Fiber gets no respect. The health benefits of fiber have been well-documented, yet if there is a single aspect of healthy eating that gets overlooked, I’d have to say its the consumption of fiber. According the the USDA, surveys on the subject of healthy eating indicate that the majority of Americans describe themselves as very concerned with fat. The subject of calories barely even makes the radar, and as we discussed earlier, in my post about weight loss vs calories burned in a marathon, that’s truly what drives weight loss.
The Health Benefits Of Fiber
There are a variety of benefits of fiber consumption that most Americans miss out on. Soluble fiber (found in fruits, beans, and barley) dissolves in water to form a gel, and has been shown to reduce cholesterol and blood glucose levels. Insoluble fiber (found in vegetables, whole wheat flour, and wheat bran) aids digestion by absorbing water but not dissolving. Unfortunately, Americans get far too little of either in their diet. Recommendations for fiber intake vary, depending on who you believe, but a safe number for an adult male would be 25-30 grams per day. It’s suggested women target 22-28, and recommendations for kids vary with age. Have you ever tried to consume that much fiber, particularly without a supplement?
Fiber is the indigestible plant material found in food. In the body, it contributes to bulk and retains water, allowing material to flow more easily through the body. This has been shown to relieve constipation and (eek!) hemorrhoids. It contributes strongly to the feeling of “fullness” that we get when eating a food like beans, which we know to be high in soluble fiber. This “fullness factor,” or satiety, can be a major factor in a diet to lose belly fat, as it staves off hunger pains.
The underconsumption of fiber is so prevalent in the American diet that many doctors recommend all of their patients take a fiber supplement just as a matter of principle. And, for many Americans, they’re correct, since most studies show average American gets less than 10-grams of fiber per day. One of my goals is to try to consume less than 2400-calories per day and hit that minimum 25-grams of fiber without a supplement. We’ll see how that works out.
