I read on Kents webpage that psyllium husksare abrasive to the gut lining. This goes against everything I know about the constituents of psyllium. Psyllium has a demulcent effect because of its mucilage content which is very soothing to the gut lining. I have heard that bran is highly abrasive but the constituents and actions of psyllium as reported in everything else I have read do not support it also being abrasive... is there something I am missing?? I use psyllium ( and peppermint) to control my IBS symptoms very successfully, it is the only thing that has worked for all symptoms at once.

It is more abrasive than flax or hemp. however it works like little scrub brushes to scrub your colon. I don't think that it is too abrasive if you arn't having any pain from it. I own a health food store and I constantly here people come in saying I love it its awsome and some come in and choose something else because it is abrasive. so i think it depends on your body. I would still recomend it.

I've never seen psyllium growing so I'm not sure what the husks look like. I take it in the capsule form which contains what looks like brown powder. Since it absorbs water, I don't think that form would be very abrasive. I think you can buy bags of the husks and that might be more of a problem.

Yup, the husks are abrasive and that is part of their job...to remove the *plaque* build up from the walls of your intestines. I used to be so sensitive that they would give me a mild sore throat but as I improved my condition, the sore throats went away. I think psyllium is one of the best things to take (whole flaxseed is great because it has omega 3's in it PLUS the fiber -woohoo!).

psyllium is our friend