by Effie Moore Salem

Created on: December 23, 2009   Last Updated: September 14, 2010

Fiber is extremely important in the diet. Fiber contains no calories and it adds bulk and a feeling of fullness at mealtime. These are the two best reasons to eat food with bulk when dieting. Yet, beyond that, fiber is an overall digestive aid; the one most known is its cleansing properties and its prevention of constipation. Fiber keeps the intestinal system in good working order.

According to the Mayo Clinic staff you should eat foods with fiber for the extra benefit of “lowering your risk heart disease and diabetes“. This dietary aid is found mainly in grains, fruits, and vegetables and especially in eating the vegetable raw and, if possible, unpeeled. An apple, as an example, will yield more fiber if eaten with its skin intact. Of course this may not be possible in older folk with dental problems or false teeth. Still, apples are an excellent source of both kinds of fiber.

Both kinds of fiber? Insoluble fiber is not digested and passes on through the intestines where its bulk cleans and keeps the lower intestinal track healthier; soluble fiber is absorbed into the intestines where it readily mixes with water and forms a slimy jell like substance, thus acting as a binding agent. Its other properties are in lowering cholesterol and aiding diabetics in lowering blood glucose.  

Keeping your colon clean and healthy is the first preventative where constipation, hemorrhoids and diverticulosis is concerned.  Constipation is hardened stools and difficulty in passing feces; hemorrhoids are swollen blood vessels inside or outside the anal canal; and diverticulosis is out-pouching of the interior intestines. All these are quite common and make up a large part of office and clinic visits.

Weight loss is gained by fiber by even chewing the food. It takes more time to chew fiber foods and this in itself takes a certain amount of energy. This increased activity also takes more time and this is a weight gain advantage. It prevents overeating. About twenty minutes, or half and hour is needed for the first effects of a meal to begin infusing its energy properties into the blood stream. Hunger is felt until this happens. If we eat until we begin to feel full, we most definitely have overeaten.

Therefore, food is be chewed slowly and well; this allows the process of digestion to normally fill up empty fuel tanks. Eating to be healthy and to supply the right amount of nourishment needs a goodly amount of fiber. It is possible, of course to get too much fiber which will, at least at first, cause loose stools. If the intestinal system is unused to lots of fiber foods, it will be better to gradually add these foods to the diet.

Weight loss is best done naturally and while eating less of the right kinds of foods, and this specialized diet - according to the FDA pyramid chart - contains adequate fiber. Eat less of healthier foods and plan on not only losing weight but feeling more fit and energetic.

Learn more about this author, Effie Moore Salem.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.