found in fruits and veggies is a more "sticky" fiber that can actually back you up--especially if you don't eat enough whole grain fibers to balance it off. I used to eat gobs of apples, carrots, broccoli, etc. and got so constipated and bloated. Once I got down to only 1 serving per meal with a higher amount of pasta or bread, things started moving through better.
The RDA of fibre for women is a minimum of 25g a day. You need to make sure you're getting enough soluble and insoluble fibre - Insoluble (the fibre that forms bulk and regulates acidity and PH in the gut) and soluble (the fibre that helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol).
Insoluble fibre examples:
-- Whole-wheat pastas, breads, etc
-- Quinoa
-- Brown rice
-- Bran products
-- Fruit and vegetable skins, such as potato skins, tomato skins, plum/prune skins, apple skins, pear skins
-- Nuts and seeds, particularly flax, almonds, brazil nuts and walnuts
Soluble fibre examples:
-- Oats
-- Rye
-- Barley
-- Potatoes of all varieties
-- Psyillium husks
-- Legumes and pulses, especially lentils, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), kidney beans, pinto beans and soybeans
And pretty much all fruits and vegetables. Particularly raspberries, plums, bananas, sweetcorn, prunes, apples, pears, blackberries, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels, asparagus, artichokes and dried fruit. Again, never introduce lots more fibre without drinking enough water to compensate. There is a more detailed list of fibre sources here for future reference.
Why can athletes eat so much?
Athletes need adequate calories to offset those they burn in training and competition. They eat to either maintain their body mass or gain muscle... Read more

