Is It Possible To Eat Too Much Fiber?
Have you ever wondered if you could be consuming too much fiber? If yes, there is indeed a possibility that you could be eating excess fiber. You could be consuming excess fiber by having more than the recommended daily amount of fiber.

In the United States, the recommended amount of fiber is 30 to 38 grams per day for men and 25 grams per day for women between the age of 18 and 50 years. Women who are aged 51 and above should however consume 21 grams of fiber per day. The amount of fiber recommended for kids per day is 20 grams. All in all, it is recommended that one gets 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories in their diet.

Eating 40 grams or more of fiber per day is considered as excess fiber intake. It is possible that one could be eating too much fiber because of the following reasons:

Frequently eating fiber rich foods
You may have learnt of the benefits of including fiber in your diet and out of a de-termination to reap these benefits, you could be frequently consuming foods that are rich in fiber. You may for example be eating these foods every two hours so by the end of the day, you will have eaten quite a high amount of fiber.

Eating large portions of fiber rich foods
Still out of a determination to derive benefits from fiber such as its help in weight loss and constipation problems, you could be making sure you eat large portions of fiber in every meal. You could in that case be overdoing the eating of fiber.

Eating only foods containing fiber
You may have restricted your diet to foods containing fiber only such as whole grains, fruits, whole meal bread, starch, breakfast cereals and vegetables. If your diet majorly contains fiber rich foods and leaves out other food types, you run the risk of consuming too much fiber.

Effects of eating too much fiber
Excessive intake of fiber has certain negative impacts. To start with, eating too much fiber can cause bloating. Fiber is indigestible and therefore if large amounts of fiber are taken, they accumulate in the stomach leading to bloating.

Secondly, too much fiber can cause gas. Gas results from the consumption of excess fiber because the bacteria which are found in the colon are capable of digesting fiber to a little extent. The digestion of fiber by the colon bacteria results into production of gas.

In addition, consumption of excess fiber can lead to constipation. Although fiber usually helps ease the problem of constipation, excess fiber can result into even more constipation. Excess fiber can cause constipation because when high amounts of fiber are taken in, there won’t be enough water for the fiber to absorb. Stool can therefore become more dense and bulkier leading to constipation.

There are other problems which can also result from consumption of too much fiber. These include diarrhoea, stomach discomfort, abdominal cramps, and temporary weight gain as a result of the indigestible fiber piling up in your gastrointestinal tract.

Remedy for excessive consumption of fiber
When you realise you have been taking too much fiber and it could be posing some threats to your well being, you cut down on your fiber intake. Try to stick to the recommended daily amounts of fiber. You should for example only take the serving indicated on the packaging of breakfast cereals to avoid excess fiber.

Secondly, you should drink a lot of water as fiber and water work harmoniously.