The slim on fiber

Recently I have had a conversation with a friend of mine, who was complaining about being constipated regularly. She was sluggish, light headed and bloated like a balloon. After examining her diet it was clear to me, where the problem was. Her diet was lacking in fiber and that is why she was feeling like a slow train.

Unlike other carbohydrates, unsoluble fiber can't be broken down into molecules and our bodies can't digest it. In our nutrition it has no caloric value and it doesn't nourish the body. Soluble fiber has around 2 calories per gram, but dietitians are still uncertain what the real ammount is. But fiber is vital in our diets because it promotes health in numerous ways. It reduces the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and constipation. Studies suggest that a sufficient amount of fiber in our diet can reduce the chance of colon cancer development. Unfortunately this has been debunked

Like I've said before, there are two types of fiber: Soluble and insoluble fiber. The first dissolves in water and the second doesn't. Soluble fiber binds to fatty substances, lowers LDL cholesterol (the bad type of cholesterol) It also helps to regulate the body's use of sugar. And like insoluble fiber it adds bulk to our food, thus keeping us fuller for longer periods of time. Insoluble fiber also pushes food through the intestines and it prevents food from staying there for too long. If we don't eat fiber, the food would just stay and rot in our intestines.

There is a myth, that fiber increases transit time of our feces. This isn't true. It does however affect the weight of our feces and it might increase the number of trips to the bathroom.

When taking fiber, be sure that you aren't taking in too much, because it might inhibit calcium absorption. It is still unclear weather this is because of the fiber or because of certain phytonutrients in plants (studies suggest that it is the latter and not the former). A good rule of thumb is to take around 12 – 15g of fiber per 1000 calories.

Great sources of fiber are most vegetables (spinach, salad, carrots, cucumbers…), fruit, lentils, whole oats, barley, couscous and seeds.

Until next time, stay strong and be kind.

Picture taken from: http://tiny.cc/x561hw

References:

Nancy Clark, Sports nutrition guidebook (2007)

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/carbohydrates/

http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/carbs.html

Park Y, Hunter DJ, Spiegelman D, et al. Dietary Fiber Intake and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A Pooled Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. JAMA. 2005; 294:2849–2857.

Mellen PB, Walsh TF, Herrington DM. Whole grain intake and cardiovascular disease: A meta-analysis. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2007.

Aldoori WH, Giovannucci EL, Rockett HR, Sampson L, Rimm EB, Willett WC. A prospective study of dietary fiber types and symptomatic diverticular disease in men. J Nutr. 1998; 128:714–9.