Fiber Matters

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Top 10 Fiber Facts

1 Fiber helps add volume to your meals without adding calories. It also helps your digestion by assisting the peristaltic process, allowing digested food to move more easily and more quickly through the colon. Fiber helps sweep away harmful toxins.

2 A high-fiber meal helps stave off hunger because its cellular structure takes longer to break down in the intestinal tract. While it’s there, you don’t feel as though the fuel tank is empty.

3 Fiber helps reduce the absorption of fat from food and drinks and can help prevent obesity.

4 High-fiber foods give you more energy on a sustained basis because they help maintain stable blood glucose levels. The energy is released steadily over time, rather than in short bursts, like sugar provides.

5 The recommended average daily allowance for fiber is between 20 and 35 grams. For example, one cup of cooked beans has about 12 grams of fiber, a slice of whole-grain bread has about 2 grams, and an apple has about 3 grams.

6 Most Americans eat less than 50 percent of this suggested daily fiber intake. Where do you fit on the fiber continuum?

7 A high-fiber diet reduces your risk of cancer. Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in water, so it moves food through your gut more quickly, which decreases your exposure to carcinogens. It also helps cleanse your colon as it moves along, acting like tiny brushes that sweep the colon walls free of potential toxins.

8 Diets high in fiber help the body absorb certain vitamins and minerals during the digestive process. This is accomplished when soluble fibers are broken down and become absorbed in the intestines rather than in the stomach.

9 Soluble fiber also helps lower blood cholesterol. A happy coincidence is that foods with plenty of soluble fiber are also delicious: oats, oat bran, oatmeal, peas, beans, barley, citrus fruits and strawberries, to name the stars.

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