{
  "id": 17145085,
  "title": "Eating more fibre? Give your gut time to catch up",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/eating-more-fibre-give-your-gut-time-to-catch-up",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-29T23:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2026/10/30/eating-more-fibre-give-your-gut-time-to-catch-up"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Malaysian health ministry advises adults to consume 20-30 grams of dietary fibre per day for optimal health. Switching to healthier foods overnight, such as brown rice, multigrain cereal, extra vegetables, and dhal, can cause stomach discomfort, wind, and bloating. This is due to the fact that fibre feeds bacteria in the large intestine, which produce gas through fermentation. To gradually increase fibre intake, make one small change at a time, such as adding a serving of fruit or extra vegetables to dinner, and assess comfort before adding another change. Familiar meals can be made more fibre-rich by adding \"sawi\" to noodle soup, carrots and long beans to fried rice, or mixing brown rice or oats into white rice. Start with small portions of beans and lentils alongside regular meals and gradually increase the portion size. Incorporate fibre into different meals, such as oats for breakfast, vegetables for lunch, fruit as a snack, and beans at dinner, and rotate various fibre sources like wholegrains, vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Drink water regularly to maintain softer stools. People with irritable bowel syndrome may tolerate certain types of fibre better than others, so a dietitian can help adjust food choices and portions. Seek medical attention if bloating is persistent, especially with significant pain, vomiting, blood in the stool, or unexplained weight loss.",
  "summary": "Aim to consume 20–30g of dietary fibre a day but do it gradually and find the right combination of fibre that suits your digestive system.",
  "key_points": [
    "Malaysian health ministry recommends 20-30 grams of fibre daily.",
    "Sudden fibre increase causes stomach discomfort and bloating.",
    "Gradual fibre addition allows gut time to adjust."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}