What do you use?

carrot_tit

Gold Member
I'm still finding it difficult to pass stools even though i'm drinking 4 litres of water a day. I tried drinking over 5 litres but it made me feel so sick :(

I asked my LLC and the thing she recommended is no longer made (well that's what the chemist said anyway) I'm just wondering what everyone else takes? I have some lactose solution from chemist but to be honest it tasted so sweet i was worried it would affect my diet.
 
Dear Sarah,

I`ve found the best thing to take is a product called `DulcoEaste`. The blurb on the packet says `to soften hard stools for a comfortable way to go to the loo`. So there you have it. An outright laxative (which LL don`t advise) will just make you want to go to the loo and you might not be able to whereas with this product at least it will be easier when you DO go.
Good luck.
 
Hi,

A lot of people (me included) use psyllium husks, either as a powder or as capsules, which you can buy from health food shops. They are a natural bulking agent rather than a laxative, are not habit forming and do not appear to interfere with ketosis.

Russiandoll is the expert and has done an excellent thread on it which I am unfortunately not clever enough to do a link to for you. Hopefully someone else might be able to for you!
SM
 
Hiya carrot
I've copied the original post - here it is. Hope you find it useful

Everything you wanted to know about Poo (but were too scared to ask!)
I suffered terribly from constipation in the early days. It got so bad that I had to resort to suppositries and I even considered giving up the diet I was in such discomfort.

Then I tried psyllium husks and I haven't looked back since. So here's the low down on psyllium husks and your innards. (Biology lesson coming up)

Your bowels work by being 'triggered' to contract and expel waste when the contents are bulky enough to press against the walls. All the time that waste sits in your bowels, water is being extracted. Therefore, if there's waste sitting in there for any period of time, it soon becomes dry and hard: this makes it difficult to expel.

On a VLCD, we don't have a lot of waste products as an end product of digestion so it can often be days before there's enough to press against the bowel walls. Cue constipation ....

Laxatives are a solution .... but only as a short term 'fix'. If you use laxatives regularly, then they can interfere with the natural mechanisms of the bowels and make them 'lazy' and reliant on being artificially stimulated.

The best solution is a bulking agent which will enable your bowels to work naturally like they're supposed to. This is where psyllium husks come in. They are 100% natural and contain no calories or carbs so they don't interfere with the diet. The body cannot absorb or digest them. They absorb 20 times their own weight in water which means when you take them and drink plenty of fluid, they bulk up the contents of your bowels and hey presto!!

They are also gentle and so are suitable for people with IBS. You can buy them in powdered husk form (this is how I take them). I add 2 teaspoons to my morning shake and another 3 teaspoons to my evening soup. It thickens them up - in fact the soup is like a broth - I love it!
You can also make a PH porrige: make your shake with 400ml of HOT water, sprinkle on 2 dessertspoons of PH and stir vigourously with a fork for about a minute until it thickens. Toffee & walnut tastes great with a little sprinkling of cinnamon powder (great for these chilly mornings!)

If that's not something you fancy, then psyllium husks can be bought in capsule form. They are not a cure and should be taken every day as a preventative.

They absolutely transformed my experience on this diet and I haven't had to take a laxative since.

Remember to drink extra water when taking them though.

Here's the link to a company where you can buy PH online ('Healthspan').

http://www.healthspan.co.uk/shop/product.aspx?Id=C-PH

Here's another company (the one I now use) who have lots of High Street shops and also sell online (I bought a gold card and get discount on everything I buy)

Vitamins, Minerals, Herbal Products online at GNC

and if you prefer the idea of capsules, Holland & Barrett sell them -here's the link

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/categories.asp?xs=3D47172200DE4D45914684B5460C6767 &CID=15&Page=4

Hope this helps!! :)
 
unless you need to don't take the lactose, anything ending in 'ose' as far as I know is a form of sugar although I'm no expert and anyone is welcome to correct me if I am wrong.

I have ordered the husks and am awaiting their arrival!

I think some of the girls at my meet said fybogel is ok, but not all the flavours. Sorry can't be more specific.

Hope you get sorted anyway

mags
xxx:)
 
You're correct Mags .... GlucOSE, fructOSE, SucrOSE etc :)

Not VLCD-friendly stuff.
 
Thanks! That was brilliant. I now only have a couple of questions!

How much more water do you need to drink when taking them? I've now doing 4.5 litres a day and to be honest, it's a struggle. I feel quite water logged on an evening. Not to mention my sleep being constantly interupted with trips to the loo!

Is there any particular reason people use the powder as opposed to the capsules?

I love this forum!
 
Just an extra glass directly after your PH 'meal' will do.

Some people don't like the 'thick' texture of the shakes or soups with psyllium husk powder in it but the benefits of PH are so good they take the capsules. :)
 
Just an extra glass directly after your PH 'meal' will do.

Some people don't like the 'thick' texture of the shakes or soups with psyllium husk powder in it but the benefits of PH are so good they take the capsules. :)

Thank god for that! I had visions of having to drink a lot more than that! I've ordered some capsules from Holland & Barrett as they have a mega sale on at the moment.

Thank you everyone for your help :)
 
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