Make Dietary Fiber a Good Part of Your Daily Eating Plan
Why should we consume fibers every day? Because they help us stay slim, prevent a variety of diseases including certain cancers and diabetes so they are great friends as long as you have them every single day as part of your healthy diet. They make you feel full in a shorter time and for longer without adding unnecessary calories, make the intestinal transit easy- is good against constipation as they increase the stool volume and weight, prevent hemorrhoids and fecal incontinence (not being able to control bowel movements) help with weight loss and offer protection against diabetes (the way it slows down the carbohydrate absorption), cholesterol (something you can definitely benefit if you have high cholesterol), cardiovascular disease and different cancers. The way our diets changed over time with grain processing and all the other stuff, an increase in the number of disorders including constipation, colorectal cancers, irritable bowel syndrome and hypercholesterolemia can easily be observed.
So you really need to have adequate amounts of fiber in your diet, by simply increasing the amount of vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains, have more soup, fresh or dried vegetables and fruits, brown rice, wholemeal pasta, rye or wholegrain bread and eat much less of biscuits, cookies, pastries, white bread and anything that lacks dietary fiber. Fibers are basically a form of carbohydrates that are not digested and there are two types, insoluble and soluble fiber. Most fiber rich foods contain both in some amounts but richer in one of them. Soluble fiber forms a gel in the tummy by absorbing water just like what oatmeal turns into when you add water or milk and by bulking up your stool you are protected against both constipation and diarrhea, when insoluble fiber stays in its original form and helps you keep regular- gets things moving. Soluble fiber is found in nuts, beans, oatmeal, blueberries, apples among other fruits and insoluble fiber is found more in vegetables, brown rice, wholewheat bread, fruit skin so remember to eat the peels. You are recommended to eat 30 grams of dietary fiber each day and for most people real consumption is much less than that. You may want to focus on consuming more of fiber rich foods, making them a good part of your diet and this will also help you with your fitness goals of burning off fat and weight faster and developing leaner muscles.