Fibre Against Constipation?
It always feels as though a ketogenic diet means acting against the scientific findings - and anyone who then also minimises fiber can brace for unavoidable apocalyptic consequences: after all, we know that fiber is indispensable for preventing constipation, let alone treating it.
Do we really know that?
Elsewhere on this site I’ve already gathered further arguments against fiber. For one, nowhere in the literature is it listed as Essential nutrients are those that the body cannot synthesise itself and must obtain through food – vitamins, essential amino acids, and fatty acids., and for another, it isn’t even a nutrient. I actually think the German name “Ballaststoff” (ballast matter) is well chosen - the English “fiber” is more descriptive, but more neutral.
My own experience with largely eliminating fiber has shown me, anecdotally, that nothing bad happens.
And even the science backs this up. I don’t need to wheel out my personal anecdotes as a shaky argument; there’s (at least) one solid prospective study (1) that examined treating constipation by reducing or eliminating fiber.
Its result: the treatment works - and it also raises the methodological question of why, with constipation, it should be beneficial to push even more volume through a blocked gut.
Is that the only study?
Of course not. But rather than list more here, I’ll recommend a reaction video: 26 minutes laying out the arguments for and against fiber, with references to many further studies - on fiber and on the ketogenic diet.
TL;DR? Notable quotes from this study
Short, tangible quotes:
Patients who stopped or reduced dietary fiber had significant improvement in their symptoms while those who continued on a high fiber diet had no change
and
CONCLUSION: Idiopathic constipation and its associated symptoms can be effectively reduced by stopping or even lowering the intake of dietary fiber.
It’s hard to pick a single paragraph out of the “Discussion” section - the whole section is very well written and quotable. Let me pull out one vivid metaphor:
The role of dietary fiber in constipation is analogous to cars in traffic congestion. The only way to alleviate slow traffic would be to decrease the number of cars and to evacuate the remaining cars quickly. Should we add more cars, the congestion would only be worsened. Similarly, in patients with idiopathic constipation and a colon packed with feces, reduction in dietary fiber would reduce fecal bulk and volume and make evacuation of the smaller and thinner feces easier. Adding dietary fiber would only add to the bulk and volume and thus make evacuation even more difficult.
Which means my own experience is scientifically corroborated, too - I’m not such an unusual unicorn after all.
So next time you’re faced with sluggish digestion, maybe ease off the (whole-grain) gas pedal rather than chasing yet more vehicles onto the blocked exit.
I’m off to fry a steak - with no side-dish congestion whatsoever.
