Fiber in the diet

CEBU, Philippines - Having more fiber in our diet has a lot of advantages, both health and aesthetic. Dietary fiber can cleanse the intestinal walls and facilitate the speedy removal of waste from the body, allowing no time for toxicity from decaying matters to develop internally. Likewise, the filling properties of fiber can easily give a sensation of fullness, precluding the tendency to overeat; thus, there’s going to be much less extra calories to store, so the body stays in much better shape.

Many people on a slimming regimen can only think of bran and pulverized tree bark for natural dietary fiber. This, somehow, has given fiber a rather undesirable image. But there are actually a lot more fiber-rich foods, more delicious and more easily available.

Apples, beans, potatoes, bananas, mangoes and more are rich in dietary fiber. These do not add pounds, especially if you eat just enough to fill you up or for nutritional maintenance. On the contrary, you may shed pounds off your body weight without ever having to starve yourself.

Bulky high-fiber foods, like apples and bananas, are ideal for weight watchers, because they satisfy the appetite but contain relatively few calories. Research indicate that calories from these foods count less – meaning they are less likely to be stored as fats – than calories from fatty foods, including fruits like avocado and durian. There have been studies in which overweight people even lost pounds only by adding fiber to their diets, with no other dietary changes!

Yet fiber does much, much more than merely easing the efforts for slimming. It may help prevent or provide some relief from many chronic illnesses, ranging from hemorrhoids and varicose veins to heart disease, appendicitis, diverticolusis and colon cancer. A ten-year study in Holland has found out that middle-aged men with low intake of dietary fiber had a three times higher risk of death from diseases than men with high fiber intake. The findings point out that a diet contining at least 37 grams of dietary fiber per day is good protection against chronic diseases.

Fiber is not a nutrient, that’s why it cannot make a person fat. Its main use is in the way it helps the body to absorb nutrients. It can add bulk to the diet, relieving constipation. It may bind with cholesterol and flush it out of the body, which in the long run means lower risk of heart disease. It speeds up the digestive process, minimizing exposure to harmful wastes in the intestinal tract, which means protection against colon cancer and toxicity. And, for diabetics, it may slow the release of sugars into the bloodstream.

An average Filipino diet has around 15 grams of fibers per day – roughly half the recommended amount for protective maintenance. But it shouldn’t be difficult to get enough fiber. A cup of 100 percent bran cereal, one apple or large banana, one cooked potato with skin, a half cup of cooked peas, and two cups of native vegetable soup per day would supply about the ideal daily amount of dietary fiber. This is only one of many possible food combinations.

Dietary fiber can come from a variety of other sources, like whole-grain foods, beans and nuts. Variety is important because fibers are not all alike. Wheat bran, for example, can relieve constipation, but it’s still uncertain whether it can lower cholesterol levels. But oat and corn bran are known to lower cholesterol levels.

Likewise, pectin, a kind of fiber found in pears, bananas, apples, tomatoes and carrots are known cholesterol inhibitors. But neither oat bran nor pectin can relieve constipation. That’s why variety is advised. It shall also be noted that most fiber-rich foods are also rich in nutrients, and nutrients often work best in synergy with one another.

Snacking on fresh fruits is good. It’s light, energizing, full of vitamins. Our grade-school teachers taught us that. The top-ranking fruits, aside from apples and bananas, are dried prunes and pears.

Legumes, like peas and soybeans, are super-high in fiber, outdoing most fruits and vegetables. A cup of baked beans provides about 20 grams of dietary fiber. Brown rice is always better than polished white, in fiber content as well as nutritional value.

If you think you need more fiber in your diet, approach the increase gradually. Your system needs time to adjust, so go slowly. If you suddenly blitz your body with bran, you’ll experience intestinal distress.

It will take a while for the helpful bacteria that live in your intestine to learn how to break down whole wheat, for example. Bacterial fermentation can build up gas and cause abdominal bloating. Then you experience upset stomach and gas pains, aside from having a bulging belly.

Some people think that fiber-rich foods taste bland. Not quite so – we love apples and bananas. The fiber sources that are not as delicious can be easily spruced up in combination with other fruits and vegetables. It only takes a little imagination and creativity. Besides, what can be worse than swallowing a bitter pill to cure an ailment that could have been easily prevented by sufficient fiber intake? (FREEMAN)