The Poo Diaries Part 4: Fibre!

As our beloved Poo Diaries is coming to a close (one more entry following this), I am finally at the place that I think many people might have started on a similar journey. But, as I have mentioned previously, we found that fibre won’t heal a gut in crisis. If the issue is gut motility, then gut motility will remain the issue until it’s addressed specifically and in the appropriate way. Once we had healed Evies gut, we have been able to maintain that health and regularity with fibre awareness. 

So what is fibre? The definition of fibre is actually “Intrinsic plant cell wall polysaccharides” which, in people speak, means the skin of fruit and vegetables. So no, there is no fibre in breast milk, meat, dairy or eggs and if you’re living souly of off these elements (which, let’s face it, a lot of “fussy” toddlers are) then there in could very well lie your problem. Why? Because fibre is that which isn’t digested by the body. Thus, it moves through our gut, from one end to the other, bulking and softening stools and pushing everything else in there along with it on its way out the door, if you know what I mean. You can find more info on fibre here – I don’t really want to weigh you down with the details. All I’m trying to say is: you need fibre to poo, too much or too little can be an issue, and here are some recipes and tips on how to get more fibre into your little one (or yourself, or your nana). 

Number 1: Prunes 

Not prune juice that often has added sugar and preservatives. Just plain old prunes. The only additive free brand of prunes we found was brand called ‘Verity. But, if you can find organic, preservative free prunes somewhere then snap them up!
Because prunes are dehydrated, they do need to be soaked overnight in water to be effective. They can then be de-seeded, blended, and added to all kinds of sneaky foods. When Evie was severely constipated (before we realised we needed to heal her gut first) we were adding prunes to everything with some brief success. Foods such as porridge, baked beans and yoghurt are all good prune smugglers. Even if you’re adding miniscule amounts to each meal, it will add up and make a world of difference. Furthermore, prunes are a good source of iron – they’re not just an ugly face, you know!

Number 2: Apples 
Back in the day, before I knew what I know, I would read forums about constipation in babies and people would say “avoid constipating foods such as apples”, but then another would say “stewed apples work amazingly well for constipation”. And the confusion is here: stewed apples without skin = bad, stewed apples with skin = good. If you peel an apple, you are removing 75% of its fibre and leaving behind what is mainly sugar, thus constipation ensues. So another ‘add me to everything’ fibre solution is, in fact apples that are stewed whole, with the skin on. You just need to place your apple sin a sauce pan, fill up half way with water, place a lid on, and cook for about 15 minutes. Then turn the heat off and leave to sit for another 20. 

All you need to do once they are cooked, is remove the stalks and seeds, then blend them. Apples are more palatable than prunes, but we found that putting prunes and apple puree together in Evies porridge every morning was a recipe for success. You can also make apple yoghurt with this puree by just adding plain yoghurt and honey.

Number 3: Fibre rich meals
These are much easier to do than some might think. It just means leaving the skin on all your veggies, eating more beans, lentils, having porridge for breakfast and sprinkling LSA on everything! I have put a few of these toddler & baby friendly fibre rich recipes up on my Facebook page of late, but I’m re-posting them here so that they are all in one easily accessible place, and will add to them over time.

Potato Veggienaise!

What you need:

1 tablespoon oil
1 small carrot (skin on!) finely diced
1/3 of a medium brown onion, finely diced
1/4 cup red lentils, cooked via packet instructions
3/4 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon flax meal
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

How to:
1. Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add onion & carrot and cook until tender (about 5 minutes).
2. Add bay leaf, water, lentils, oregano, flax & tomatoes and bring to the boil.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes, or until the majority of the liquid is absorbed and carrots are soft. Stir often.
4. Stir through Parmesan. Remove bay leaf.
5. Blend all, half or none, depending on your little ones chewing abilities & Serve with mashed potato.

*You can cook your potato with the skin on and then blend it instead of mashing, for extra fibre!         

Brown Rice Pudding! 

You will need:
1 cup long grain brown rice, cooked to absorption method
3 cups almond milk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
A pinch of salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 green apple, finely chopped
1/4 cup currants
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How to:
1. Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir frequently until mixture reaches desired thickness (about 30 minutes). That's it! Blend all, half or none depending on your little ones chewing abilities!
Evie’s all-time favourite: Vegetable soup! 

You will need:
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 small carrot, diced
½ a celery stalk, diced
1 potato, diced
½ a swede, peeled and diced
½ a large zucchini, diced
¼ cup raw buckwheat, rinsed
¼ cup red lentils, rinsed
375mL Water
375mL vegetable or chicken stock

How to:
1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a medium pot. Add garlic, carrot and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, or until just tender.
2. Add all other ingredients and bring to the boil.
3. Cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
4. Allow to cool before serving.

I know that some kids won’t eat a vegetable soup, or a vegetable, even. Luckily, Evie is not one of those kids. Of course that kind of thing can be worked on over time. But if all Evie would eat was nutella on toast, then you best believe that nutella would have been laced with prunes! Or, if she would only eat chocolate custard, then that custard would have been smuggling apple puree! (I do not condone this kind of food for growing bodies and brains - but sometimes our circumstances are what they are and we just have to work with what we have!). Luckily, Ive never had that issue – but that’s just an example of how things can be worked with!

And so ends part 4 of our journey. I will be back with the final instalment just as soon as I get a chance!

Angela