“Eat more fiber.” “Stay hydrated.”That’s the advice everyone gets about hemorrhoids — and it’s good. But what does it mean in real life, when you’re at the grocery store or deciding what to put on your plate?Let’s take a look at specific foods that can help this painful problem and ways to work them into your meals. And on the flip side,what you may want to stay away from.Soluble fiber dissolves in water to form a gel-like goo.
(Picture what happens to oats when you mix them with water.) You want this stuff. It makes your stool soft, well-formed, and easy to pass. No constipation,little irritation. Sounds like the Holy Grail of poop, right?
Insoluble fiber is what your grandmother would call “roughage.” It doesn’t dissolve. (If you drop a chunk of celery in water, it just sits there.) It helps to keep things moving through — and out of — your system and to balance the chemistry in your intestines.
Many “high-fiber” foods have both kinds.You should aim for 25-30 grams or more of fiber every day from what you eat, about twice what most Americans get. In general, you’ll want about a third of that to be soluble (more when you have diarrhea).
