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Fibre for IBS

Getting enough fibre is an important part of any healthy diet but getting the right kind of fibre is essential if you want to improve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

What is fibre?

Fibre is basically a complex carbohydrate found in plant foods and is often referred to as “roughage”. In digestion it helps increase the weight of the stools, it increases the time it takes the stools to pass through the digestive system and it increases the number of bowel movements performed.

There are two different types of fibre, one is soluble fibre, found in fruits and vegetables, oats and barely, and the other is insoluble fibre found in the skins of fruits and vegetables, cereals, rice, and nuts.

Treating IBS by increasing fibre

People with IBS often find that increasing their fibre intake; particularly in the form of soluble fibre, helps relieve some of the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

Soluble fibre absorbs fluid in the gut and helps promote healthy stools and normal bowel movements regardless of whether your IBS is diarrhoea predominant or constipation predominant, it can also relieve painful stomach cramps. However, as fibre promotes bowel movements, in some people, increasing fibre intake may make any diarrhoea worse. In others though, it can help alleviate diarrhoea because it absorbs the excess fluid in the gut. The only way to know is to try and see how it affects you.

Obviously the best way to increase fibre intake is naturally through the diet itself by eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. It is not advisable to take bran as a source of fibre if you suffer from IBS as this has been found to make the symptoms of IBS much worse. However, as IBS is very much an individual condition, what might be tolerated well by one individual could exacerbate the symptoms in another. It really comes down to finding what works for you.

Ispaghula husk is a type of soluble fibre that can be very effective in helping to alleviate constipation. It works by increasing the volume of the stools because it absorbs water and swells and helps the muscles in the gut to push the contents through the digestive system more easily and quickly.

The importance of drinking plenty of water when increasing fibre intake cannot be underestimated. Fibre needs water to work properly and taking fibre without enough fluid in the diet can produce more digestive problems and make your IBS symptoms worse.

When increasing the amount of fibre in the diet it is advisable to introduce it gradually in order for your body to get used to it. Eating too much fibre when you are not accustomed to it can trigger symptoms, particularly in people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome.