What triggers the diarrhea in people from eating MREs lots of the time is simply MSG. Being allergic to MSG myself, this is the mildest reaction I have to it. I FINALLY learned to quit eating Hidden Valley Ranch dressing lately - it does it every time to me because it contains MSG (duh on my part).

IF MSG ISN'T HARMFUL, WHY IS IT HIDDEN?

http://www.truthinlabeling.org/

If you are worried about constipation from the MRE's, or any other source, a bottle of mineral oil in your gear will fix that. A good glug every day or so will fix you right up. You can even use it for other needs, like oiling stuff. Not the greatest taste in the world (it tastes like, well, oil), but it works. It will take a few days to start working if you are really plugged up, so don't go nuts drinking it, or you will be sorry. Verrrrry sorry. Don't ask me how I know this...

Some people are prone to getting clogged-up.
Some foods (like white bread and cheese, soda),
cause clogging. Some medicines have clogging as
a side effect; read the fine print; pain meds are
constipating, usually.

Wheat bran or sesame seeds can be bought at a
health food store. Sesame's run from $2 to $2.70 per
pound; a bargain if you need them.
If you have allergies (hay fever?), you may have
some degree of allergy to bran or sesame seeds;
I do. However, small amounts do not bother me.
Also, if I cook them they change enough in chemical
composition that the allergy potential goes way down,
for me, anyway.

You can add seeds or bran to any dish.
I especially like to toast seeds slightly, in an empty pan
with a small amount of heat. You can really put heat to
them an they brown-up and taste like toasty popcorn.

Other foods.
Greek-type pickled peppers, hot, medium, or mild;
they are great with almost any meal.
Rasberry jam with seeds is great stuff.

Bark shavings from trees are another souce of roughage.
I have not tried this yet, but have read that wood has been
added to commercially made bread for roughage.

If you cannot get any foods to loosen you up <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />,
you can use your finger to get things started. <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />
Be careful not to enjoy this too much. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Here's a story on a somewhat related topic. I worked shifts at a factory. They had six janitors that cleaned the offices & security guards that patrolled at night. One Friday night, a janitor brought in a box of ice cream sandwiches. They ate some & left the rest in the lunchroom freezer over the weekend. When they came in on Monday the ice cream had mysteriously disappeared. One of them had an idea. They bought another box of ice cream sandwiches. They allowed them to thaw partially, then unwrapped them & pried them open very carefully. Then they made a small indentation in each & added a dose of liquid E-lax. They then carefully re-wrapped the sandwiches & left them in the freezer over the next night. The next day, the sandwiches were missing again. One of the roving security guards called in sick two days in a row. When he finally returned to work, he commented to one of them “I was so sick. I thought I was going to [censored] myself to death.” Mystery solved. So, if you're going to take E-lax along in case of constipation, be careful not to overdose.

Exlax brand had to change one of their products,
a few years ago; I am not sure which one.
They used to have a chocolate bar product,
chocolate itself is a laxative, I think.
Head lettuce keeps reasonably well, if cool.
Raw carrots keep really well; they can be buried,
and they will really clean you out. Cooked carrots
have less laxative effect.

Carrots (and potatoes)
would be a good long term survival-storage food;
keep cool and dark in a make shift root cellar or
just burry them under 4 inches of dirt/sand.
If moles and other varmints are a problem, then
burial may be accompanied with wire mesh.

If you're going to take high-fiber foods or capsules, you have to be sure to drink enough. Fiber does its job by absorbing water. If you aren't drinking enough, you're still going to have problems.

Sue