Why adding fiber to your diet is important?

At almost every age, we are advised by our well wishers to maintain a proper diet and to feed upon green vegetables. We often fail to realize the importance of quality food and usually people prefer spicy and junk foods against healthy food.

What is Fiber?

Fiber is a plant-body generated product which appears in various form and shape. These edible products hold great importance as they ensure the sustainability of the body. They pass through the body in an undigested format, their major activity is to ensure proper digestion as well as bowel action and evacuating harmful carcinogens from the body.

Types of Fiber:

Fiber is broadly classified into two major types which are described as follows:

  • Soluble Fiber:

As the name suggests, this type of fiber dissolves in water to form a gel like substance. It can be of great use to cholesterol patients. Soluble fiber appears in the form of oats, beans, carrots, citrus fruits.

  • Insoluble Fiber:

Being insoluble in nature, its main activity is to ensure proper bowel actions providing much relief to patients suffering from constipation or irregular stool action. Major examples of insoluble fiber are wheat bran, nuts, cauliflower etc.

Health Benefits:

A general statistics show that in America, nine of ten people are lacking enough fiber in their diet and considering the other parts of the world, the scenario is almost similar. There are several reasons for the necessity of fiber in the everyday regular diet, a few of them are explained below:

  • Digestion and Health:

For the people facing problems like chronic constipation or diarrhea, inclusion of fiber can be the ultimate solution to their issues. Also regular consumption of fiber can eliminate the possibilities of kidney stones, gallstones and inflammation of the intestine.

  • Heart disease:

To be specific, soluble fibers can act as an invincible agent to lower down the cholesterol level, and possibilities of metabolic syndrome as a combined effect. This in turn reduces the chance of heart diseases.

  • Diabetes:

Insoluble fibers can lower the possible chances of type 2 diabetes. Intake of soluble fibers can improve the blood sugar levels of a patient.

  • Cancer and skin health:

Some researches reveal that intake of fiber diet can eliminate chances of colorectal cancer, although it is a hypothesis only till now. However, chances of digestive cancer are reduced.

Consumption of psyllium husk can flush out toxins from our body which helps to improve skin health of our system.

Fiber has its own benefits but if someone has problems like Gut and Physiology Syndrome then preferably a low fiber diet needs to be taken because high amount of fiber will add to the problems. Thus it is recommended to take advice and instructions from a proper dietitian before consuming any random diet.