It Could Run a Car...

Have you noticed lately that the country is becoming consumed with fiber? It seems like every commercial on TV has something to do with the wonders of fiber, the importance of proper digestion, and the need to be "regular." I even spied a TV commercial the other day advertising the regular digestion of a dog! Of a D-O-G dog!

A few years ago, it seemed, we were hearing a lot about IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Remember that commercial with the parade of women baring their rumbling stomach's for all the world to see? My sister's friend's ex-girlfriend had it. Apparently my sister was out with her then boyfriend, her good guy friend and his then new girlfriend and few other people. They went to a cute little restaurant in a cute little antique section in a not-so-cute part of the county for a lovely little dinner-double date. My sister swears that in front of God and everybody, her friend's girlfriend announced to the waiter, their table, and the couples in ear-shot, that she would have the Acadian Spice Chicken Breast but with no Acadian Spice because she had "the irritable bowel." Now, in my opinion, which is luckily just mine, I do not think I'd mention on a date nor in front of complete strangers that I had a problem in the pooping area. But that's just me.

Yet the IBS fad seems to be dying out, I think because most people probably have it. Don't we all experience some sort of digestion discomfort at some point? I also heard from a friend that the medication used to treat the symptoms of IBS was found to be rather dangerous-- but again, this isn't something I've looked into-- I could be wrong.

Anyway... the IBS fad has faded and now we are being bombarded with constant ads for fiber, pro biotic supplements or yogurt with added biotic. There are snack company's right now figuring out how to add more fiber to the snacks we love so we all will "go" more often.

Recently, I started eating the surprisingly good Fiber One bars as breakfast. I don't like to eat first thing in the morning and generally I end up skipping the whole meal all together. But I'm trying to eat better-- really I'm just trying to be better to myself. I've started taking vitamins (my Vit. D level is low according to my last lab report) and I'm taking a calcium supplement (I don't want to shrink like my Granny) along with a Pro Biotic supplement to aid in my own digestion. Yes, I've been sucked in.

The Fiber One bars-- I can stuff into my purse and eat at work while I check emails and return phone calls. The great thing about these bars, besides being pretty good to eat (not "fibery" in the least) they are really filling. I don't know if its because they are so chewy or because they have all these whole grains and 35% of my daily value of fiber, but they keep my stomach from growling.

My mother and sister have been singing these little bars' praises for years. My uncle loves them and so does everyone else, it seems. For years I felt sort of left out because when my family would get together they would laugh and giggle about the chewy-goodness of those little bars.

I recently found out why they are laughing. Fiber One bars, for those of you that don't know, cause an uncomfortable and unbearable level of gas production in the human body. The first day I ate the chocolate and oats bar I was in a mad dash to leave the office at the end of the day for fear of letting one rip in front of my co-workers. My stomach swelled to that of an early pregnant woman's stomach-- making my white linen pants uncomfortable to wear. Once I got home I had a button impression on my stomach. And let's just say that the rest of the night was a musical one.

As my sister so delicately put it, "you produce enough gas with those bars that you could run a car off of 'em." Its sad, but true.

The good news is that the bars do not produce offensive gas (you know, the smelly kind)-- and according to my mother and sister the other Fiber One products do not have the gas production side effect. I'm going to continue to eat them because they are filling and I don't feel like I'm starving anymore, but I'm going to start eating them in the afternoon so I'm not swelling up and exploding (literally) at work!