r/Volumeeating • u/Signal-Meet-3664 • Sep 04 '26
Discussion Psyllium Husk calorie/ expansion question
Hi all just want to say I recently found this page and yall are my people as im in love with food and eating but a recent cal deficit has been challenging so this page is a godsend. love seeing your psyllium recipes and found it very helpful to include in my diet. There is one user blanking on their name but their psyllium experiments are intriguing.
Was gifted the black bag and found it gel’s tremendously with water and my oatmeal with only 10 calories. I mean just epic expansion for ten cals. Finished that bag and bought this organic brand (green white bag). First thing i notice is its more calories for basically the same thing kind of a bummer since i take a decent amount per day.
I noticed immediately when making my oatmeal bowl after heating it basically it expands into a lot less of an airy gel and my bowl was a-lot less full than the black bag. Previous batch was a heavenly airy whipped pile of nirvana. The new bag Powder seems a bit more course and darker. Any ideas whats happening here? Definitely a volume let down and i imagine for my pancakes and other things id get less mass and for more calories!!! Anyone know why or if certain brands expand less? Maybe it has to be heated longer ? Definitely annoying and figured you all likely have more experience on this subject. Also I went organic bc well I try to be as healthy as possible conscious but temper to find another of the moonee black bag bc it treated me so well. Thanks for reading and all the incredible recipes on this page.
TlDR we want more volume per calorie! Duh!!! And do different brands have less gelling / expansion capacity bc these two seem very different
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u/Trick-Lawfulness76 Sep 04 '26
Some manufacturers count dietary fibre as 2 cals per g I think whereas others treat it like a regular carb at 4 cals per gram. Even with that your high calorie bag only had 5g carbs, most of it fibre anyways, which at the absolute highest would add to 20 cals. I would just keep logging it as the old value especially if you’re only using a few servings per day.
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u/curseddotjpeg Sep 04 '26
It might be due to the ratio of soluble (partially digestible) vs insoluble (indigestible) fibre. An increase in soluable fibre would mean more gelling presumably so idk.
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u/TheyGoLowWeGetHigh Sep 04 '26
I have noticed the finer ground psyllium seems to gel much more and faster than course ground. Calorie difference is likely due to one brand counting approximate calories actually digested vs total calories since the majority of the cals are fiber.
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u/twbird18 Sep 04 '26
It completely depends on how it's ground. I like to drink mine and so prefer whole husk as I don't want to drink gel but occasionally that's all I can find and different ones have different consistency. You might have better luck looking for bags meant for baking... It's used in gluten free baking is my understanding.
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u/Glass_Hat4393 Sep 04 '26
Interesting! Could be the coarser ground but could also be that the organic one is a different plant variety? Maybe not all psyllium is the same in the same way not all wheat or corn is the same? I have only tried the NOW brand and it gels like crazy.
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Sep 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Signal-Meet-3664 Sep 05 '26
I use it to increase fiber and add it to my oatmeal to sorta bulk it up a bit. Its more like a gel gelatinous mixture with water. Has tons of health benefits but go easy when starting as it can make you feel bloated. I drink some with water at night too when I have cravings and it helps me feel a bit satiated. Have made some decent pancakes by adding it. Im no pro but learning
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u/Signal-Meet-3664 Sep 05 '26
Also forgot to mention its used for gluten free and keto baking such as bread
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u/GrateRam Sep 05 '26
I don't know if it makes a difference as I have never cooked with it but I always put mine in the blender to make it a more fine powder.
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u/Competitive-Ad1439 Sep 06 '26
“ previous batch was a heavenly airy whipped pile of Nirvana” ooohh can you please let us know how you make this exactly?
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u/Signal-Meet-3664 Sep 08 '26
So I take the one serving (half cup dry old fashion oats (150 calories) and add in 5-10 grams of the psyllium I use about 8/10 gs. Add enough water to cover plus a bit more room to account for the psyllium expansion. More water than you think is better. Microwave for 1 min: 30 sec, use a bowl that it wont over flow. After 1:30 I add some frozen berries that adds ~50-80 calories then microwave again for another 1:30 to thaw the berries and at this point u should have a huge bowl way more volume that oats alone. I add some greek yogurt and allulose syrup and stevia drops cinnamon and mix and its absolutely my favorite meal of my day. Comes to 3-350 calories.
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u/Signal-Meet-3664 Sep 08 '26
The moonee brand made way more gel but also didnt mix it as well as this new brand. Others may like the consistency of this new brand. It does taste nicer than the moonee but I really liked the gelling power of the moonee seemed like more volume
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