Eli5: why are high fiber foods advised to avoid for children with diarrhea? Wouldn’t fiber be exactly what you need?!

364 views

The title says it all.

In: 13

5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fiber makes for looser poop. I thought the same as you for awhile, fiber would bind it and firm the poop, but no. Fiber will give you diarrhea.

Now why when I did prep for a colonoscopy was I told to avoid fiber? I thought it would help clean me out.

Anonymous 0 Comments

What happens to something that already soft and add fibre which makes things softer?

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fat can slow down a child’s digestion allowing more time for absorption of nutrients. Diets high in fiber and low in fat may cause food to move through the intestines rapidly resulting in diarrhea.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fibre is just cellulose basically. An undigestable sugar. As it can’t be digested, it causes water to move out into the intestinal lumen by osmosis (water flowing into a place of high solute concentration vs water, to balance out the concentration gradients) leading to loose water stools. This is a big problem because babies have such small volumes, even a bit of excess GI fluid loss can lead to life threatening metabolic disorders due to electrolyte imbalances. For babies it’s recommended fatty food is given as this travels through the GI tract slowly and can be fully absorbed along with water and other nutrients

Anonymous 0 Comments

No. Fiber is the exact opposite of what the child needs as it makes poop softer, not harder. That’s like giving laxative to someone with diarrhea