I am only just beginning daily use of Metamucil again after about 5 years. Your personal thoughts on Metamucil..
I have found that it is helpful for me and my specific challenges, but with that said, will see if it is helpful this time around...
I guess it depends on what you're taking it for. After a recent bout of mild diverticulitis left me with some minor issues, I started taking prebiotics and they have been a miracle for me. Movements start easier, are effortless, and are 100% complete. I lean towards prebiotics because they feed my natural bacteria. I took Metamucil for a while on the advice of a gastroenterologist who did my last colonoscopy 5 years ago, but I did not notice a big difference. When I saw him maybe 2 years ago for a different issue and put Metamucil on the list of stuff I was taking, he yelled "That was supposed to be temporary!" He's kind of a jerk. I did not ask why he was concerned I had taken it for so long. I've read that some folks take it daily long-term, claiming that Metamucil helps keep their cholesterol in check.
I live with bothersome chronic IBS, sometimes it all seems improved and then comes the not so good cycles with me. The past month I am taking BlueBiology prebiotic power along with probiotics. A good friend of mine had purchased two months supply but did not wish to continue with it, so I took over. I never have issues with constipation, but the complete opposite. Sometimes it wears me out, knowing but not knowing for sure what any given day might greet me with. This is my interest in reintroducing Metamucil .... Next Colonoscopy in July. Yeah, your doc sounds like kind of a jerk back then, I have had an occasional one or two of those also over my years. You had taken the Metamucil for so long a time and he reacted to that, oh geeze. It is great that Prebiotics have been a miracle for you, that is very encouraging. I am so glad to hear it and I will stay positive best I can..
Any soluble fiber will balance cholesterol. Beans, eggplant, fruits & vegetables, etc. In other words, foods that most people don't eat enough of.
We do not use Metamucil , but we do use psyllium husk powder, which is what Metamucil is made from. However, Metamucil is loaded with sugar, so you are paying mostly for that in a bottle of Metamucil, or the store brand of the same product. While it does give you fiber, it is not necessarily helpful for your gut biome, in my opinion. The gut bacteria that live on sugar are very different from the helpful bacteria that live on fiber. What we do is buy the natural psyllium husk powder (you can get it at Amazon or Walmart), and I add it to foods. I make what i call a fiber cake, which is basically just cake mix, but I add fruit/veggie (carrots, apples, etc) and also the psyllium, flax meal, chia seeds, and almond meal, and i use either kefir or yogurt for the liquid , plus the eggs. It is a treat for us, but at least a mostly healthy one, and has LOTS of fiber. I also agree with @Tony Nathanson that eating plenty of fiber foods will help digestion issues a lot. You might want to check out the book “Fiber Fueled” by Will Bulciewicz, because he goes into all kinds of gut issues and what can help them, so it might help your IBS ,
Thanks, Yvonne. I will google this and take a look. I love to read, so it will be worth my while. The book Fiber Fueled I will add to my to do reading list. I do get sooo frustrated at times with my gut health, and most likely it is 'all' to do with my diet. Sometimes I can eat just a piece of chocolate and an immediate IBS issue might arise like 10 minutes later. It is hit and miss with so many foods, I did not used to be this way, but I know that further defining and addressing my gut health will have to prove positive at some level, so I will keep at it. The key for me is, keeping at it and not being sloppy with about it so to say, but being responsible on all levels of my food and fluid intake. Your fiber cake sounds so healthy and enjoyable actually. I also am hoping that I am not in any beginning stages of Chron's disease or Ulcerative Colitis, as was my mom, who suffered with it for years...
I've never used Metamucil but bought a bag of Psyllium and am not using i t. If I only knew early in my life the importance of Fiber rich foods, I would have saved myself from yrs of misery. My mom too and her sisters. Sugar stuff and carbs and meats with the big foods all my and their lives. I have figured out FINALLY what is working at my old age and I'm finally "cleaning out" as I should have been all my life, but was not. Millions carry lbs of waste in their bodies.
I think the main thing to remember with fiber supplements is to drink PLENTY of water with them. Not drinking water with the psyllium can make the problem much worse.
Sure can. I've heard ER doctors describe people coming in with complete blockages in their intestines from overdoing psyllium.
Yes, food is part of culture & family tradition & even religion & is passed down to generations. Both good and bad foods.
Psyllium comes from the plantago plant, also called plantain. It is not related to the plantain that is similar to a banana. Plantago has been used for many years as a healing plant, and it grows in almost every part of the United States. The leaves can be eaten as greens, or made into a tea, Seeds were brought over by the first settlers, and grown everywhere they stopped and made homes. Plantago comes in a long leaf variety as well as a fat leaf variety, and both send up a spire with the psyllium seeds on the top. Here is a website that explains some of the health benefits of psyllium , and it is not just beneficial for fiber. https://www.healthline.com/health/psyllium-health-benefits This is the broadleaf variety. You have probably seen this growing in a yard or almost anywhere . You can see the seed spires on this picture.
I think the reason I'm not using the product I bought is because of making sure Enough and Fast water goes into one's body when taking it.