| Answer: | sure, brown bread is likely to contain more fibre than white bread, but this does not necessarily mean it' s better for the bowels. Insoluble fibre, which is the kind brown bread contains, is generally important for keeping the digestive tract clean and preventing constipation. It does this by absorbing water and bulking out the stools, which stimulates the movement of the guts. However, wheat bran can be very irritating to the gut wall, causing inflammation and pain.
Then there is wheat intolerance, which is all too common: consuming too much wheat from bread (orpasta, cereals, pastry and biscuits) is associated with constipation, bloating, flatulence, irritable bowel syndrome and diarrhoea. If you experience any of these, avoid wheat for 10 days - have rye, oats, rice, corn and potatoes instead - and see if you notice any difference. If you do, avoid wheat strictly for three months, which is the time it takes for the immune system to forget it' s sensitivity (that' s if you have an IgG sensitivity - if you have an IgE sensitivity you' ll need to avoid wheat for life). After that, reintroduce it and, if you get no return of symptoms, only consume wheat periodically, ideally no more than every four days, spacing it out with other grains. |
