Slightly personal question but....In your experience does psyllium husk help with constipation or make it worse? I've read quite a few contradictory reports. It seems to be indicated for constipation and diarrhoea which leaves me wondering if it really works for either.....
Trying to improve my fibre intake but don't want to end up with constipation.
I'm not a massive fan of Chai seeds. But I eat mountains of spinach every day and lots of other veg. Still not convinced I'm getting enough fibre though.....
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Professor-Yaffle
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Hello! I remember lots of conversations about this over the past couple of years. Hopefully some of the threads in this search might be useful or interesting for you— I was worried about fibre intake initially too, and originally took a few mixes of flaxseed, ate loads of spinach and logged daily fibre amounts. Realised after a while that I didn’t actually have constipation at all… just that bowel motions were much smaller and needed much less frequently due to the fact I was eating much less bulky food generally, and also eating less in general. Just my personal experience, but it might add a different perspective to your situation too maybe.
Thanks Cosmo501. I will have a look through the threads in your link.
Good to know about your bowel movements too 😁. Mine are similar to yours🤭 and I'm not worried about them, just worried about what the psyllium husk might do to them.....
The reason I was thinking of increasing my fibre intake was more for long-term general and bowl health. I was reading something about fibre and it made me wonder if I'm getting enough. I might calculate how much fibre is in my average daily intake.... I hate weighing and measuring though. I know spinach has a lot of fibre and I eat lots of that daily. I also eat a fair amount of avocado and broccoli so maybe I am getting enough.....
When you were logging your fibre do you remember how much your were eating roughly?
Some years ago (in my "old days" before I was either coeliac (so gluten free) or low carb), I suffered badly with constipation for some years, made worse by the then standard advice to eat more insoluble fibre in the form of bran - which made me worse, not better - and I kept upping the quantity before I realised it. 😡When I changed to psyllium husk, I got magically better, at a much lower dose than is "allowed" by the label of the one I buy. I continued to take it daily for years, and went backwards if I didn't have it.
Now that I am both gluten free and low carb, I no longer have gut problems. I am using psyllium husk powder in some of my cooking (especially the keto rolls, based on ground almonds). I do still also sometimes take it as a fibre supplement, as I am keen to replace the soluble fibre in the oats I can no longer eat. Without it, I now tend towards the too loose side, after many years of constipation - I think because I eat enormous quantities of veg compared to most people, whether they are low carb or not. I don't have the smaller bowel movements that many have on low carb, but again, I am sure this is because of my veg (and fruit) consumption. I am not as strictly low carb as most on here
The fact that it helps both with constipation and diarrhoea is not a contradiction - I find it helps to maintain a comfortable and healthy consistency, with just the right amount of retained fluid.
Your example helps me to make sense of why psyllium husk is indicated for both conditions. Seems like for you it is an important regulator. Glad you have found a way to manage any issues.
Maybe I have been quite lucky with my bowl so far, the only thing that seems to disturb them is too much alcohol which leads to much looser movements, or on very rare occasions when I eat processed food - in which case it can cause looser movements. Sometimes when I eat food past it's date I also get a sudden lose bowl movement 😂.
In periods of my life where I have been more laissez-faire about my diet (i.e. more carbs) I have struggled a bit more with my bowl movements and I find LCHF improves this a lot.
The only times I have ever had constipation are when I have consumed lots of fibre, with probably not enough liquid. And when I first gave up caffeine - that sorted itself out pretty quick though and my bowl seemed to learn to regulate itself without the caffeine. I drink decaf coffee now and I think it still has a slight laxative affect TBH. An occasional square of 90% or above chocolate also seems to help ease bowl movements the next day.
I'm also not strictly monitoring my carb intake from veg - I eat loads of green veg daily so get quite a bit of bulk in my diet. I'm trying to loose a little weight at the moment so i'm laying off of carby veg in the week, but I do have some at the weekend (not potatoes or anything like that - just things like tomato and berries). At the weekend my stools are bigger anyway because I eat a greater volume of food and often slightly looser because I drink alcohol at the weekends but not in the week.
Well that's the short history of my bowl movements done with 😂
Right you are Subtle_badger. I associate them with the other ingredients in a red soup.... all my soups are made of vegetables of the same colour so they don't just all look brown. Green soup, red soup, white soup etc.... I'm probably somewhere at the high functioning end of the autistic spectrum..... Ashamed to say I actually prefer tinned tomatoes to fresh ones, although I like both lots.
I'm also trying to greatly increase my intake of green food so I'm naturally cutting back on red and brown foods. 🎨
IIRC it was because of Atkins, who suggested that things like tomatoes, carrots, and turnips had too many carbs in them and should be avoided in the weight-loss phase. They really don't, as long as you're eating them as part of a proper meal.
You're proving my point! How did tomatoes get lumped with the higher carb veggies? They have less carbs than broccoli and much less than those root veggies.
This is for 100g of each, all from the University of Minnesota NCCDB.
I don't really know about psyllium because I find it ruins the texture of food so I don't supplement with it, but if I have too many chia seeds or linseed I found it does bung me up.
I still stand by my experience here healthunlocked.com/lchf-die... that my problem was electrolytes. I am no longer supplementing with magnesium but haven't had a problem since (except maybe after 4 boiled eggs covered in peanut sauce 😳).
You might find this interesting. Dr Mason is a bit of a ratbag in my opinion; he's not a gastroenterologist, but sports medicine specialist so be sceptical, but some of what he says really resonates with my experiences.
Thanks Subtle_Badger. That was an interesting watch.
It's amazing how funny the audience find it that he is talking about defecation.... he's not really making jokes (or not in the sense of what I consider to be a joke) but they all laugh anyway as if it's on an autocue or something. They are a very lively audience indeed, considering the subject matter.
You suggest scepticism, and I have to say I'm always very sceptical of things like this unless I watch and then go and read the papers they quote myself (to decide if it's really an adequate study and has been accurately quoted) - even then, I think you need to read much more broadly to get a proper overview. I'm obviously a big fan of LCHF but some experts who are very defensive of LCHF seem to select studies based on proving the point they are trying to make. The other side of the debate do exactly the same thing and it ends up quite dogmatic IMO.
Dr Mason's points do also resonate with my experience though - which is why I'm worried adding the psyllium husk will cause constipation in my otherwise well functioning bowels. Perhaps I shouldn't worry so much about fibre but there are also several other studies and several experts who would suggest otherwise....
Do you know roughly how many grams of fibre you eat in an average day Subtle_Badger?
My scepticism about quoting only one medical study to prove a point reminds me of this research (published in the BMJ) which showed that upon jumping from an aircraft, using a parachute doesn't actual increase your chances of survival;
Since you asked, I put in what might be my vegetable consumption on a higher fibre day. It came to 24 grams, well short of the 30g NHS recommends. Most days would be less, I think.
But then I looked at the NHS example and 🤯 There is so much carbs; 2 slices of bread, a banana and a smoothie, just for breakfast 🤪 Even with that, if they skipped the baked beans, they would have had less fibre in their day than me. And who eats the skin of a jacket potato? nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/h...
I am more and more convinced that it's not am achievable goal, for anyone. And a 2 year old eating 15g of fibre? To do that with carrot puree, you'd need about 10 carrots (1/2 kg)
But many do not, and even leaving that single item on the plate, misses the NHS goal.
And, again, in this dish the baked beans - a traditionally sweetened (and in this example, artificially sweetened) dish accounts for 1/3 of the fibre. Leave that out, and how do you reach the goal? And if you can't reach it naturally, is it good for you?
Honestly, eating 30g of fibre sounds more difficult than cutting carbs to 20g, but for some reason the NHS will keep insisting you do the former, but that the latter is beyond you reach.
🤮very few foods I dislike but I hate baked beans, really hate them! Gross. Why ruin the beans like that????
Yes, I take your point. Perhaps in some ways it's actually easier to eat 30g of fibre on a low carb diet. You got to 24 without having to endure baked beans and jacket potato skins.....
I'm viewing it like a math problem now... how can I get there without eating too many carbs..... but also can I and do I want to?
My reaction is simpler than that. If it's that hard to get to 30g eating whole foods, should we try? If I was going to put in the effort (and I am not, at the moment, just sticking to whole foods), I would want some pretty solid evidence that this diet would extend my life.
That's not the same as me pre-low-carb, when I wanted to gobble up bread and butter, but still, I want evidence!
I don’t have any problems with constipation nowadays, it’s usually quite the reverse. I did have problems before I went gluten free and low carb though. I eat lots of green veg and like yourself stick to decaf drinks. I make low carb rolls with psyllium husk and ground almonds but I only eat them occasionally. I don’t add psyllium husk to any other foods and I don’t eat much fruit. I do eat lots of seeds though. Maybe you could try making a few low carb rolls with psyllium husk and see how you go on?
I do exactly the same - even to how I use the yolks! They cover both bases - gluten free and low carb - and they are the best GF baking I have found. As you say, they freeze brilliantly - and also keep for a surprising length of time in a plastic bag or box in the fridge
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Wanting to try this! 
Breakfast ideas...plus any tips and other meals really ;)
How many carbs a day are considered low carb?
Making my own bone broth