The Benefits of Consuming Fiber Rich Foods
For many people who suffer from digestive problems such as constipation, diarrhea, stomach pains, etc. a lot of it can be traced to what they eat, overeat and the foods and drinks they put in their body.
In the body is the colon which is known for its absorption of water and salt in their body. If the colon absorbs to much water, then the food that is converted to waste becomes to dry and people will have problems constipating. But if the food that is converted to waste is expelled, there is always this residual waste or fecal matter that is stuck in the colon, especially on the intestinal walls. In fact, research has shown that a person may have up to 25 pounds of dry fecal matter stuck on their intestines and that includes a lot of toxic waste.
So, naturally, many people are looking into ways to rid and prevent these symptoms but also to cleanse their colon from these wastes. One major way to do this is by eating a high-fiber diet.
The Benefits of Eating Fiber
Fiber is known to help food move faster through the intestines but most of all regularly. Other benefits include:
- Fiber can help those with high cholesterol. So, it’s instrumental in fighting heart disease.
- Fiber is known to help slow the rate of sugar absorbed into the bloodstream. So, this can really help people who suffer from type-2 diabetes or non-insulin dependent diabetes.
- Fiber is known to help prevent constipation.
- Fiber is known to assist in weight loss because fiber is absorbed slowly and helps in making people full and not hungry.
- Eating foods with fiber have shown in studies that it has helped in lower the risk of colon cancer.
Types of Fiber
There are two types of fiber. Soluble and insoluble fiber.
Soluble fiber is known to bind with fatty acids in the body and stays in the body much longer and absorbs sugar much slowly. The benefits of Soluble fiber is that it is known to lower LDL cholesterol and regulate blood sugar. Soluble sources of fiber include oat, bran, nuts, oranges and apples, carrots, psyllium husk.
Insoluble fiber benefits include helping promote regular bowel movement and known to removing the toxic waste in the colon. Insoluble sources of foods with insoluble fiber are vegetables such as beans or green, leafy vegetables. Also, whole wheat products, seeds and nuts and foods.
How Much Fiber Should I Eat?
Now knowing the benefits of fiber, the problem is that people really don’t eat much of it. And some people feel they need to eat too much of it. The truth is that large amounts of fiber can cause diarrhea, bloating and severe stomach cramping. So, the goal is to eat small portions of foods of fiber but don’t start eating a lot of fiber and forcing yourself to do so.
Nutritionist recommend 25 to 35 grams of dietary fiber per day. So, definitely start looking at the labels of food to know about the foods that you are eating.
So, there are plenty of healthy reasons of why we should include foods with fiber into our daily diet.








