Naturalpath

Fiber is extremely important in preventing a host of ailments, including diabetes, colon cancer, and heart disease. The Nurses’ Health Study of more than 68,000 women linked a high intake of fiber to a 47% reduction in heart disease over a 10-year period. There are many strategies for eating a high fiber diet , but all include eating primarily whole foods, including lots of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. Fiber comes in two types, soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fiber absorbs water and leaves you feeling full longer. Soluble fiber, which digests slowly, prevents your blood sugar from rising too fast after a meal. (For these reasons, both types of fiber aid in weight loss.) The best sources of fiber are whole grains, particularly bran and wheat germ. Wheat germ is the small inner part of the wheat kernal that is a concentrated source of nutrients. Whole-wheat flour contains more fiber than other flour because the wheat bran and wheat germ haven't been removed, as they have in processed white flour. "Enriched wheat flour" means that certain nutrients were added back into the flour during or after processing, but that doesn't mean that fiber was added back in. To figure out how much fiber a slice of bread or bowl of cereal actually contains, look at the Nutrition Facts panel on the package. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers foods that have at least 2.5 grams of fiber per serving to be good sources of fiber and allows them to make this claim on the wrapper. The best way to make absolutely sure you get enough fiber is to start the day with breakfast cereal; in fact, in the past ten years there have been studies showing that those who eat cereal for breakfast have a lower incidence of practically every major disease including heart disease, diabetes, and several types of cancer. Bran-based cereals are high in insoluble fiber while oats are high in soluble fiber. Eating high-fiber cereal has been found to lower blood levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol. And when researchers compared various sources of fiber, they found that cereal was even more protective than fruits and vegetables. Another way to make sure you get enough fiber, particularly soluble fiber, is to take a fiber supplement. The most common type is made from psyllium husks. Many people mistakenly think of fiber supplements as something only older people take for constipation, but actually taking a fiber supplement daily is one of the best ways to lower cholesterol without taking medications such as statins. Some studies have also suggested that fiber supplements can help prevent colon cancer by keeping things moving.