Fiber is vital for all your body systems and your general health.

Fiber is a component of plants found mainly in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes.

After all, what you eat and digest will become the building blocks of every cell in your body.

Insoluble fiber facilitates the movement of material through your digestive system and

increases the stool (beneficial to those who struggle with constipation or hemorroids).

Examples of food sources of insoluble fiber: green beans and dark green leafy, outer layer of vegetables and fruits, whole-grains, seeds and nuts.

Soluble fiber dissolves in water. It may help lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels,

benefiting those at risk or who have heart disease and diabetes. Soluble fiber binds with fatty acids and prolongs stomach emptying time so that sugar is released and absorbed more slowly. Examples of soluble fiber: oat, ground flax-seed, legumes (beans, peas, lentils),

fruit like apples, strawberries, some vegetables and psyllium husk.

Your body needs both insoluble and soluble fiber for optimal health. Both types of fiber play vital roles in systems through our body, including your digestive and cardiovascular systems and both might help prevent and lower risk of disease.  Food contains about 75% insoluble fiber and 25% soluble.

Unlike other food such as fats, proteins or carbohydrates, fiber isn’t digested by your body.

Therefore, it passes through your stomach and small intestines and into your colon, helping to regulate the consistency of your stools. It increases the weight and size of stool and softens it, making it easier to pass, decreasing your chance of constipation. Fiber can also help to solidify loose, watery stools by absorbing water and adding bulk.

A high fiber diet might lower your risk of disease and protect you from health issues like hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome.  Soluble fiber might be beneficial for example to prevent arteriosclerosis, heart attacks or digestive system disorders. Fiber helps to keep the intestinal tract clean and the bowel flora healthy.

High-Fiber Foods–Packed By Nature

The natural sugars in all plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts and seeds are locked in a casing of fiber. Chewing and the digestive process help break down the fiber and release the nutrients.

Good Timing

The length of time that food stays in your body is called the “transit time.” From bite to bathroom, a healthy transit time is about 12 to 18 hours. Any less means you might not be getting adequate nutrients from your food; any more might means your food is likely fermenting and might be producing toxins along the way.

Unfortunately, our modern lifestyle makes it difficult to get all the fiber that we need. Refined or processed foods, such as white bread, non-whole grain pasta and cereals are significantly lower in fiber, if they have any at all.

Use laxative herbs only when necessary. Some examples are Senna or Cascara Sagrada.

You might also find fiber in a supplement made from hydrolysed inulin, an extract of the chicory plant. Inulin is 97 percent fiber and dissolves in any soft food or drink and has no taste.

The best fiber is through your food such as most fresh fruit and raw vegetables, whole grain cereals and flours, brown rice, all kinds of bran, nuts, seeds (especially flaxseeds), beans, lentils, peas. One example would be to eat a small to medium-sized vegetable salad every day.

Eat these foods daily except those that you might be allergic to. Some people are allergic to

wheat, corn, oat, peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, strawberries, tangerine, cucumber, green pepper, lemon, garlic, basil, thyme. You might want to substitute those foods for other ones. A food allergy testing at a naturopathic clinic might help you to determine which foods

to avoid or rotate in your diet.

Drinking sufficient water. 

When do you know when you are drinking enough water? The answer is when your urine

is clear or a pale yellow (not dark yellow).

Exercise to stimulate the bowels and relax which increases natural production of digestive

enzymes.

Boosting your fiber intake

Optimal fiber intake ranges from 30 to 40 grams per day, but the typical western diet only provides between 10 and 20 grams per day, and sometimes even less! In our ongoing consumption of refined and packaged foods that have been stripped of fiber, we have sacrificed one of our greatest allies in our quest for health.

Some tips for increasing fiber intake:

• Eating whole fruits is better than drinking fruit juices.
• Replace white rice, bread, and pasta with brown rice and whole-grains. Choose whole-grain bread or cereals for breakfast.
• Snacking on raw vegetables is better than chips, crackers or chocolate bars.
• Substitute legumes for meat few times per week, for example in chili and soups.

General Fiber Food Sources

Pear, apple, orange, peach, lentils, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, sweet corn, tomato, lettuce, nuts and seeds, almonds, sunflower seeds. Brazil nuts, barley, psyllium, kidney beans, red beans, artichoke, grapefruit, blackberries, Brussels sprouts, squash, raspberries, spinach, watermelon, apricots, asparagus, zucchini, cantaloupe, plum, eggplant, cherries, celery, pineapple, grapes, cucumber, peas.

Current recommendations suggest that adults consume at least about 25-35 grams of dietary fiber per day.  Yet the average American eats only 15 grams.  

Murielle L. DuBois, ND, RHN

Naturopathic Doctor and Registered Holistic Nutritionist