"21 Days to My Healthy Body" – Making Sense of Fiber

February 24, 2010 | by LaMonica Toussaint | Food

Having a healthy body on the outside is good but what about the inside? We all want to do whatever we can to live longer; healthy heart, lungs, and brain. While all those organs are vital for life, how healthy is your colon? That’s something we hardly ever think about when it comes to get healthy.

The GI (gastrointestinal) tract begins with the mouth, leads to the esophagus and extends through the stomach, small and large intestine, to end at the anus. Everything you out into your mouth has to go through this chain of events. Meaning nothing that you eat can bypass this section and skip to the next, unless you have had a surgery that alters your anatomy.

Complete digestion depends on the kind of food you eat. It normally takes anywhere form 12 -72 hours to digest food. Certain foods like meat take longer to digest than vegetables. Fiber or roughage is one important nutrient to help with maintain a healthy GI system. Insufficient fiber intake can increase your risk for many health problems such as:

Constipation
High cholesterol
Weight gain
Irritable bowel syndrome
Colon cancer

It is recommended to consume at least 25 -30 grams of fiber a day. That sounds like a lot of fiber but you’ll be surprised at how much fiber is in the foods you eat every day. Just by substituting white bread for whole grain bread gives you more fiber. Matter of fact; try very hard to remove anything white from your diet. Whole grains are not the only food items that contain fiber, many fruits and vegetables have the fiber we need. Meat and dairy products contain no fiber, and refined grains have had most of their fiber removed. To increase your intake of fiber, eat more whole and natural foods, and fewer processed foods. Some good examples of fiber-rich foods include:

Legumes (lentils, dry beans and peas)
Other vegetables
Fruits
Brown rice
Whole grains (wheat, oats, barley)

Fiber does more than prevent medical problems like heat disease with can help you lose some unwanted pounds. Fiber makes you fill full and thereby decreasing your appetite and causing you to eat less. It also binds to cholesterol and is released in the bowels. Speaking of bowels movements, are you regular? You should be. At least 2 BM’s a day is considered a healthy bowel pattern. Now don’t get too caught up with the number of BM you’re having, the key is to increase your fiber intake and let natural take its course. A word of caution… GRADULALY INCREASE THE FIBER INTAKE TO PREVENT DIARREA AND GAS.

Fiber is thick and consuming fiber without being properly hydrated will also lead to constipation. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids when adding fiber to your diet.

21 Second tip: Increase fiber by 5 grams a week until you can get to the recommended 25- 30 grams a day and make sure there’s a bathroom close by!