What benefits does eating food high in dietary fiber provide? Dietary fiber plays a crucial role in our overall health and well-being In this blog post, we will reveal the importance of dietary fiber and explore why it is a vital component of a healthy and balanced diet.
The Essential Role of Dietary Fiber
Do you want to improve your overall health and well-being?
Making sure you receive enough dietary fiber in your diet is one of the greatest ways to do this.
Dietary fibre (UK spelling fibre) is an essential nutrient that aids in the functioning of your digestive system and may even lower your risk of certain diseases.
In this blog post, we'll talk about the importance of dietary fibre and how to make sure you're getting enough of it. We will also look at some of the health benefits of a high fiber diet.
What Is Dietary Fiber?
Dietary fiber, also known as roughage, is the component of foods originating from plants that is resistant to being broken down entirely by the digestive enzymes in the human body.
Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition, and can be grouped generally by their solubility, viscosity, and fermentability, which affect how fibers are processed in the body.
What Are The Different Types Of Dietary Fiber?
Dietary fibre is divided into two types:
Soluble fibre, which is fermented by gut bacteria, and insoluble fibre, which is not fermentable fiber and serves as roughage.
Soluble Fiber
Soluble fibers are polysaccharides that dissolve in water forming a gel-like substance that helps slow digestion, can help lower cholesterol levels and regulate blood sugar levels as they have a low glycemic index (GI)
They include pectins, gums and mucilages.
Insoluble Fiber
In nutrition, insoluble dietary fibers are a group of polysaccharides that cannot be digested by human enzymes.
They include cellulose and hemicelluloses (e.g., xylans), resistant starch, lignin, and other plant cell wall components.
Insoluble fibers assist bowel movements and have been shown to lower the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
What Are The Benefits Of Eating Dietary Fiber?
1. Healthy Weight Loss
Dietary fibre is vital for healthy weight reduction because it regulates appetite and keeps people feeling full for longer periods of time.
Increasing dietary fiber consumption in one's diet can also help to increase adherence to a weight-reduction plan and help in losing weight.
Vegetables and fruits should make up the bulk of one's daily food consumption, with lean proteins coming from fish, poultry (particularly chicken), legumes, nuts, and whole grains.
Sugary drinks should be limited to water, tea, and coffee with little to no sugar added.
Dairy products should also be limited where possible. Adding some physical activity into your routine would also be a great benefit.
2. Lower The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes
The relationship between dietary fibre and type 2 diabetes is well documented.
Increased dietary fiber intake has been linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in studies. Furthermore, the combination of soluble and insoluble fibres appears to be the most effective in terms of risk reduction.
Fiber also helps to minimise blood sugar spikes after meals and may have other diabetes-related advantages. Finally, high fibre diets, particularly those rich in cereal fibres, can dramatically lower blood glucose levels.
3. Reduce The Risk Of Heart Disease
Dietary fiber has been shown in studies to be an effective treatment for lowering the risk of heart disease, including cardiovascular death.
Combining dietary fiber with statin treatments has been shown in studies to be more effective than taking statins alone in lowering blood cholesterol levels. Soluble gel-forming fibers have proven to be particularly useful for this purpose.
As a result, increasing your intake of dietary fiber is critical for lowering cholesterol and lipid levels, and so plays an important role in preventing cerebrovascular diseases associated with heart health.
4. Increased Beneficial Gut Bacteria
Micro organisms such as bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses are all examples of good gut bacteria. that live in the human digestive tract.
Colon microbiota represent between 300 and 1000 different species, making it the most diverse habitat on Earth.
Increased good gut bacteria can help reduce overall inflammation, improve gut health, make stools larger and more regular, and increase the number of gut bacteria species that break down fiber.
These modifications can lead to better digestion and overall health.
5. Reduced Risk Of Certain Cancers
Though research on the relationship between dietary fiber and cancer prevention is still inconclusive, most studies suggest that eating more fibre may reduce the risk of certain cancers, particularly breast and colorectal cancer.
Furthermore, dietary fiber can stimulate the production of cancer-fighting compounds in the gut bacteria.
It is best to consume dietary fibre alongside other nutrient-rich foods like fruits and vegetables to maximise its effectiveness as a cancer preventive measure.
6. Longer Life
The link between dietary fibre and longevity is that eating enough fibre has been shown to reduce the risk of death from a variety of causes.
This suggests that eating enough fibre may be beneficial for both general human health and lowering the risk of specific conditions.
7. Strong Bones
High-fiber diets are linked to healthy bones because they boost the body's absorption of minerals like calcium from the foods that are consumed.
Dietary fiber is essential for healthy bones, and foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are excellent sources of this food component.
For example, a cup of frozen, unsweetened blueberries has almost the same fiber content as a cup of blackberries, strawberries, or raspberries.
8. Increase Regular Bowel Movements
Maintaining a regular bowel routine is crucial to good health and digestion. In particular for those who suffer from chronic constipation, fibre aids in the digestive process by promoting bowel movement.
Consuming plenty of water alongside high-fiber foods has been shown to improve the benefits of good dietary fiber intake.
In addition, a balanced gut microbiome is associated with a healthy digestive system and regular bowel movements, both of which can be aided by a diet higher in fibre.
9. All-Natural Detox
Dietary fiber helps with detoxification in a number of ways, including by washing toxins out of the body and decreasing the amount of time hazardous substances spend in the digestive tract.
Fiber can be obtained from whole-grain products including breads, cereals, and pastas, and wheat bran can be used as a natural laxative.
How Much Dietary Fiber Do We Need Per Day?
Dietary fiber is essential for good digestion and the beneficial effects of regular bowel movement.
- Women under the age of 51 should consume 25 grams of dietary fibre per day, while men in the same age range should consume 38 grams of fiber per day.
- Women over the age of 51 require 21 grams, while men over the age of 51 require 30 grammes.
Furthermore, dietary fibre might help alleviate the discomfort caused by stomach cramps or gas. To avoid discomfort when making dietary changes, it is advisable to gradually increase daily consumption of dietary fibre over time.
How To Increase Dietary Fiber Intake?
A very easy method to increase your intake of dietary fiber is to follow a healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet.
The Mediterranean diet is well known for positive effects on human health as it generally involves the consumption of eating lots of vegetables, fruits, legumes (beans and lentils), whole grains, nuts and seeds, which all high fiber foods.
What To Eat To Increase Dietary Fiber Intake
Including fiber-rich foods in your regular meal plan is another straightforward approach to increasing your fibre intake. Here are some foods you can add to your diet:
- Lentils
- Beans
- Berries
- Avocados
- Popcorn, yes popcorn believe it or not!
Check out our extensive list of more than 20 healthy high fiber foods below.
Download our Free
High Fibre Food Guide PDF
Download our free guide to learn the exact fibre content of over 20 different foods and start to improve your diet health and well-being today!
Is Too Much Dietary Fiber Bad For You?
It is possible to consume too much dietary fibre, despite the fact that fibre is an essential component of a healthy diet. Eating an excessive amount of fiber can lead to abdominal pain, bloating, and gas.
Additionally, consuming large amounts of fiber can interfere with the absorption of certain minerals such as calcium and iron. It is important to note that these side effects are usually only experienced when consuming more than 50 grams of dietary fiber per day.
Therefore, it is recommended to gradually increase your daily intake of dietary fiber over time in order to avoid any potential discomfort. Additionally, drinking plenty of water alongside high-fiber foods can help reduce any potential side effects associated with a high-fiber diet.