I made the point that we don’t get enough fiber in our diets but that alone did not make you want to run out and chew the bark off of the trees. So what does fiber actually do for us?
- People with higher fiber intake have smaller waists. This is most likely due to several factors. First the high fiber foods are usually less calorie dense. Second, fiber kind of surrounds some of the nutrients we eat and keep them from being absorbed as fast. This prevents the spikes in blood sugar found with sugar and the increase in body fat. (1) Third, the end products when some of the fiber is broken down by gut bacteria suppress appetite and suppress fat storage. (1)
- High fiber foods change the type of bacteria in the large intestine from the fat bacteria to the skinny bacteria. Although all of the mechanisms are not known if you have more skinny bacteria you are more likely to be skinny and the same for fat bacteria. The real news is if your diet is healthy and full of fiber it feeds the skinny bacteria and allows them to take over. (2) I know that is an oversimplification but this gets really complicated and full of big words. I may do a short series on this later.
- High fiber diets lowers total body inflammation. The marker for inflammation is called C-Reactive Protein CRP and is also a very specific marker for heart attack and stroke. (3) Furthermore CRP is known to attack and kill nerve cells and has been implicated in Alzheimer’s. (1)
- Eating 1.5grams of fiber has been shown to improve mood and memory. (1)
- Fiber helps control your bowels. It keeps you regular and helps relieve many gastric conditions.
- Finally fiber boosts the activity of the immune system.
- The only negative part I found about increasing your fiber intake is, as the bacteria in the large intestine eat the soluble fiber and the nutrients trapped in the fiber they give off gas. So high fiber means more poots. The bright side is with a healthy diet they are less likely to be smelly.
In conclusion I believe that increasing the amount of fiber in our diets could be second only to decreasing the amount of sugar we eat to improving our health.
If anyone is interested in more information on any of these topics let me know and I can expound. I was just afraid the science would bore you.
With all of the good things fiber does for you why don’t we eat more? Because we don’t really like it. Tomorrow I will try to help with ideas better than bark and leaves to increase your dietary fiber.
- The health benefits of dietary fiber: Beyond the usual suspects of type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and colon cancer, Kaczmarczyk, Melissa M. et al., Metabolism – Clinical and Experimental , Volume 61 , Issue 8 , 1058 – 1066
- Chakraborti CK. New-found link between microbiota and obesity. World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pathophysiology. 2015;6(4):110-119. doi:10.4291/wjgp.v6.i4.110.
- C-Reactive Protein, Paul M Ridker,Circulation. 2003;108:e81-e85, originally published September 22, 2003