Fiber, All About Fiber
If you are trying to create a healthy diet for yourself, you cannot overlook the importance that fiber will play.
The
main benefits you'll receive from dietary fiber include improvements
in the cardiovascular and digestive system along with providing a high
degree of satiety.
Unfortunately, in todays world of overconsumption of processed foods, a high fiber diet is hard to come by.
Here are the top facts about fiber you need to know.
Promotion Of A Healthy Digestive System
Fibers primary role in the body is going to be to help promote a
healthy digestive system. It does this by helping to keep the
intestines in proper working order and prevent the accumulation of
cholesterol along the lining.
Lowering Your Bad Cholesterol Levels
Another thing high fiber foods will do, is help to decrease the
level of LDL cholesterol that’s seen in the blood. They do this by
binding with the dietary cholesterol you take in while it’s in the
small intestine and then removing it from the body.
Therefore, a high fiber diet can be a very good defense against the heart disease.
Fiber And Weight Loss Women who are consuming
high fiber diets on a regular basis generally maintain a much lower
weight than those who don’t, simply because they typically consume
fewer total calories as a result.
Because it takes fiber a long time to be digested by the body, this
means you will stay feeling fuller longer than if you would have done
without it.
Since it is your end of the day total calorie intake that determines
weight gain or weight loss, this is absolutely essential for weight
loss.
Getting Enough Fiber
Its recommended, when it comes to being sure you are getting enough
fiber in your diet, to try and average 14 grams per 1000 calories you
eat. Most women will have diets consisting between 1500 and 2000
calories, depending on your body weight and activity levels, so that
will translate to 21-28 grams of fiber total.
Increase Your Intake Slowly
Be sure that if you have not been eating much fiber in your diet at all in the past few months, increase your intake slowly.
If you go from eating very little fiber a day to getting a very
high dose, you will likely suffer from extreme digestive upset and will
not feel well at all.
Try and increase the consumption over the period of a few weeks to ease this process.
Soluble Fiber
Soluble fiber is the type that plays the more predominant role in the
lowering of bad cholesterol levels and is fully broken down the by the
body. Sources to try and aim to consume include oat bran, oatmeal,
beans, peas, rice bran, barley, and fruits.
Insoluble Fiber
Insoluble fiber, on the other hand is not digested by the body and
rather, helps to slow down gastric emptying, causing that increased
satiety effect discussed above. This is what will provide the biggest
benefit when it comes to weight control for you.
Good sources of this type of fiber include whole-wheat breads,
whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, wheat bran, cabbage, beets, carrots,
Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and the skin of apples.
So, be sure you do not overlook the importance of fiber in your diet.
If you do get your consumption levels in line, you will most definitely
notice a change in how you feel, and more than likely, a change in how
you look as well.
----------------------------------
About the Author:
Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain found at Vince DelMonte Fitness
He specializes in helping skinny guys how to build lean muscle mass and
burn off the body fat that is covering their muscles.
© 2006-2008, Vince DelMonte Fitness. All rights in all media reserved.
You may reprint this article so long as the article and author bio are
reprinted intake and all links are made live. This article may never be
sold individually or as part of a package.
|
