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Comment by hnzix | Hacker News Reader

Fiber supplementation can worsen symptoms of IBS as it draws water into the colon. "Just eat more fibre" is a knee jerk response of people unfamiliar with the science. These conditions are corelated to inflamation and often it's FODMAPs which are a major contributor.

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This is just wrong. First of all, IBS != IBD. Second of all, IBD doctors will flat out recommend high fiber Mediterranean style diets for anybody who is not in an active flair.

Low FODMAP is also recommended for IBD and is quite reputable although not a silver bullet. I agree with the above poster that Fiber if anything is an old hat approach which can make things worse as easily as they make things better. Low fiber diets are used ALL THE TIME in the treatment of ibs/Ibd, as are high fiber diets.

I am rather convinced quite a few peopl have IBS/IBD in significant part due to their high fiber diet which tend to be high in FODMAPs if not meticulously designed and inflame the intestines with solid residue. People blindly recommending fiber as a panacea, and I’m not saying it doesn’t have a place in the treatment of IBS/IBD, but just blindly throwing fiber at the problem as if it’s always going to help us legitimately going to land people in hospital.

A big advantage to the low FODMAP diet and why it’s taken off is that it can treat constipation and diarrhea without having to adopt a high fibre diet.

I kinda doubt taco bell is the kind of Mediterranean diet those docs are thinking of.

I have no idea, but is it possible that the lack of fiber can cause an illness, and that adding fiber at that point can make symptoms of that illness worse, once it's taken hold?

Yes, you can get inflamed from constipation and bacteria screwing with you and such, and then insoluable fiber and other material that doesn’t digest can cause more irritation, but I’d argue the biggest problem with fiber might not be fiber itself but the foods that have fiber in them because they all tend to have FODMAPs which are also implicated in ibs/ibd.

Fiber I believe it’s generally recommended you take as much as you can if you aren’t having issues.

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