I read this highly informative article from Gut Sense on the causes of hemorrhoids commonly known as piles. The article argues convincingly that eating too much dietary fibre can cause Hemorrhoidal disease. I quote:
Hemorrhoidal disease and anal fissures start with a little "defect" in human anatomy — the anal canal that is too darn tight for large and/or hard stools to pass through. When these abnormal stools get stuck inside your colon or rectum, you may have no choice but to strain, gradually causing yourself hemorrhoidal disease, anal fissures, and other complications...
On the other hand, if the stools are large, let's use a pickle — something we can both relate to without looking at the "real thing" — to compare its size with the anus. As you can see even a smallish Corby pickle is huge relative to the anus size. And not just the anus — the pickle is about the same size as the entire rectum...
So, if anyone is telling you to "eat more fiber" to "bulk up" your stools, so you can relieve or prevent hemorrhoidal disease and anal fissures, give that person a Corby pickle, and ask him or her to jam it up their anuses, and, then, tell you how normal it feels. If that experience does not get them out of the pickle you got yourself into with painful hemorrhoids or bleeding fissure, nothing will...
What giveth? Newton's third law, of course: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Here's what I mean:
● As hemorrhoids get larger, the anal canal aperture gets smaller, and the stools become harder to pass;
● As the difficulty of passing stools intensifies, the need to strain grows more pronounced, and the hemorrhoidal pathologies turn worse;
● As the first two problems evolve, people often keep increasing the amount of dietary and/or supplemental fiber to counteract defecation difficulties;
● As people increase the amount of fiber in their diet, their stool keep getting larger, causing further enlargement of hemorrhoids, while the anal aperture becomes smaller and smaller;
● As the anal aperture becomes smaller and the stools larger, people experience more constipation, strain harder, feel more pain, and begin experiencing anal fissures and other complications described elsewhere on this site and in my books.
If this chain of events isn't interrupted by luck, education, or God's will, the vicious cycle continues unabated until patients require surgery to fix rectal prolapse, anal fissures, fistulas, abscesses, fecal incontinence, or other related ailments.
The video in the article explains clearly what are hemorrhoids. However, the general consensus is that a high fibre diet helps to prevent Hemorrhoidal disease. I am very interested to know whether this is a myth.
