Dietary Fiber Benefits

The Importance of Dietary Fiber

Engineered Lifestyles was established to educate people to ensure they can choose to live a complete, healthy lifestyle. That healthy life starts with your physical health, and there is nothing more basic than your diet. Within that, the amount of dietary fiber you consume every day has a huge impact on so many functions of your body – everything from your GI tract to weight loss and even your cardiovascular functions.

We cannot take credit for having first-hand knowledge of the many benefits of dietary fiber, no that is what the thousands of doctors and researchers do. What we have done is to gather the information in a concise and easy to read format so that you can understand the importance of dietary fiber. Once you understand why you need it then you can put together a plan for how to get it.

The following article was written by the gifted staff at the Mayo Clinic and is here for your reference:

  • Eat more fiber. You’ve probably heard it before. But do you know why fiber is so good for your health?
  • Dietary fiber — found mainly in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes — is probably best known for its ability to prevent or relieve constipation. But fiber can provide other health benefits as well, such as supporting normal blood glucose* and cardiovascular function.*
  • Selecting tasty foods that provide fiber isn’t difficult. Find out how much dietary fiber you need, the foods that contain it and how to add them to meals and snacks.
Dietary Fiber in FibeRich

What is Dietary Fiber?

Dietary fiber, also known as roughage or bulk, includes all parts of plant foods that your body can’t digest or absorb. Unlike other food components such as fats, proteins or carbohydrates — which your body breaks down and absorbs — fiber isn’t digested by your body. Therefore, it passes relatively intact through your stomach, small intestine, colon and out of your body. It might seem like fiber doesn’t do much, but it has several important roles in our overall health.

Fiber is commonly classified into two categories: those that don’t dissolve in water (insoluble fiber) and those that do (soluble fiber).

  • Insoluble fiber. This type of fiber promotes the movement of material through your digestive system and increases stool bulk, so it can be of benefit to those who struggle with constipation or irregular stools. Whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, nuts and many vegetables are good sources of insoluble fiber.
  • Soluble fiber. This type of fiber dissolves in water to form a gel-like material. It supports normal glucose levels.* Soluble fiber is found in oats, peas, beans, apples, citrus fruits, carrots, barley and psyllium.

The amount of each type of fiber varies in different plant foods. To receive the greatest health benefit, eat a wide variety of high-fiber foods.

See more on Dietary Fiber with the Benefits of Dietary Fiber and FibeRich.