Fabulous Fiber

Dietary fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Basically anything that comes from a plant (and isn’t overly processed) will have fiber in it.

So what’s all the fuss about fiber?

Fiber is well-known for it’s function to help you... well, you know! But fiber's superpowers go beyond the toilet. Fiber-rich meals help you feel more full, which translates into eating less and losing weight!

Fiber also acts like a sponge in the gut, trapping and carrying out fat, toxins and bile. Bile is needed for digesting fat. The body has a great recycling process for bile; it’s secreted, does it’s digesting business and the body reabsorbs it and does it over and over again. Since fiber traps bile and gets rid of it, the body has to make more in order for digestion to continue. Cholesterol is needed to make more bile, so increasing fiber intake actually helps to decrease cholesterol in the body . Pretty cool huh? I think so… But wait, it gets better! Fiber itself contains a component that travels to the liver and tells it to actually decrease the amount of cholesterol it produces! 

Fiber’s affect on decreasing cholesterol is actually threefold: 

1) Your body absorbs less fat, which means less cholesterol is needed shuttle fat throughout the body.

2) It gets rid of bile, so cholesterol is needed to make more.

3) It tells the liver to stop making so much cholesterol.

Fiber also helps to regulate blood sugar because it slows down digestion, allowing for the body to get nutrients over time. This is what makes you feel more full. Wild fluctuations in blood sugar cause increased hunger and subsequently weight gain. Over time this can lead to insulin resistance. The vicious cycle continues as excessive amounts of insulin promotes more weight gain. Gone treated, insulin resistance can progress to diabetes. 

To sum up, fiber lowers your risk of heart disease by decreasing cholesterol levels, keeps you full, helps you lose weight and may decrease your risk of getting diabetes.

Told you fiber has superpowers.

The average American gets less than half the recommended amount of fiber per day. Women should aim for at least 25 grams of fiber and men at least 30 grams per day.