T Nation

Flax Seed and Constipation?

#1

My BM's have been irregular lately. I've started to think it's the flax.

I just bought some ground flax, thinking it would be a great fiber supplement, plus it has protein and omega-3 fat. I've been adding it to protein shakes (about at least 4 tbsp) and adding it to my morning cereal, which already is a oatmeal/flax/other grain combo.

Instead of increasing frequency of my BM's, I now shit like every 2 days and it is solid, like a rock.

WTF?

Now, I have been very busy, basically living at the coffee shop or library, drinking large amounts of coffee. But I've also been drinking water all day long, maintaining my normal caloric intake, and still working out on schedule.

The purpose of the flax was to keep fiber up, since I'm taking in less fruits and veggies (I'm eating out a lot, and my fruit/veggies are limited to apples, bananas, the veggies in Thai food). But really, my diet is not too different from what it normally is. The only difference is that I'm not cooking some type of vegetable in the evenings.

So is flax seed like 100% soluble fiber???? Is there NO insoluble fiber in it?

I can't find any source that breaks down the fiber into soluble/insoluble. On the package it just says 4g fiber, no breakdown, and nothing on the internet is any different.

I have come to the conclusion that flax is making me shit bricks. Does anybody have a breakdown of the insoluble/soluble ratio?

#2

There is such thing as too much Fibre especially if you don't back it up with lots of water.

If your going to up your fibre in take, make sure you up you water intake otherwise it wont come out easy.

Make sure your eat more veggies. Upping your fibre intake is no excuse to stop eating veggies.

LR

#3

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH FIBER!

Lol.

But I definitely think there may be such a thing as too much soluble fiber.

Forgot to mention that in a fit of fury I downed 20 g's of psyllium last night.

I can't already feel the rumble...

#4

Didn't you see the second half of the sentence. If you have a high fibre intake, but not enough water, your gonna get backed up.

Just drink more water if you up your fibre intake. Simple.

LR

#5

._O soluble fiber makes it harder to poo?

#6

I mix equal parts of flax and psyllium for my protein drink fiber. The psyllium expands and loosens things up. When I use flax by itself, things get a bit slow. But as stated, water helps a lot.

#7

Well, I'm at least glad to hear that other people have experienced this too. I never knew that soluble fiber could slow things down.

I guess I've never really consumed large amounts of soluble fiber. All the fiber I usually take in -- broccoli, beans, skins of fruit like apples/grapes, supplemental psyllium -- has always been insoluble, and in that case, more is better (if you've developed a tolerance).

I'm definitely not gonna take flax without mixing in some psyllium husk. Last few days were kinda scary (I kept taking more and more flax to cure the problem!)