When Dr. Paul Mason made the statement during his talk at Low Carb Down Under this year that “Fibre is NOT a necessity for a healthy diet!” it caused discernible unrest amongst the crowd. How could this be true? Fibre is essential to avoid constipation, right? Apparently this is not the case and Dr. Mason debunks the myths during a fantastic talk.
In week three of our coaching course we address the issue of gut health and constipation in the section: ‘The Scoop on Poop‘. There we reference a Ukrainian born pharmacist Konstantin Monastyrsky who also exposes the real truth in the field of gut and bowel health with his book, Fiber Menace. Konstantin earned a pharmacy degree in the Ukraine before immigrating to the US where he is now also a certified nutritional consultant and an expert in forensic nutrition. His website, Gut Sense, goes into great detail debunking all the myths surrounding constipation and fibre.
Dr. Georgia Ede, a frequent speaker at our Low Carb events, presents regularly on the topic of plant-based vs animal-based diets and she also presents data supporting the case that fibre causes constipation rather than helping to prevent it. In fact she is personally trending towards eliminating all plant-based foods from her diet. Excluding different foods one at a time to solve her health problems has led her to a point where she consumes a meat only diet.
But Dr. Mason goes on to remind us that many foods that we typically eat on a low carbohydrate diet like berries and cauliflower and almonds are also high in fibre leading to the same bowl-related symptoms of a high carbohydrate diet. So, if you have embarked on a Low Carbohydrate Lifestyle but find you are still battling with constipation and bloating then you might want to take a look at the foods you are eating and start to eliminate (or at least reduce) the ones that are high in fibre.
[Doug Reynolds: Founder – LowCarbUSA®]
