Fibre is an important part of a healthy balanced diet. It can help prevent heart disease diabetes, weight gain and some cancers, and can also improve digestive health. Fiber does more than keep you regular and increase feelings of fullness. There are two major types of fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves readily in water and turns into a gel upon digestion. It takes a long time to digest and slows the release of other nutrients into the blood.Insoluble fiber doesn't dissolve in water. It enhances your body's ability to bulk up stool and keeps food moving through your digestive system.
There are many health benefits of fiber rich diets:-
Fiber and Digestion
As fiber passes through the stomach and intestines, it absorbs water, adding bulk to the stool. This promotes regularity and reduces constipation
BLOOD SUGAR REGULATION
Soluble fiber may help to slow your body's breakdown of carbohydrates and the absorption of sugar, helping with blood sugar control.
Heart health : When it comes to heart health, the importance of fiber in your diet cannot be overstated. An inverse association has been found between fiber intake and heart attack, and research shows that those eating a high-fiber diet have a 40 percent lower risk of heart disease.
Stroke : Researchers have found that for every seven-grams more fiber you consume on a daily basis, your stroke risk is decreased by 7 percent.
Weight loss and management : Fiber supplements have been shown to enhance weight loss among obese people, likely because fiber increases feelings of fullness.Fiber expands in the stomach and intestines, which creates a feeling of fullness. This means that after eating a fiber-rich meal, you'll typically feel fuller longer and may eat less throughout the day. In addition, because soluble fiber turns into a gel in the stomach, it binds to sugars, cholesterol, and fats and carries them, largely unabsorbed, through the digestive tract, says Anderson.
Skin health : Fiber, particularly psylliumhusk, may help move yeast and fungus out of your body, preventing them from being excreted through your skin where they could trigger acne or rashes.
Fiber and Cholesterol : Fiber is undigested starch, says Dr. Anderson, and as such, it traps cholesterol and drags it out of the body through the digestive system. Soluble fiber found in oat bran, barley, oranges, apples, carrots, and dried beans, turns into a gel during the digestive process and prevents cholesterol, fat, and sugars from being absorbed by the body.
GUT HEAlTH : Fiber is the food of choice for the good bacteria living in the gut. There is a lot of talk of probiotics to increase the numbers of good bacteria in the gut. Increasing the amount of good bacteria is great, but we can support the good bacteria we already have with a fiber rich diet. Prebiotics are a type of fiber that passes through the small intestine undigested and are fermented by gut flora for food in the large intestine.
