FinallyitFits

Dieting & Your Body

Although fiber is not an actual nutrient it is essential for our body’s well being, there are two types of fiber, insoluble and soluble.

Insoluble Fiber

This type of fiber provides us with bulk in our diets and is found in cereals such as wheat bran or bran flakes for example. Fiber helps us to move food through our bodies more quickly and when we drink plenty of water it helps with the prevention of constipation.

Soluble Fiber

Soluble fiber mixes with liquid and can be found in certain fruits as well as oats, beans and peas. Soluble fiber can help reduce the risk of heart disease and help prevent strokes.

Although soluble fiber plays an important part in a healthy diet it doesn’t work wonders and just because you have a bowl of bran flakes everyday doesn’t mean it will lower your cholesterol level if you are having a lot of saturated fat in the rest of your diet.

Your Fiber intake

Many foods contain both soluble and insoluble fiber but how do we know how much fiber we need in our diets? On average health experts recommend that we have 20 to 35 grams of fiber in our diets everyday, of both soluble and insoluble fiber.

A diet which doesn’t include the recommended intake of fiber can cause a disease called diverticular disease.

This disease occurs when pouches form in the walls of the colon and they become infected. If you increase the amount of fiber in your diet it is also important to remember to increase the amount of water you drink per day as well.

What else is essential in our daily diet?

As well as fiber, vitamins and minerals are essential in a healthy diet and a well balanced healthy diet should consist of five or more servings of fruit and vegetables everyday.

As a general rule vegetables that are darker in colour hold more nutrients than the lighter ones, members of the cabbage family in particular such as sprouts, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower are excellent choices.

In addition to fruit and vegetables health experts also recommend 6 to 11 servings a day of carbohydrates and products containing whole grain.

Health problems caused by not enough fiber in the diet

As fiber is needed to help keep the digestive system working properly several conditions can be aggravated or caused if you don’t eat enough fiber in your diet, disorders that can arise are:

• Constipation

• Irritable bowel syndrome

• The risk of heart disease

• Diverticulitis

• Some forms of cancer have been linked to low fiber diets especially colon cancer

• Diabetes

• Haemorrhoids