Hi, and welcome back to our channel.
Today we're going to talk all about fiber and answer the question,
Is food or supplements better for your gut health?
So first, we'll talk about different fiber sources, the difference between and soluble versus soluble fiber, as well as choosing what fiber may be best for you, and talking about when you can start to consider using fiber supplements. So today is all about fiber, but before we dig into this topic, my name is Marcie Vaske and I'm a licensed nutritionist with Flusso Nutrients. And at Flusso Nutrients we work hard to educate you on different types of supplements. Now, before starting supplements, you want to be sure you're speaking with a supplement literate practitioner to be sure that the supplements you do add are not contraindicate with any medications you're taking or other supplements.
So without further ado, let's dig back into our topic today, which is fiber for gut health.
[Video Transcript Below + Supplement Links Discussed In Video]
The Importance of Fiber for Gut Health
Fiber is so critical for proper gut health. The different types of fibers, which we'll discuss in a moment, are also very key to understand, as well as fiber helps to maintain a balanced microbiome, helps our regularity of our bowel movements and just supporting overall digestion.
Natural Sources of Fiber
So first, let's talk about the natural sources of fiber, and there are two types which is soluble and insoluble. We are going to find fibers in foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains that are going to help support your gut health. You may even hear about prebiotic fibers and prebiotic fibers help to increase our short chain fatty acids in our intestinal tract. You'll find those in onions and garlic, bananas, oats, and potatoes.
Soluble Fiber: How It Benefits Your Gut
So first, let's talk about soluble fiber. And what soluble fiber does is it actually dissolves in water creating more of a gel-like substance. Due to this, it helps to slow down digestion and increase the absorption of nutrients. Soluble fiber actually helps to feed our beneficial gut bacteria. It actually helps to slow down digestion, as I noted, to help that absorption of your minerals and vitamins. It actually helps to reduce cholesterol by binding these bile acids, and it also helps to support conditions like diarrhea. So foods that are highest in soluble fiber can be oats and barley beans, lentils, things like fruits. Of course, I mentioned apples, oranges, bananas, also in cilium husk.
Insoluble Fiber: The Gut’s Natural Cleanser
Then we have insoluble fibers and insoluble fibers do not dissolve in water, and they actually remain intact throughout the intestinal system. And this actually insoluble fibers help to increase the bulk of stool and acts like a little brush throughout your intestinal tract. So insoluble fiber helps to prevent constipation by keeping the amount of stool moving through. It also can keep regular bowel movements that way. Insoluble fiber also helps to keep our pH in balance. Now we're going to find insoluble fibers in many different whole grains. Different fruits and vegetables, different nuts and seeds are going to be high in insoluble fibers, and of course, just even the skins of our fruits and vegetables.
Choosing the Right Fiber for Your Gut
So while both soluble and insoluble fibers are very important for our digestion, it really comes down to if you're having different gut issues, what kind of fiber is going to be most supportive for you? And if you are so thinking about, all right, well, I'm a little bit more constipated than I want to be, I might need to be adding more insoluble fibers. But oftentimes if you're very constipated, adding insoluble fibers can back you up even more because it's just adding bulk. And so you need to be very careful with that sometimes going further underneath that and understanding why you're constipated in the first place.
And maybe it's not about fiber, and of course working with a healthcare practitioner is going to be very important for that. Also, if you're struggling with diarrhea is a common gut issue for yourself, maybe you're looking more toward adding insoluble fibers. Now, occasionally we'll end up with more constipation or more constipation or more diarrhea. And like I said a moment ago, sometimes there's things other than just surface level things going on. So if that's something, if you are trying to use or increase your fiber, while it might be insoluble or soluble fibers and nothing is really changing or might even be getting worse, there's something more going on beneath that and working with us at Oswald Digestive Clinic, and we are a sister company to flu cell nutrients, we can really dig into some of those issues. But if we're just looking at how can we increase fiber and which would be best for us, thinking about getting at least 25 grams of fiber a day is recommended.
But again, it depends on what kind of gut issues you are experiencing. Now, if you feel like your gut is more reactive when you eat fruits and vegetables or even more whole grains, meaning you feel bloated or gassy or things just don't move as well, and so you're kind of trying to eliminate those foods, but you still need to get some fiber in, this is where supplements can come into play. And again, coming back to what is really underneath this and what is causing either of those conditions is important to understand. But initially, if you're just trying to figure some things out on your own, I would start with something like cilium husk and I'm going to link Heather's tummy fiber down below, which is really a fantastic type of fire to help support diarrhea and constipation. I think both, I've used it for both clients who are struggling with either of those, and things tend to get much better.
So I usually use it for people who have more diarrhea, but I do have clients that have used it for constipation. But again, it depends on why they're constipated in the first place and working it from that level.
When to Consider Fiber Supplements
Now, if you decide to do a fiber supplement, the number one thing is to go slow. Sometimes if you're having a symptom, all you want to do is get rid of it, and so you end up taking more than you need. And then that almost creates a new symptom on top of the old symptom. So ideally it's to look at the serving size and start with maybe a quarter of that serving. I always say start small, eighth to a quarter teaspoon, specifically with the supplement, I'm going to link below and then work yourself up slowly so you can let your body adjust. Let your digestive system adjust and see really how much you need.
Also, when you're taking something like a fiber supplement, you want to be sure you're staying very hydrated. Oftentimes, people are not hydrated enough, especially when you have gut issues because you might feel nauseous a lot or you feel full a lot. It's just hard to get a lot of fluid in. But if you're going to take supplements and specifically fiber supplements, you've got to push the water. So you need to stay really hydrated so that it can do its job and that you can alleviate your symptoms.
Food vs. Supplements: Which Is Better?
So to answer the question, is food fiber better or worse than supplement fiber? And I always say that if you can eat it, and that's the best way to go, because you're not only going to get the fiber out of the foods consumed, but you're going to get all the minerals, the vitamins, the nutrients that you need, where if you're doing a supplement, you're really just getting that specific thing, which is fiber. So I think if you can eat the food, that's the way to go. If your symptoms not clearing up, then maybe that's where you add in that supplement.
So again, I'm going to link that Heather's Tummy Fiber down below, which I think is fantastic type of fiber to begin with. Just remember to start slow and drink a lot of water.
Thanks for watching.
Check out the high-quality supplements we discussed in this video - links below for your convenience!
1) Tummy Fiber Acacia Senegal POUCH: https://www.heatherstummycare.com/p/suplmts_acacia/tummy-fiber-acacia-senegal-pouch/
3) ALL PROFESSIONAL QUALITY SUPPLEMENTS: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com & https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/flussonutrients