Fiber is your friend!

May 29, 2011

Ingesting 20-30 g of fiber daily has several benefits:

- It promotes intestinal health and regular bowel movements
- It may lower your risk of cancers of the digestive system, pancreatic cancer, and even breast cancer 1,2,3  
- It decreases your risk of developing heart disease due to its ability to lower cholesterol 4

- It decreases your risk of developing diabetes by helping regulate insulin sensitivity 4
- Fiber-rich foods may increase satiety
- Consumption of resistant starch (a type of fiber) promotes fat burning 5

If you have been neglecting your beans lately it's time to change that habit, legumes are especially high in fiber. However, if you are not getting enough fiber through your diet there are plenty of fiber supplements out there. As I have already mentioned in my post about making baked goods more nutritious, in order to increase the fiber content of my baked goods I use resistant starch. Not only does it have health benefits, its caloric content is also lower than that of wheat flour. By substituting some of the flour with resistant starch the overall caloric content is less. 

Hydration should accompany fiber consumption to prevent the joys of constipation. Without water, fiber will not pass easily through your system, and some of the benefits of fiber consumption will be lost.

If you are not getting enough fiber through your diet I hope this served as a reminder to keep fiber content in mind when planning or preparing your meals. And remember, fiber and water go together.







References:

1. Terry P, Lagergren J, Ye W, Wolk A, Nyrén O. Inverse association between intake of cereal fiber and risk of gastric cardia cancer. Gastroenterology. 2001;120(2):387-91.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11159879

2. Bidoli E, Pelucchi C, Zucchetto A, et al.. Fiber intake and pancreatic cancer risk: a case-control study. Ann Oncol. 2011. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdr060.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21460379 

3. Cade JE, Burley VJ, Greenwood DC. Dietary fibre and risk of breast cancer in the UK Women's Cohort Study. Int J Epidemiol. (2007) 36 (2): 431-438.

http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/36/2/431.long 

4. Marlett JA,  McBurney MI, Slavin JL. Position of the American Dietetic Association: Health implications of dietary fiber. J Am Diet Ass. 2002;102(7):993-1000.

http://nirc.cas.psu.edu/pdf/HealthImplicationsforDietaryFiber.pdf


5. Higgins JA, Higbee DR, Donahoo WT, Bell ML, Brown IL, and Bessesen DH. Resistant starch consumption promotes lipid oxidation. Nutr Metab. 2004;1:8. 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC526391/?tool=pubmed








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