Posted on: Tuesday, June 8, 2004
Fiber helps control weight, prevent common ailments
| • | Adding fiber to diet as crucial as cutting carbs |
By Marsha Hilgeford
Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal
Here are a few ways a diet high in fiber can improve health and help prevent diseases.
Weight loss
Fiber helps you feel full and slows the emptying of your stomach. Eating a meal high in fiber may help you fill up before you overeat.
The time devoted to chewing higher-fiber foods gives your body time to regulate when you are no longer hungry. You will be less likely to overeat. Bean soups will make you feel full for a long time. High-fiber foods also generally contain fewer calories.
Heart disease, diabetes
Evidence continues to emerge that dietary fiber, particularly soluble fiber, is good for your heart. In a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 10,000 people who consumed 21 grams of fiber a day were 12 percent less likely to develop heart disease than those who consumed 6 grams.
Hypertension
Fiber plays a role in controlling blood pressure. Fiber-rich foods also provide potassium and magnesium, two minerals needed to help regulate blood pressure.
Diabetes and blood sugar regulation
Water-soluble fibers also help regulate blood sugar by delaying stomach emptying. They slow down sugar absorption after a meal and reduce the amount of insulin the body needs to produce.
Diverticular disease
Eating more fiber remains a standard therapy for treatment of diverticular disease, an inflammation of the intestine. In Western societies, it is one of the most common disorders of the colon, affecting one-third of people over age 45.
