Fiber Menace page

[KathyH]

I am looking for a clarification from those who have read the book Fiber Menace. I was about to get it but after looking on the author's site and watching the video I am confused. Towards the end of the video he states that he hopes that people will stop the consumption of processed and supplemental fiber accordingly. Does the book only talks about processed and supplemental fiber?

[j3nn]

No. It talks about all fiber and has a list of recommended fruit and vegetables to avoid high fiber ones. I have it and read some of it, but couldn't finish it. It basically tries to convince you for several hundred pages why fiber should be avoided like the plague and to avoid grains. It basically suggests a low-fiber Paleo diet. Even says to avoid hamburger meat because it's difficult to digest. That's when I stopped reading and took the theory with a grain of salt.

[KathyH]

No. It talks about all fiber and has a list of recommended fruit and vegetables to avoid high fiber ones. I have it and read some of it, but couldn't finish it. It basically tries to convince you for several hundred pages why fiber should be avoided like the plague and to avoid grains. It basically suggests a low-fiber Paleo diet. Even says to avoid hamburger meat because it's difficult to digest. That's when I stopped reading and took the theory with a grain of salt.

Thanks. He contradicts himself in the video on his site. He quotes some articles without stating the source (does he do that in the book too?). He claims the cause of all diseases is fiber nothing else (not grains) and then sells supplements. I will pass on this book. Sounds like a bunch of BS. I do wonder why Mark recommends it

[Terry H]

I am looking for a clarification from those who have read the book....

I do wonder why Mark recommends it.



You read it and then report back


Is this going to become Moar KathyH!Huh?

[namelesswonder]

I found the information on how our digestive systems function and process fiber very interesting. I don't remember reading anything about hamburger meat being difficult to digest, but he does suggest eating proteins and carbs in separate meals. For me, that makes my hypoglycemia act up, so I don't think I'll ever try that. Plus an all-protein meal sounds boring, I like mixing carbs, fat and protein. He is a bit contradictory, but I think the overall information is useful. The supplements he sells are not all that special. You can get the same kind of Vitamin C blend (his "Hydro-C") from supplement shops. It does work well for constipation, but I've learned since reading the book that powdered forms of magnesium function in exactly the same way (flooding the colon to rehydrate hardened stools). You could put together your own supplement blends based on the information he has about them on his site, probably for less money too.

[Silvergirl]

I will have to read it again, especially as I am having recurrent issues, but I remember him saying that the ground beef was only and issue because of it's make up, people often don't chew it sufficiently. He uses white rice a lot, and frankly having a little white rice works well for me but I am trying to avoid that route. I am really not fond of supplements, but have been using the natural calm at bedtime occasionally, takes a lot to work for me. I was a bit frustrated with his book, it was interesting, but then didn't seem to give good solid recommendations. I got to the end and said, now what?

[namelesswonder]

I had a similar response. I read in other places (here I think) that magnesium and Vitamin C work best for constipation if you take them throughout the day. My doctor's recommendation was every 4 hours while waking, until you achieve loose stools, then back off by 1/3 of the dose. Quelsen's (a poster here) recommendation was a few times a day until loose stools, then back off by 500mg until it's juts enough to keep you going. That worked better for me.

[BestBetter]

He actually doesn't promote any particular type of diet at all, he says that whatever kind of food you like to eat, look for ways to focus on making it more low fiber (for example, peeling fruits and vegetables, eating white rice instead of brown rice, etc...) I don't remember him ever suggesting anything paleo.

The big lesson is basically keep insoluable fiber as low as possible. Don't eat huge amounts of raw veggies, peel everything, deseed things, etc...

He goes into more detail about the digestive system as a whole, what each component does, and how excessive fiber can cause a variety of problems, then discusses each type of problem (chrohn's, IBS, etc...) in detail.

The information about low fiber that I learned from Fiber Menace was the last missing piece I needed to healing my IBS. Before I cut out most of the veggies and insoluble fiber I'd been eating, nothing ever made my pain and bloating and constipation better. Now, for the first time in years I have a normal, functioning digestive system - as long as I stay away from all that fiber!

What specifically are you confused about?