The importance of a high fiber diet for weight and cholesterol control.

[laurend1985]

Let's lower our cholesterol naturally.: The importance of a high fiber diet for weight and cholesterol control.



A friend of mine recently told me she wasn't regular. After a long discussion on what she was eating, I discovered that her diet was very low in fiber. High fiber diets have the following benefits:

Lower risk of developing colon cancer: Fiber sweeps carcinogens out of the intestines and triggers beneficial chemical reactions in the digestive tract.
Lower cholesterol: Fiber binds with the so called bad cholesterol and flushes it out of the body.
Decreased appetite: Fiber rich foods make you feel full without the extra calories.
Regular bowel movement

Nutrition experts recommend that you take in 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day, which a lot of Americans have a hard time doing. I try to follow the recommended fiber regimen in order to stay regular and optimize my weight management program. My diet includes fiber rich foods such as beans, fruit, and vegetable. Though I know the importance of this lifestyle, I still find the exercise challenging. I start my day with a least 12 grams for breakfast. This can be consumed in a number of combinations: Fiber One cereals have 12 to 15 grams of fiber per serving; a good fiber bar usually contains 9 grams of fiber and can be supplemented with a piece of fruit. If I load up on my veggies at lunch, by dinner time, I have hit my quota for the day.

A word of caution: We all know grazing animals produce a lot of gas. Well, our body will react similarly if we start consuming a substantial amount of fiber. I am sure you don't want to go around, building a "fiber reputation." So, I suggest you make your fiber introduction a gradual one. You could start with just a high fiber cereal and a piece of fruit for breakfast. Guess what! You might experience a decrease in your extra weight and an increase in your energy level as a result of your diet.

To watch your daily intake of fiber, you should keep a food diary. "Fat Secret," "My Daily Plate" and "Calorie Count" are my recommended online food diaries. They will help you monitor your fiber intake, calories, cholesterol, etc. You can also join the National Fiber Council for any fiber related issues. National Fiber Council

I will conclude with the following example on the importance of fiber. I have a client whose cholesterol is rather high; she is on medication. Her doctor told her to keep a food diary for weight loss and cholesterol control, she decided to chart her fiber intake on Fat Secret. Before maintaining a diary, she was taking in 12 to 15 grams of fiber a day. When she started charting, she upped her fiber intake to 25+ grams a day. After 8 weeks, she went to see her cardiologist and she learned that her cholesterol had gone from 240 to 174. Her doctor was obviously pleased and told her to stay on the food diary.Let's start tomorrow with a high fiber breakfast and let me know how it goes and remember to start the cholesterol challenge. Let's lower our cholesterol naturally.: The Cholesterol Challenge

[laurend1985]

I bought Kashi Go lean cereal to eat for an afternoon snack without milk. It has 9 grams of fiber per serving.

[GrimJack]

I add apple fiber to unsweetened grapefruit juice - apple fiber is very sweet so it ameliorates the bitterness of the grapefruit juice. It has both soluble and and insoluble fiber. The fiber works by absorbing cholesterol and carries it out of the system (you all know what I am tip-toeing around saying).

[laurend1985]

I add apple fiber to unsweetened grapefruit juice - apple fiber is very sweet so it ameliorates the bitterness of the grapefruit juice. It has both soluble and and insoluble fiber. The fiber works by absorbing cholesterol and carries it out of the system (you all know what I am tip-toeing around saying).

@GrimJack Where do you find apple fiber?

[GrimJack]

@GrimJack Where do you find apple fiber?

The brand I use is NOW:healthy foods - Apple Fiber with apple pectin and I get it from the local SuperSupplements store. For some reason, they no longer carry it but will order it for you; since it is only about $3-4 per 12 oz of the powder, I buy 3 packages at at time. I managed to find the NOW website - er, google got it for me.

(RANT) One the things I dislike about 'juicing' is that it removes all the fiber from the fruits and vegetable and even though the juice is good for you the cost is huge when you consider that the amount of juice you get out whatever it is you are juicing AND you don't get any fiber. I think that in most cases, juicing is wasteful.(/rant)

[andrewsteven]

Nutrition experts recommend that you take in 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day, which a lot of Americans have a hard time doing. I try to follow the recommended fiber regimen in order to stay regular and optimize my weight management program. My diet includes fiber rich foods such as beans, fruit, and vegetable.

[ccole]

Dietary fiber is important for many reasons and has been proven to be a good ally in the fight against illness and disease. Unlike fats, proteins and carbohydrates, fiber is the part in plant foods that our bodies can’t digest or absorb. In other words fiber passes through our stomachs, small intestine, and colon and out the other end more or less intact.

So what good does that do you may wonder? Well, mainly fiber provides the body with the ability to be rid of the waste products once we have digested other forms of foods. It is fiber that makes passing this waste - known as stool in the medical profession (or crap for the less academically-minded!) – a whole lot easier than it might otherwise be. That is the number one (or should that be number 2?) role of fiber, which obviously is beneficial to all of us. Effective removal of food waste from our bodies is vital for health. And if you are wondering why you are constipated, then the answer is simple – you’re not eating enough fiber.

When it comes to attempts to achieve weight loss, it is high-fiber foods that are often mentioned in diets because foods with high-fiber content help to stave off hunger. Fiber foods are also generally low in calories, and because they are also not being digested, none of it is being stored as fat.

Once again, it will come as no surprise to followers of diet and nutrition that the foods that contain the most fiber are vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and most beans (legumes) – all the foods that are generally promoted as the best foods for us to eat. They are promoted as the best foods for us to eat because they contain so many of the vital minerals, vitamins, and other nutritious elements that are bodies need to function efficiently.

[JoeP]

I make oatmeal from steel cut oats a few times a week, and enjoy grape nuts (aka Gravel) the other days. Then I pop a few Ones Prunes a day as well. The other important factor is water! Drink a lot of water and it boosts fiber's effects.

The late Dennis Wolfberg had a comedy skit where he talked about Fiber One having something like 10 times the amount of fiber of grape nuts and 5 times the fiber of raw twine.

[Harlem]

I maintain it strictly. I control my food habit.

[arydberg]

Fiber

For other reasons ( I am trying to avoid folic acid) I purchased a wheat grinder and some wheat grain ( berries) and a bread machine. I need to add gluten as when the flour is fresh ground and used in a bread machiene it does not rise properly. My point is that it provides a lot of fiber. For anyone that wants to add fiber to their diet ( as well as a whole bunch of nutrients) Get a Nutramill or other grinder and make your own fresh ground flour and make bread with it.