Fibre Love

No, it is not really a product meant to make you pretty. In fact, if you think about how it works, it is kind of shitty,literally. But I do think it deserves a time in the sun because it really works.

Some facts:

a. I've been taking this for close to four years. I've brought little yellow sachets of this with me everywhere-- from Korea to Malaysia to London, through heartaches and successes.

b. It's 100% all natural, none of those magic (read: artificial and overly processed) supplements we are all too often tempted to take.

c. It's action is straightforward-- it fills your belly and regulates your poo-poo.

d. It is made of psyllium husk fibers and passes through the body completely, carrying with it whatever toxins, oils it has absorbed. Again, I reiterate, this is not a magic pill.


Some people get their fiber from oats (which I hate as it tastes awful to me), I get mine from C-lium. If you ask our family what binds us, well, C-lium Fibre should be pretty near the top of the list. Beginning our mornings with a heaping tablespoon each of C-lium is the one single ritual we share, wherever we may be. Why do we take it? Why do I need it so much that last week when a friend went to Pinas, my very first bilin was a 50-sachet pack of Clium Fiber?

The answer is simple, it helps me poo and control my food intake. It is my cheat sheet for times when I lose my discipline and go into binges. (Now, admit it. Even the best, the most determined of us need a day off once in a while to eat to our heart's content without mentally counting calories). I will not go into details about how Clium fiber works, you can just google "Psyllium" or check out C-lium's website: www.cliumfibre.com, instead, I'll share how it worked for me:

1. At first it was yucky but like all things, with time you learn to be a natural at drinking it. I take the powder not the capsule form (because at the time we started using it, there was still no capsule form haha). I admit, the first few times I took Clium, there was that gagging reflex. You could literally feel the soft grains of the fibre running through your throat. And there is that mild grass taste. Some people take it with a glass of juice to mask the taste, I like it straight up with nothing but water.

I did eventually outgrew any gagging reflex and now drink it with a few gulps. There are a lot of psyllium husks brands out there. Healthy Options has one and I've tried it and works just as well. But so far, Clium is the cheapest pure psyllium husk fibre that I know. Here in Korea, they have the so-called Fibre Plus Drink-- which is a bright orange color tasting of orange flavored cough syrup, bleh!


2. As I mentioned, this is my cheating mechanism when I know I'm going to eat a lot. I take it about thirty minutes before going out. It works because the fibre expands tenfold and becomes this jelly like thing that fills up your stomach. Less stomach space = less food to eat. A google search would yield that there are also findings that these fibers help absorb fat. Though to be honest, I don't really think it absorbs THAT ENOUGH FATS to have any effect on weight loss. It will help you not gain weight but for it to aid in weight loss you got to put in some effort-- exercise.

3. And now comes the yucky part, it helps regulate poop time as all fibres do and thus decreases the bloated feeling.

So why do I love this product? Because it's relatively cheap, and does what it says it will. No overhyped stuffs --- It will NOT make you slim on its own. And though it helps in controlling cholesterol it will NOT make you get rid of your hypertension meds, and it will definitely NOT make you into a goddess at all.

But if you want fibre without the bundled calories (like with oatmeal!) and one that works well, then psyllium fibre is a great habit to start.


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P.S. Upon re-reading this entry prior to posting, it did feel like a copy ad for the product, harhar! But no, I am in no way connected to C-lium or any psyllium manufacturers. I'm just an ordinary consumer who wants to spread the word on stuffs that worked for me ;-)