The Importance Of Fiber

Fiber is the part of plant-based foods that our bodies actually can’t digest. It just passes right through our digestive tract without providing any nutrition or calories, and yet it’s incredibly important to your health.

Now we all know that fiber helps keep you “regular”, but it also binds to carcinogens in our intestines and moves them through your colon much faster reducing your risk for colon cancer. It also moves cholesterol out of your body reducing your risk for heart disease. All this AND it helps move fat through our digestive system faster so that less of it is absorbed.

Fiber can be a great tool for those who suffer from overeating. Foods rich in fiber slow down your rate of digestion making you feel “full” longer.

Most foods high in protein like meat and dairy products contain no fiber, and refined grains are stripped of most of their fiber. This is why high protein/zero carb diets can leave you feeling "bound up". Fruits, some vegetables, brown rice, and whole grains (wheat, oats, barley) are all fiber rich foods.

Supplements like Benefiber can be used as well to get your fiber levels up to their optimum levels.

White rice, sugary breakfast cereals, and white bread having been stripped of most of their fiber nutrients, turn into glucose so fast they can cause a spike in insulin levels. There are a few problems with this…

Such a spike tells your body that it has plenty of energy readily available and that there’s no need to burn fat, and stores it instead. Inevitably your insulin then drops leaving you feeling tired, and hungry specifically craving foods high in sugar content. No good! This can start a vicious cycle that can lead to significant weight gain as well as other health issues.

Therefore, eating foods with plenty of fiber maintains a more consistent blood sugar level in your body.

So how much fiber is recommended?

Women
25 grams per day, for women younger than 50
21 grams per day, for women older than 50

Men
38 grams per day, for men younger than 50
30 grams per day, for men older than 50

Some will find that added fiber will constipate them having the opposite effect of what you’re intending it for. This is more often than not due to lack of water. Lots of fluids are needed to push that fiber (and everything else for that matter) through your system.