TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2022 - MORE FIBER PLEASE

 TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2022 - MORE FIBER PLEASE

Okay, so I’m eating more fiber.  

Fiber isn’t sexy.  Fiber leads to elimination from the body.

You may remember this rhyme:

Beans, beans, The musical fruit

The more you eat, The more you toot

The more you toot, The better you feel

So let’s have beans for every meal.

BUT - fiber (including beans) has a lot of positives:

1. Fiber curbs overeating

Fibers are filling without fattening. High fiber foods require more chewing, and the prolonged chewing, besides pre-digesting the food, satisfies the appetite so you eat less. Fiber stays in the stomach longer, absorbs water, swells, and helps the eater feel full. Because of this feeling of fullness, people on high fiber diets tend to eat more slowly and eat less, especially less fat. 

2. Fiber steadies your blood-sugar level

Fiber slows the absorption of sugar from the intestines. This steadies the blood sugar level and lessens the ups and downs of insulin secretion. Keeping insulin levels low and stable also helps the body store less fat, another perk for people trying to control their weight through the benefits of fiber.

3. Fiber slows fat absorption

Other benefits of fiber include their important role in slowing down the absorption of fat from what you eat. This is another weight-control perk offered by a high-fiber diet. 

4. Fiber reduces cholesterol

A diet high in soluble fiber lowers blood levels of the harmful type of cholesterol (LDL) without lowering the good cholesterol (HDL) levels. As it travels down the intestines, soluble fiber absorbs water and forms a gluey gel that picks up cholesterol and carries it out of the body. Recent studies showed that eating an extra ten grams of fiber daily (the average American adult eats only eleven grams of fiber a day), decreased the risk of dying from heart disease by 17-29 percent.

5. Fiber promotes regularity

Insoluble fibers help prevent constipation; their sponge effect absorbs a lot of water into the stools, making them soft and bulky. 

6. Fiber reduces cancer risk

While soluble fiber helps protect against cardiovascular diseases, insoluble fiber protects against colon cancer. Increasing your consumption of insoluble fiber, such as that found in whole grains is one of the most effective dietary changes you can make to decrease your risk of colon cancer. 

7. Fiber increases peristalsis

The bulkier, softer stools that result from a high-fiber diet stimulate peristalsis, the involuntary muscular contractions that keep food moving through the intestines. So fiber acts like a biological broom, sweeping potentially toxic waste products through the intestines more quickly. 

8. Fiber binds carcinogens

The water and bulk of the stools also dilute carcinogens, decreasing their potential to do harm. In addition, fiber absorbs bile acids and other potential irritants that may predispose the intestinal lining to cancer. Studies of persons at high risk for colorectal cancer showed that those eating a high fiber diet had a much lower chance of going on to develop colon cancer than those on a low fiber diet. 

While more and more studies confirm the link between high-fiber diets and lowered risk of colon cancer, the effect of fiber on other cancers is less clear. Preliminary studies have shown that high-fiber diets may decrease the risk of stomach and breast cancer. There are several possible explanations for this. Fiber binds estrogen in the intestines, thereby reducing the chance of breast cancer. 

9. Fiber promotes healthy intestinal bacteria

Fiber promotes overall colon health by discouraging the growth of harmful bacteria in the intestines and encouraging the growth of beneficial bacteria. These foods are also rich in vitamin E compounds called “tocotrienols,” which are natural cholesterol-lowering substances.

10. Fiber is a family food

In addition to being friendly to aging bowels, fiber is also valuable for school-age children, mainly because it delays the absorption of sugars from the food into the bloodstream, making the blood sugars more stable – and, consequently, making the children more likely to behave and learn better. 

11. Fiber can reduce dementia.

Researchers found that higher levels of dietary fiber are associated with a reduced risk of developing dementia.

12. Dietary Fiber May Lower Blood Pressure

Overall, the results showed that adding fiber to the diet was associated with a significant reduction in both systolic (the top number in a blood pressure reading) and diastolic (the bottom number) blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.

 

*****

Lower chances of cancer, lower chances of heart attacks, lower chances of dementia, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, etc, etc, 

 

OKAY - enough on fiber - it seems like having fiber in your life is almost miraculous!!

*****

LOVE WINS

FIBER IS GOOD

Karen White

July 18, 2022