Help Your Poor Gut Become Fiber-Rich
Fiber was all the rage about a decade ago. It seemed every product was touting how many grams of fiber it included. These days, it’s no longer the nutritional “buzz word” it was in its glory days.
Our bodies, however, still require us to be mindful of feeding them lots and lots of fiber each day—likely more than you presently do. Men, 50 and under, should be eating a diet which includes about 38 grams of fiber, while those over 50 need only 30 grams. On the other hand, woman, 50 and under, require 25 grams of fiber daily, dropping to 21 grams after the age of 50.
Fiber comes in two varieties, soluble and insoluble. Both bring significant value to the health of our digestive tracts. Unlike insoluble fiber, soluble fiber dissolves in water to form a gel-like material. It can help to lower both circulating cholesterol and blood glucose levels. Some soluble fiber sources act as a pre-biotic, feeding your healthy gut bacteria–certainly an added bonus. Insoluble fiber is unable to be broken down in the gut. It simply adds to the bulk of stool, improving the regularity and ease of bowel movements.
So, which foods should you eat to achieve the beneficiary amounts of these two types of fiber? Well, soluble fiber is found in whole grains, such as oats and barley, apples, citrus fruits, peas, beans, carrots and nuts and seeds. Good sources of insoluble fiber are found in whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, nuts, beans, and particular vegetables, like cauliflower, green beans and potatoes. (You can see there’s overlap.)
As with all things nutritional, variety is the better road to pursue. Eat some of this, and then some of that*. Rotate your fruits, veggies, legumes, and grains throughout the week to ensure you get the life extending, disease preventative benefits of adequate fiber.
Ingesting the daily recommended amounts of fiber has been shown to reduce the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and from ALL cancers. Additionally, it lengthens one’s lifespan. Now, I hope that gives you something to chew on!
*Do remember that even though a food, such as a granola bar, might tout “10 grams of fiber,” make sure you reading the label for sugar and bad-fats content before making your high fiber product purchase.