The other thing is that people sometimes worry about, particularly with fruits, is the peel on the fruit, which consists of insoluble fiber and may irritate the lining of the intestines. You can take the peel off and have the fruit itself, or there's the advantage of a canned fruit, or something dried.
The other thing about fruits that I think is very important to realize is that there are certain fruits that might be a little bit more problematic than others. For instance, prunes do have a laxative effect, and for people that have inflammatory bowel disease, it's probably good to try and stay away from them.
Sometimes things with seeds, and raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, can be a little bit aggravating, but it is more about the volume. Instead of starting with a cup of berries, start with a very small amount.
Even when it comes to using other types of fruits, if people buy things that are canned, such as juice packs, buy ones without the sugar, because the extra sugar can actually make the symptoms a little bit worse.
The same rules apply to vegetables. Whether somebody's buying them fresh, frozen or canned, the nutritional value is there. But again, we might want to rethink the serving size, starting with a very little bit, and then gradually increasing the amount.
Can people with IBD tolerate fiber?
Fiber is a very important issue for people with inflammatory bowel disease. Most of the time people say, "I can't have fiber at all," or they've been given that recommendation. The issue is that we need to understand there are different types of fiber and some fibers may be more bothersome than others.
