Dietary Fiber

Fill Up On Fiber

Dietary fiber is a natural component of plant-based foods, consisting of the structural components in plants that are not digested in the human stomach and small intestine. An adequate intake of fiber is crucial toward reducing the risk of chronic disease while promoting optimal health.

Fiber helps prevent:

• Heart disease: Fiber aids in the prevention of heart disease by lowering your cholesterol.

• Cancer: Research shows that people who eat a high-fiber diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables and grains are less likely to develop certain types of cancer.

• Diabetes: Fiber helps control blood sugar levels for people with diabetes.

• Digestive problems: Adequate amounts of fiber from foods can help prevent constipation and hemorrhoids.

• Weight control: A high-fiber eating plan is lower in calories and tends to make you feel full faster.

There are two primary types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fiber helps prevent and treat constipation by keeping bowel movements regular and smooth. Insoluble fiber also helps reduce the risk of colon cancer by moving potential cancer-causing agents more quickly through the digestive tract and diluting their concentration. Soluble fiber helps reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering total blood cholesterol and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. Soluble fiber also reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by normalizing blood glucose and insulin levels.

What Foods Provide Fiber?

Beautifully, you can get all the fiber you need from foods.  Remembering what foods provide fiber is easy:  just ask yourself if the food comes from a plant or an animal. Only plant-based foods provide fiber.  Animal-based foods do not provide fiber.

• Insoluble fiber is found primarily in whole-wheat products, especially wheat bran, and other whole grains.

• Soluble fiber is found mainly in legumes, barley, brown rice, oats and oat bran, fruits (especially apples, plums, citrus, strawberries, and blueberries), and vegetables such as carrots, split peas, and corn.

But not all of us are eating enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes to get an adequate amount of dietary fiber. In fact, most of us are only getting less than half of what we need for optimal health.

What foods provide fiber?