Vitality Plus

It has been said before. I will say it again – and again. We need to eat more fibre.

I think that it is fairly obvious to us all that we are suffering from an obesity epidemic. Not only does obesity cause a certain physical discomfort, it also affects our families, communities and social connections. If you are overweight and reading this I want to encourage you to try some fibre. It isn’t going to fix everything, but it is a solid and valid first step.

Of all the things that I have learned about optimal health in the past 10-plus years is that nothing is more powerful than what we eat and – of equal importance – what we do not eat.

If there is one thing that will immediately help you it is getting 35g of fibre in your diet per day. Here are a couple reasons why:

Losing Weight

Fibre is one thing that you can do, right now today, that will help you restrict some calories. Although I do not advocate restricting calories in the long-term, feeling full is one of the most important things that need to happen when eating. Fibre will get you there.

When you eat a lot of processed food you are eating a bunch of bad carbohydrates with little or no fibre. This does not trigger the satiety signal in your brain and you keep eating. Fibre is one of the ways you can turn that signal back on.

Turning that satiety signal on means you eat less of the bad foods, and thus will lose weight. Sound too simple? Try it!

Putting It Back On

However, when you have actually been successful in losing the weight one of the most depressing things is putting it back on. You might think that one would do anything possible to keep the lost weight off. In fact, the opposite usually happens after a diet. Habits are not permanently change and the weight, which was lost, returns with an average of 1.8 pounds of additional fat above and beyond the pre-diet weight.

To help you maintain already lost weight you must not allow your fibre intake to drop. There are a number of reasons why you need to do this. Fibre actually helps reduce the absorption of calories from the foods you are eating now.

Diabetes

Along with obesity, diabetes is also a problem rampant in Canada (and a large part of the world). This is another area that fibre can have a dramatic affect. Considering that fibre can help to slow down absorption is should be part of every meal for someone who has blood sugar control problems.

Besides helping your feel fuller, fibre also helps to slow down your body’s conversion of carbohydrates to sugar, thus supporting better blood glucose stability. Which in turn helps you to lose weight! This is a must for any diabetic.

Regular

I am not really sure how to say this in a politically correct manner. So I am just going to come out with it.

Bowel movement best practices are to go once a day. What you don’t eliminate, in the form of toxics and such, can be reabsorbed into your body (through a process called leaky gut syndrome). If those toxins stay inside for too long that can be a bad thing. Fibre helps with what is called bowel motility. What that means is that fibre helps to keep our plumbing running smoothly and efficiently and gets everything through in an appropriate time frame.

Constipation, obesity, and diabetes have a link. By using fibre to help with one – you effectively help them all. I believe that if you aren’t going potty once a day you should be.

Sources

Look to seeds, like flax and chia, for a good source of fibre. Beans are also loaded in fibre and should be added to weekly meal planning. I am not a fan of using bread as a fibre-delivery-system since a lot of folks have a sensitivity to its fat-making potential. If you are looking for a supplement for adding additional fibre I would seriously consider giving glucomannan a try. Ask for it at your local health food store.

Come on Oxford – it is time to fibre it up!

[as seen in the Oxford Review July 5, 2012]
I have never written on this topic before. The particular nutrient I will write about helps with so many things I find it amazing. It helps you feel full after eating, slows down gastric emptying, lowers cholesterol, activates your immune system, aids in detoxification, elimination and fat loss to name a few. If you want to know more about fibre, then please keep reading.

When I ask my clients this simple question, “Are you getting enough?” most of them say yes. However, upon examination of their 14-day food diary I am confronted with the fact that they are not. The truth is that many people are undernourished when it comes to their fibre intake.

Now you may be thinking, “Well Dave .. fibre isn’t actually classified as a nutrient.” If that thought came into your head, you would be right. However, that doesn’t change my view that fibre should be a considered as a nutrient – so I will make reference to it in that manner. I hope you don’t mind.

We often her fibre discussed in the context of bowel health, cholesterol and gastric emptying. Now it seems that we can discuss fibre in the context of mortality as well.

In a recent study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on May 30th of this year, an international team of researchers found a reduction in mortality during 12.7 years of follow-up among men and women who consumed higher amounts of fiber. The particular study included a very large cohort of 452,717 participants and was part of the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) initiative, which looks at different dietary patterns across ten European countries. The average age when the study began was 50.8 years.

The results of the study found that for each 10 gram per day that subjects increase total fiber intake there was an associated 10 percent lower mortality risk. Those living the longest had a fiber intake at 28.5 grams per day.

So my recommendation is to aim for at least 25 grams per day.

An examination of the 23,582 deaths that occurred during the study found that fibre had an amazingly protective effect for circulatory, respiratory, digestive and inflammatory diseases. It should come as no surprise that the greatest benefit was associated with digestive disorders.

Having an efficient digestive system is very important to having a high quality of life. While the adage “you are what you eat” may be popular, I prefer to say it this way “you are what you don’t eliminate.”

Your intestinal tract is so vital to your health that science is expending a lot of resources on this topic. For example, the results of a meta-analysis appearing in the British Medical Journal, published online on November 11, 2011, found that an increased intake of dietary fiber could aid in the prevention of colorectal cancer.

There are several possible mechanisms responsible for fiber’s protective effects. An increase in stool bulk and a dilution of carcinogens in the colonic lumen, and bacterial fermentation of fiber to short chain fatty acids, are all thought to play a role.

The bacteria in your gut like the way that fibre is packaged in whole food vegetables like broccoli and avocados (avocados are unbelievable high in fibre and are a brilliant source of good fat!). This is why I diligently advocate for whole food sources of nutrients. I always recommend eat good high quality food first. If you still need something to supplement your diet – that is when you use a nutritional helper like glucomannan.

The Japanese are some of the longest-lived peoples in the world. They have eaten glucomannan for centuries and it is the main ingredient in shirataki noodles and konnyaku – which are traditional Japanese foods.

For those interested in the sciency-side of fibre, there seem to be several mechanisms that help to control weight, improve glycemic control, and aid in the maintenance of a favourable intestinal environment. It appears that fiber may help protect against circulatory diseases in that it lowers low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (when LDL is elevated it is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease). Additionally, Fiber intake has also been associated with a reduction in inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

With all the great and amazing benefits of fibre, shouldn’t you be asking yourself, “Am I getting enough?”

As Always – Eat Fibre. Exercise Hard. And Smile!

Category Archives: Fibre

Fibre is Phenomenal for Feeling Good

Are You Getting Enough?