When you travel, it takes a toll on the body. Not just being exhausted from irregular sleep but your gut gets thrown out of whack too. While we know that eating better, drinking more water, stretching, and getting more rest can help – fiber is key too. I used to laugh when I’d hear people talking about “staying regular” but as I matured, I realized that keeping your digestive system happy has a lot more benefits than just being able to poop better! Now, it’s my key to avoiding the bio-lag due to poor food choices and chaotic schedules when I travel.
In an ideal world, we’d all be eating bran muffins, beans, raspberries, and other high fiber foods and the discussion would be over. If that was the case, we’d all be happy, healthy, and feeling great. Unfortunately, that’s not the case and it’s OK to get help. That’s why I use Metamucil.
A few years ago, when I was only traveling once per month, I was willing to suffer the consequences related to a chaotic schedule and eating on the run. For a day or so after returning home I’d be sluggish, bloated, and frankly my poop just wasn’t right. After a day or two, things would begin to stabilize, and I’d be able to concentrate better and get on with my life. Now that I travel several times per month, the time between trips is precious. I need to be able to catch up on calls, process photos, and plan my next adventure.
What I’ve found is that a dietary fiber supplement such as Metamucil is key to helping regulate my digestive health. Not only is it something that helps with the “end result” – but also helps me feel less hungry between meals, helps maintain healthy blood pressure as part of your diet*, and can even help lower cholesterol to promote heart health†.
How Does Dietary Fiber Work?
There are two primary types of dietary fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves in water, forms a gel-like substance and can help improve cholesterol and blood sugar levels. The second type is insoluble fiber that helps keep you regular by adding bulk to your stool and ultimately helps people who struggle with constipation or irregular pooping patterns by making it easier for the body to pass it naturally and avoid potentially harmful laxatives.
Fiber Helps Maintain a Healthy Diet – High-fiber foods tend to be healthier for you, but the fiber itself helps you stay full longer. This means that you’re less likely to over-consume. When traveling, this means snacking on stuff that isn’t healthy like candy bars, chips, and cookies.
Fiber Helps Maintain Healthy Blood Sugar Levels – A high-fiber diet can help slow the absorption of sugar into the blood stream.
Fiber Can Help Reduce Cholesterol – Similar to how a high-fiber diet can help reduce sugar from being absorbed into the blood stream, the same is true for cholesterol. Specifically, soluble fiber has the ability to reduce low-density lipoprotein LDL “the bad cholesterol” from being absorbed into the blood as well.
Fiber Can Help Maintain Bowel Health – in part, because fiber helps regulate bowl movements, it can help people reduce the chance of developing hemorrhoids since you’ll be able to pass them more easily without straining.
What is Psyllium Husk?
Psyllium husk is a soluble, viscus, gel-forming fiber that doesn’t ferment. This means that it won’t cause gas. Think if it this way, when beer is fermenting it gives off tons of bubbles that we all enjoy when it forms that beautiful head on the top of your pint glass. Most of us don’t want that happening inside of our stomach and intestines though. This is one reason why it’s important to check what type of fiber you are consuming. Even among high fiber foods like raspberries, pears, green peas, broccoli, beans, and grains like barley, oats, quinoa, and bran, you can get the benefit of fiber but be left with bloating from the gas when it ferments.
Why Do I Use Metamucil?
Quite honestly, I first used Metamucil because it was the brand I remember my grandmother using. I’m sure many of you remember yours doing so as well. The brand has been around for generations and there’s a good reason. It is the only leading fiber supplement brand that contains 100% natural psyllium husk, a great source of both soluble and insoluble fiber^. This helps make it the #1 doctor recommended brand‡.
Metamucil recommends that you avoid using the product within two hours of any medications you might be taking. So, what I do is travel with a small supply in plastic baggies that are already properly portioned (for me it’s 2 tablespoons per 8oz glass of water). This way, I can take it after dinner when I get back to my hotel room. I also find it works well to have after lunch since it will help keep me feeling full through that 3pm slump.
When used properly, you’ll feel lighter and more regular* – especially if you’re among the 95% of Americans who don’t get enough fiber in their diets.
