Excessive consumption of dietary fiber can cause several inconveniences such as diarrhea, digestive problems and even a risk of irritating the colon and with time one becomes irritated so it risks having an ulcer of the bowels.
What is dietary fiber?
Dietary fiber is mainly the cell wall of fruits and vegetables that cannot be hydrolyzed by human digestive enzymes as well as polysaccharides (carbohydrates) that are not digestible by humans.
Dietary fiber role
Although the Institute of Medicine report recommends not using the terms soluble and insoluble fiber, we still find these terms on the nutrition factsheets of foods. The idea of dividing them into soluble and insoluble categories was to assign different physiological roles to them.
For example, oat bran, barley bran and psyllium, being insoluble fibers, would have properties that would improve the lipid profile. Whole wheat and other soluble fibers would be more associated with the improvement of intestinal transit.
To learn more: 8 reasons why you should include dietary fiber in your meal.
Risks of Excessive Intake of Fiber
The American Dietetic Association has shown that an increase in dietary fiber intake of about 30% can significantly reduce fat levels. However, excessive and especially regular consumption can have several drawbacks on your health.
1- Diarrhea
It’s necessary to know that most foods rich in dietary fiber stimulate the transit and soften the stools, so in case of overconsumption of fiber, there will automatically be a strong softening of the stools, and then diarrhea.
Therefore, foods rich in fiber are diarrheic foods.
What to do in this case:
In this case, you should first stop consuming foods rich in fiber and instead increase the consumption of antidiarrheal foods that stimulate constipation, to get rid of this diarrhea of course after confirming that it’s a simple diarrhea caused by excessive consumption of dietary fiber.
Then find out about the recommended daily intake of dietary fiber, and then decrease your fiber intake.
Top 5 diarrheal fruits
- kiwi fruit
- Apple juice
- Melon
- Prunes
- Dried fruits
These fruits are too rich in laxative fiber (which causes diarrhea) only in case of excessive consumption. So eat reasonably no more than 5 to 6 servings a day.
2- Digestive disorders
These include bloating, an irritable bowel, constipation.
These can be related to an excessive consumption of dietary fiber.
Yes! dietary fiber can cause constipation, if you want to understand more, I invite you to read this article that will explain in detail: How can fiber cause constipation?
So as you know dietary fiber is not digested so it remains in the digestive tract to undergo fermentation, this fermentation in general will release fatty acids and gases. In case of an excessive consumption there will be more fermentation so more gas, and therefore bloating.
This irritation will tire the colon, so it will become a little lazy in regard to its movements which help to release the stools outside in a normal way, so there will be less movement because the colon is tired and this is what we call constipation when we don’t poop for more than 3 days.
3- Bowel inflammation
So when our colon goes haywire and suffers from digestive disorders, over time it becomes inflamed.
What Irritates the Guts?
Soluble fibers (whole grain products, fruits and vegetables with edible skin such as tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, radishes…, lettuce, celery, cauliflower, legumes, dried fruits…) are particularly aggressive to the intestine.
On the other hand, if you eat a well-balanced diet and follow the recommended daily guidelines, you won’t suffer from dietary fiber; on the contrary, you will only benefit from the advantages that dietary fiber has on your health:
Cleansing
Fiber captures bile salts, cholesterol and certain toxic elements that could become carcinogenic if they remain in the digestive tract for too long.
By eliminating them in the stools, fibers perform a kind of healthy cleansing. They would thus protect against colon cancer.
Regulation
Fibers regulate the absorption of carbohydrates and fats.
These pass through the wall of the digestive tract less quickly: the feeling of hunger always appears less quickly after a meal rich in fiber.
Appetite-suppressant
Fibers start to soak up water as soon as they are in the stomach: they thus act as appetite suppressants. Dietary fiber, under the pretext that it does not provide calories, has the reputation of “making you lose weight”. Products rich in fiber are sold with this aim: they are a fraud because no product can “make you lose weight”.
It’s obvious that if you only eat vegetables, fruits and cereals, without anything else, you risk losing weight because there will be no lipids in this diet. There is also a risk of a major dietary imbalance.
Let’s wrap it up
Dietary fibers are absolutely essential to the balance of the digestive tract and the body. They are therefore a factor of good health. The benefits of dietary fiber are numerous. However, there are some disadvantages to dietary fiber, especially when it’s present in excess in the diet.
Fiber is essential for satiety, energy, stable blood sugar levels, disease prevention and a healthy microbiome.
It’s best to vary your diet and eat a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
If you eat the right amount of fiber for your body, you will probably not experience any side effects.
It’s possible to eat too much fiber, but it’s quite unlikely that a person who eats a balanced diet will exceed this particularly high threshold, as most people do not eat enough fiber.
