Don't ignore your 'gut feelings'

If you're an avid follower of social media, you'd have surely come across a viral trend called 'fiber-maxxing'.

- SREYA DEB

If you're an avid follower of social media, you'd have surely come across a viral trend called 'fiber-maxxing'. The latest health craze has people piling up on dietary fiber—encouraging them to eat a range of fiber-rich foods and meeting or even exceeding the recommended daily intake. The idea is to optimize gut health, digestion, and overall well-being, often by prioritizing whole foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.

While fiber-maxxing, like most other social media trends, could be seasonal, it highlights a growing health crisis that is definitely not.

Often misunderstood for mere indigestion, declining "gut health is a becoming real issue", says Dr Vikas Singla, senior director and head, gastroenterology, hepatology and endoscopy, Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi. "Of late, we are seeing more patients with cases of gas, bloating, barrier, and constipation. It's monsoon season and the number of cases with gut infection or gastrointestinal (GI) tract infection is only going up. We are seeing many patients with pain in the abdomen, loose stool or blood in the stool," he adds.

A 2023 survey by the Indian Dietetic Association, Mumbai, and Country Delight, an online milk and grocery delivery service, revealed that seven out of 10 Indians residing in urban India were experiencing digestive or gut health issues. The study also found that 59% complained about it every week and 12% suffered daily. Around 63% of respondents said that they consumed processed or packaged food every week with gastric issues recorded among 68% of the respondents. Doctors estimate that these health trends have only exacerbated since then.