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High Fiber Diet: An Easy Cure To Several Medical Problems

Types of high fiber in your food

Fiber has two types: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber dissolves easily in water and turns sticky. It aids in removing fat from the blood and discards it from the body. Whereas insoluble fiber cannot dissolve in water but only retains it, transferring the water to the intestine making bowel movement easier. This is all very important when doing a high fiber diet.

How are fiber rich foods beneficial?

A high fiber diet is beneficial in relieving constipation, treats and prevents diverticular disease, reduces hemorrhoids, prevents colon cancer, treats hypercholesterolemia and also reduces obesity along with curing other health issues. The high fiber diet is also beneficial in reducing diabetes and blood pressure problems.

Foods containing high fiber

A food can be called high fiber food if it is made up of more than 5 grams per serving of fiber. The best way to ensure your consumption of a high fiber diet is by eating fruits and raw vegetables such as cabbage, onions, spinach, potatoes, and other sources such as dried fruits, beans, oatmeal, brown rice and nuts. Cooking, processing and making purees out of such fiber rich foods reduces fiber content in them. Another substitute to managing a high fiber diet for busy people is to take fiber supplement drinks.

How does a high fiber diet contribute to weight loss?

A high fiber diet has also been observed to reduce body fat, controlling obesity problems. Eating high fiber foods gives you a feeling of having a full stomach, hence reducing food cravings. The reason behind it is mainly that fiber contents that you consume take much longer to be digested and don’t give you a feeling of an empty stomach. Also a high fiber diet takes a longer time to be chewed and so reduces the chance of overeating at the table. Most fiber rich foods have generally lesser calories and consume more calories during their digestion.

How should a high fiber diet be managed?

On a daily basis, according to research fiber content should be consumed at least up to 25-25 grams a day. Fiber aids waste removal from the body system since fiber helps to process food easily in the body. A high fiber diet should be introduced slowly because a sudden intake of fiber rich foods while the body needs to get used to it may cause cramps, gas and bloating. This can be avoided by drinking ample water to eliminate such temporary side effects.

Striking a balance during a high fiber diet

Despite the entire list of benefits that a high fiber diet comprises of, it should be well balanced with other essential nutrients our body needs. For a healthy body, eating a high fiber diet balanced with essential nutrients, coupled with exercise and work out, control over alcohol consumption, refrain from smoking, and eating as much as the body requires only, are all that should be managed with wisdom.