Fiber for Women Over 40: Constipation, Cholesterol & Hormone Support

If you’re constipated, bloated, or your cholesterol is creeping up… fiber might be the missing piece — and you’re probably doing it wrong.

In this episode, I break down soluble vs. insoluble fiber in plain English — what they actually do in your body, how they affect constipation, cholesterol, heart disease risk, and blood sugar… and how much fiber you really need each day.

Most people aren’t getting enough — and increasing it the wrong way can make things worse.

We’ll talk about:

• The best high‑fiber foods
• Whether Metamucil or psyllium actually works
• How to increase fiber without gas and bloating
• What to know if you have IBS or diverticulosis

Your gut health affects everything — your energy, your hormones, your heart.
Start with fiber, start slowly, and start smart.

If this helped you, subscribe and share it with someone who needs better digestion.

You can write to us at Questions@GynoInfo.net

And follow us on Instagram @gynoinfo

Remember, any questions that I answer or information that I give you on this podcast are to be understood as information only, not treatment of your medical problems. While I'm a very knowledgeable gynecologist, I'm not your gynecologist who has talked to you and examined you personally and is therefore actually able to treat you.

So please consult your own healthcare professional with any medical questions or concerns.

Transcript

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Welcome to Gyno Info, Frank Talk with Dr. Burkey, the podcast dedicated to teaching everyday women what they need to know about their body and how it works, to successfully deal with the healthcare system and communicate with their doctors. Each week, I'll provide you with new information and practical tips about gynecology and women's health care. I want to prepare you for your doctor's appointments by teaching you what to expect, what information your doctor will need to know from you, and what questions you will need and should ask her so you can be confident and make the most out of every visit. GynoInfo will give you the knowledge you need to take charge of your health and do this in a clear and frank way that you can understand without having a medical degree. One episode at a time. So now let's begin. Hello. Welcome back to Gyno Info, the podcast about women's health in normal, everyday language that normal, everyday people can understand. No special medical words, no doctors speak. And a special welcome to those who just discovered us and are listening for the very first time. Please take a moment now to subscribe to GynoInfo. If you do not, then you might have a hard time getting back to this episode in case you have to interrupt in the middle and would like to finish the podcast later on. The same episode might not show up in your feed anytime soon. Today I'm going to talk about some different types of fibers in your diet. Feel free to also share this podcast with a man in your life. GynoInfo is mostly dedicated to women's health topics, but you do not need to have a vagina to eat healthy. And getting enough fibers and the right type of fibers is definitely about eating a healthy diet, which is always a good idea for everyone. All natural fibers in the food you eat are healthy for you, unless you're allergic to the food that gives you this particular type of fiber. But not all types of fiber do the same thing for you. Some do more for your heart and help protect you from strokes and lower your risk of diabetes, but other types of fiber do more for your digestion and help you with constipation and hemorrhoids and may also help you if you suffer from chronic diarrhea and are having problems losing your stool because of that. You're having accidents. We used to think that all fibers were the same. That fiber was just the outside of grains or the part of plants that the body cannot digest. The things that remain in the intestines in the bowel and make up part of the poop of the stool. But now we know that this is just one type of fiber, the so-called insoluble fibers, because they do not dissolve in water. Examples of insoluble fibers are the outer shells of wheat, rye, and other grains. We know these types of fibers from grains as wheat bran. But kale, grapes, tomatoes, potatoes, fruit skins also contain insoluble fibers, fibers that do not dissolve in water. And because of that, you cannot digest them. They stay in the bowels and are sent out of the body as part of the stool, the poop, your bowel movements. Eating lots of insoluble fiber can help make your bowel movements softer and more regular. That can help you with problems like constipation, though fibers are not actually a laxative. They just help the poop to pass easier because it's bigger and softer, so the bowels can move it along better. Softer stools also help with hemorrhoids and anal fistures, painful cracks in your anus. And also with anal fistula, those are false tracks in the end of your gut. But balking up the stool with lots of insoluble fibers doesn't just help constipation, it can also help with diarrhea, because the fibers absorb some of the extra water and make the stool less watery. This can help prevent accidents if you have trouble controlling your bowel movements. Less liquid bowel movements are much easier to hold on to and hold them in. All in all, insoluble fibers are super important for your digestion. They even influence the digestion of other foods. Now we know that there is a whole group of another type of fibers, the so-called soluble fibers. As their name says, they dissolve, fall apart in water, and because of that, they can pass the wall of the bowels and be digested, used by the body as food. Soluble fibers are made of starches, carbohydrates, but the good type of carbohydrates. Examples of such water-soluble fibers are oat and barley and other grain products made from the inside of the grains, not the shells of the grains, which are the not-soluble fibers. They're also from all types of nuts, all types of beans and peas, citrus fruit, and pectin from other fruit. And then there is cilin, psyllium powder, a soluble fiber made from the husks of a plant called psyllium, sometimes also called desert Indian wheat or white or blonde plantain, or isabol or ipsagula, depending on which area of the world you are living in. Cilium is the main ingredient of metamucil powder, a very common fiber supplement brand in many parts of the world, which is often prescribed to people with constipation, but also to people with chronic diarrhea and those with incontinence problems because metamucil helps bulk up bowel movements. A synthetic version of natural cilium is methylcellulose, which is contained in many other fiber supplement brands. If you do not eat enough fiber and need a supplement, both these fiber supplements can be used for the same bowel problems, but some people feel bloated with natural cilium and less so with the synthetic artificial methyl cellulose fiber supplements. Medical science shows that compared to a diet that is low in soluble fiber, a diet high in soluble fiber that is high in fruits, nuts, whole grains, and vegetables can reduce the risk of heart and blood vessel disease and stroke by 40 to 50%, cut it in half. It does that by lowering the cholesterol that clogs the blood vessels that bring blood and oxygen to the heart and the brain and all the other important organs. One of the major reasons that soluble fibers cut your heart disease and stroke risk in half is also that while you're eating all these healthy grains, nuts, and fruit and vegetables, you're not eating greasy junk food with a lot of added artificial crap. Soluble fibers can also reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. And in people who already have diabetes, whether it is the type that needs insulin or the type that can be controlled with pills, that's type 2 diabetes, soluble fiber can help control their blood sugar and keep it more stable, less likely to go too high and less likely to drop too low, both of which can be very dangerous for people with diabetes. Again, also one of the major reasons for that is that eating healthy, natural whole food is better for you than eating starchy sugary junk. Both types of fiber together are now called dietary fiber rather than just fiber. It is all the types of fiber that you eat in your food, in your diet. Dietary fiber is also the word used in the food labels in US supermarkets and in most countries around the world that have food labels. In some countries, they just use their language as word for fiber, but all of them are talking about both types of fiber, about dietary fiber. We know that both types of fiber have major health benefits. The insoluble fibers mostly for digestion and the soluble fibers mostly for the prevention of heart disease and blood vessel disease, stroke, and sugar diabetes. But because we don't always know exactly which type of fiber is the most beneficial for which person, using the word dietary fiber and not just fiber in food labeling makes perfect sense. This is also why many healthcare providers encourage all people to make sure that they eat extra fiber in whatever way it's easiest for them. You can of course try to mostly eat more insoluble fibers to help your digestion, if that is your main concern, or concentrate especially on more soluble fibers if you're most worried about or most at risk for heart disease and stroke and sugar diabetes. But the bottom line is that all dietary fiber is good for you, and that our modern diets usually do not contain enough of both types of fiber, especially if you eat a typical North American fast food diet like the US President. So, how much fiber of every type together should you eat every day? Health experts recommend 20 to 35 grams of dietary fiber per day. That is not all that difficult if you make it a habit to look at food labels and eat a healthy diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. An important point is also that it is much better to eat whole fruit rather than drinking fruit juice. There is 10 times more fiber in the whole fruit compared to in the juice of that same fruit. Berries are particularly rich in fiber and super healthy for many other reasons. Many breakfast cereals also have a lot of fiber. Or you can add wheat bran to the food that you eat. I don't particularly like wheat bran, so I add a lot of seeds to my breakfast oats, such as sunflower seeds, chia seeds, linseeds, pumpkin seeds, whatever seeds I can find at the store. I also add a lot of seeds to my green salads. For adding them to salads, I often roast them in olive oil with a bit of garlic. Then they taste extra yummy and you just sprinkle them on the green salad. It's very good. It is also a good idea to throw in half a cup of nuts every day. You know, that's a good snack. That's what I do, either just eating them straight or add it to my cereal in the morning. Almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, and peanuts have the most fiber, about eight grams per half a cup, which is almost a third of the amount of fiber you should be eating every day. But all nuts contain a lot of fiber and many other healthy things, such as antioxidants, the healthy kind of fats, and many vitamins and minerals. So nuts are good for you. If you can't get enough fiber from food, you can take fiber supplements. These come as powders, wafers, or pills. They all contain thyllium, seed powder, or the methyl cellulose that I talked about earlier in the podcast. If you take a fiber supplement, please make sure you read the label so you know how much to take. And if you're not sure, you should ask your healthcare provider. Too much of these concentrated fiber supplements can lead to really big problems, especially if you do not drink enough fluid with them. Then they can form one gigantic hard lump in your bowels and completely plug you up, so you will need to go to the hospital. Like with everything in life, more is not always better. This sort of thing, like getting completely plugged, can only happen if you take massive amounts of additional artificial fiber supplements. It does not happen from just eating natural, healthy food rich in fiber, even if you eat lots and lots of nuts. Eating a lot of fiber-rich food will just make you have bigger and softer poops. The average weight of human bowel movements varies from 125 grams to about 400 grams, from about a third of a pound to almost one pound. This is the average weight, but some people's bowel movements can weigh more than twice that much, depending on their diet. But that's completely normal. And since we are talking about what is normal in bowel movements, let me remind you that anything between having three bowel movements a day to having a bowel movement three times a week is considered normal. People just vary. And here is a word of caution. If you have been eating mostly low fiber processed food with the occasional glass of orange juice, but few fresh fruit and vegetables, you will need to train your body and get it used to handling more fibers a little bit slowly. When you start eating more fiber, your belly might feel bloated or you might have gas or cramps. You can almost always avoid these side effects by adding more fiber to your diet slowly. And if you feel worse after adding more fiber to your diet, you should cut back on the amount of fiber, especially extra fiber supplements, and add them even more slowly. Some people's guts just need a little more time to get used to this healthy change, but you should definitely make an effort to change. As I mentioned before, some people feel worse when they take fiber supplements. If that happens, you may need to stop those for a while until your body is more used to your now much healthier diet. But that mostly counts for supplements. And remember, when you eat more fiber, it's especially important that you also drink enough, which usually means you need to drink more fluids than you have before. As a type of fiber, the insoluble fibers that help with constipation take up a lot of water in your stool. It is what makes your bowel movements bigger and softer and easier to pass. But only if you drink enough fluids, otherwise it will turn into hard concrete and you end up making your constipation worse instead of better. And one last word of caution to people with IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, or other bowel problems like diverticulosis. It is not clear if a high fiber diet is beneficial for people with irritable bowel syndrome or diverticulosis. Fiber may be helpful for some people with these problems, while it may worsen symptoms in others. If you do feel worse when you change to more fibers, listen to your body. That is always a good idea. Listening to your body. It might be that your body will do better with some type of fiber-rich food, but not with others, and that you will need to do a bit of trial and error. You might also discuss what is happening with your healthcare provider. This brings us to the end of this episode on the different types of fiber in your diet, in the food you eat, and what effects they might have on your body. I hope you find it both interesting and useful and will share it with as many other people as you can. Remember that if you have any further questions about the topic I talked about today, or any other issues having to do with women's health or health in general, please don't hesitate to send them to me at questions at gyneoinfo.net. Again, that's questions at gynoinfo.net. And please also make sure that you click the subscribe button wherever you listen to or watch GynoInfo so you can get back to it easily whenever you want. And the more people subscribe, the easier it will be for others to find us. Thank you. Until next time. Thank you for listening. And remember that you and your health are super important and deserve your full attention. Don't ever put off contacting your doctor because you're scared or embarrassed when something feels wrong about your body. Doctors are here to help you, not to judge you. And also, regular well-woman visits are always a good idea that you should make time for. You deserve it and you owe it to yourself, and you owe it to your body and your health. This podcast is part of Pride House Media, hosted by me, Dr. Berkey, produced and edited by Josh Rosenzweig. Original music composed by Nell Balaban. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And while you're there, leave us a rating and a review. It really helps others discover the show. Stay connected and join the conversation by following me on Instagram and Facebook at GyNoInfo and on LinkedIn at GynoInfoPodcast.