Fiber

[BRS-07]

I'm not sure if this should go here, but I was wondering how everyone incorporates the proper amount of fiber into their diets. It seems to me that even if I add flax meal or higher fiber flour to my baking, along with eating fruits and vegetables, that with each being only a couple g's of fiber it would be impossible to eat as much food as you would need. Are we supposed to take fiber pills or something?

[daphniela]

I'm not sure if this should go here, but I was wondering how everyone incorporates the proper amount of fiber into their diets. It seems to me that even if I add flax meal or higher fiber flour to my baking, along with eating fruits and vegetables, that with each being only a couple g's of fiber it would be impossible to eat as much food as you would need. Are we supposed to take fiber pills or something?

I eat a lot of beans and nuts. I also use a little buckwheat flour.

[Jestgar]

I eat lots of vegetables.

[jerseyangel]

I eat lots of vegetables.

Me too. I also eat whole fruit instead of juices, and nuts--especially walnuts.

Homemade popcorn, also.

[tarnalberry]

I'm not sure if this should go here, but I was wondering how everyone incorporates the proper amount of fiber into their diets. It seems to me that even if I add flax meal or higher fiber flour to my baking, along with eating fruits and vegetables, that with each being only a couple g's of fiber it would be impossible to eat as much food as you would need. Are we supposed to take fiber pills or something?

Take a look at Open Original Shared Link.

It's really not hard to get 25-30g of fiber per day out of 1600-2000 calories per day.

Have a cup of cooked lentils - there's half your day's requirement. Most other beans are a third.

Have a cup of berries - there's a quarter of your day's requirement. Same with a cup of cooked spinach or a cup of pumpkin.

Carrots and tomatoes aren't far behind.

So, have two cups of a lentil soup with carrots and tomatoes and spinach for lunch, have some berries for dessert. That's at least 25g right there. And tasty too.

[hannahp57]

I have read that coconut flour has high fiber. and i make gluten free granola bars with certified gluten free oats and peanut butter and semisweet or dark chocolate. oats have fiber...not a lot but eating a granola bar could help you out somewhat. and they're delicious!!!

[purple]

I make chili often with tomatoes, green and red peppers, garlic and onions. Fast, filling, fiber, tastey, leftovers and cheap

I usually make it meatless then put it on chips, baked potaotes or hotdogs for variety.

[celiac-mommy]

Right now, I'm eating between 1500-1700 calories a day and I'm getting 30-40g fiber a day. I eat quinoa with berries and chopped pecans every day, a big salad daily, couple servings of fruit, etc... I don't find it a problem at all. I also add extra flax seed to my bread dough.

[OptimisticMom42]

Why are you worried about fiber? Just curious because fiber was the answer I recieved when I asked about constipation. Fiber was not the problem. I get plenty of fiber. Adding more fiber made it worse. Getting the cc out and the potasium and magnesium in worked.

[BRS-07]

Thanks for all the replies. I haven't been feeling well for the past couple weeks, keep getting chills, stomache pains and nausea, so I was going through all of the dietary things that could be playing a role in how I was feeling. When I talked to the doctor a few weeks ago about getting ill he said that it was because I am on too many vitamins. He suggested I stop all vitamins (I'm vitamin A and D deficient and low on E and iron) and see if that works. Well instead of jumping off the cliff and taking away more nutrients I figured I would pick apart my diet. I'm not sure I have been including enough fiber, so I was wondering how to do that. I don't know if that will make my random ill spells go away, but I figured it couldn't hurt. After all the doctor isn't going to do anything. Any other ideas as to what would cause ill spells?

[tarnalberry]

What does your diet generally look like?

[HiDee]

Are your vitamins gluten-free? Is there a chance something is cross contaminated that you're eating? Maybe you have another intolerance like corn or soy or dairy. It may also be a bug of some sort, my husband had a virus like that a few months ago, it lasted about a week.

If you think it's diet related, I would strip down your diet to simple fresh vegetables, fruit, nuts, lean meats, fish, eggs etc. Try and get rid of processed stuff and sugars especially for a while and see if that helps. If you're A+D deficient try a good cod liver oil supplement in place of your Vites and plenty of green leafy veggies and nuts for vitamin E and you'll find the iron in seafood and other meats. Pretty much load up on the veggies and you should have plenty of fiber from that, make sure to get adequate protein as well.

[BRS-07]

Generally I eat a homemade muffin of some sort for breakfast with milk, a banana midmorning, lunch is some sort of meat or homemade taquito (corn torilla, meat and cheese), then a bowl of fruit midafternoon and then dinner is vegetable and meat normally.

All of my vitamins are gluten free....I take vitamin D, beta carotine, vitamin E, a one a day multivitamin and omega 3-6-9 which is all my fish/flax oils. I've been super carefull with any type of cross contamination and my husband has switched diet with me too. It's been going on for at least 3 weeks if not longer, so I don't think a viral thing would hand on that long. I also have been watching dairy and it seems to be fine. I don't think I have soy in my diet so I don't know about that, and I haven't been eating nuts for a couple months cause when I first started gluten free about 10 weeks ago I got sick from them so figured they were too hard to digest at the time. I haven't been brave enough to try again yet.

Fish is something that I will try to add to my diet though along with more vegetables. I was never one to actually pay alot of attention to ingredients in what I ate before going gluten free so any help is appriciated cause I'm just learning little by little right now.

[tarnalberry]

2 things: viral things can easily last three weeks - or four or five or six or seven... they can get tough to shake off, leaving you just feeling tired and under the weather, but not actively sick. and, is there enough fat in your diet? I see meat and veggies... but a balance of all three macronutrients - fat, protein, and complex carbs - is needed for balanced blood sugar levels and vitamin/mineral absorption.

[BRS-07]

2 things: viral things can easily last three weeks - or four or five or six or seven... they can get tough to shake off, leaving you just feeling tired and under the weather, but not actively sick. and, is there enough fat in your diet? I see meat and veggies... but a balance of all three macronutrients - fat, protein, and complex carbs - is needed for balanced blood sugar levels and vitamin/mineral absorption.

Depends on what you mean by fat in my diet...I will occasionally eat ice cream, chocolate, taffy, chex....but not in huge amounts. What kind of fats are you talking?

[celiac-mommy]

Better sources are nuts, nut butters, avacados, olive oil, low fat cheeses, etc... Not the ice cream/candy, although OK in moderation

[tarnalberry]

Yup, Rachelle's got the thread of my thinking.

If you're eating a steamed or grilled chicken breast and a big 'ol heap of steamed/lightly sauteed/baked/etc veggies for dinner (and that's it), chances are, you've got very little fat in that meal. Or if your muffins are low in fat (they're almost certainly low in protein - unless you are specifically making high protein muffins), and if your lunch meat is also lean... That may not work to help moderate your blood sugar and won't help you absorb fat soluble vitamins.

Peanut butter on the banana, avocado with the taquitos, olive oil on the veggies for dinner... getting healthy fats may help. (And I want to stress the "may".)

[BRS-07]

Thanks! I will try playing around more with my diet, adding in more of the nuts and things, and see if that helps. If nothing else it will be more healthy for me, but hopefully it will work.

[HiDee]

a balance of all three macronutrients - fat, protein, and complex carbs - is needed for balanced blood sugar levels and vitamin/mineral absorption.

I agree, it looks like you definitely need more protein and fat in your morning and more veggies (complex carbs) in your lunch. An egg or two with your breakfast, a few handfuls of nuts, some cheese or maybe plain yogurt with your fruit mid-morning (as well as mid-afternoon) will really help your blood sugar and energy levels.

[BRS-07]

Thanks to all of you for replying to this. Just thought I'd let you know....I started watching my diet close and am 99.9% positive I have a lactose intolerance problem now. I stopped eating dairy and all my stomache problems and nausea went away completely. I went out and bought lactose intolerant pills and tried um yesterday with a huge glass of milk and not a single problem!

[Tiffany677]

Optimistic mom, what do you mean when you write get the cc out? What is the cc?

Tiffany

[Jestgar]

cc is cross contamination. Traces of gluten in your food from other sources. (kids hands, pet food, crumbs on the table, etc)

[Tiffany677]

Thanks!

[OptimisticMom42]

Yep, Jestgar is right. I meant cross contamination. I had been eating nuts that were processed on shared equipment but had mistakenly gone unlabeled. Since then I've tried bringing some of the gluten free treats into my diet and have found that I'm not tolerating flours and grains yet. I'm better when I stick to meats, eggs, fruits, veggies, olive oil, coconut oil.