High Fiber Foods:

Nutritionally Sound Advice For Your Own
Diabetic Health

Most people know the phrase high fiber foods in the term as "roughage". We have been advised for decades from all types of alternative medicine and conventional medicine to add more roughage to our diet to promote greater regularity in our bathroom habits by adding more bulk and volume to your stool. Elimination of the stool is a carrier of toxic wastes which does accumulate in the body. It is the by-products your body does not need or utilize during the process of digestion.

But it turns out high fiber foods can achieve more important health benefits for the human body when ingested consistently at the recommended daily rate of 40 to 50 grams/day.

What Is Dietary Fiber

Dietary fiber comes in two forms, called soluble or insoluble fiber. Both of these are sourced from plants but once they are into the digestive system, the two different groups are digested in a different manner.

Soluble fiber, when mixed with digestive juices forms a gel. Its advantages are slower digestion (which prevents blood sugar spikes) and keeps you feeling full longer. Foods high in soluble fiber include:

• legumes and beans
• fruits such as apples, pears, bananas, berries and plums and citrus fruits
• vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, onions and sweet potatoes
• grains such as barley and oatmeal

Insoluble fiber though flows freely through the intestinal tract keeping your digestion moving rapidly from the mouth to the final elimination. This group includes:

• whole grain products or bran
• nuts and seeds
• the outer skin of most fruits and vegetables (apple peels, potato skins, carrot peels etc.)
• flaxseed
• the vegetable itself such as green beans, celery, tomatoes, avocado, cauliflower and zucchini

Common Function Of Fiber In Your Diet

High fiber foods add bulk to the diet. This makes you feel full quicker and for longer periods of time. Ultimately you eat less which will result over time in weight loss.

The gel-like substance from soluble fiber clings and aids in trapping cholesterol thus flushing it out of the system.

Insoluble fiber speeds up digestion and the passage of foods flows smoothly and quickly out of the system thus preventing high blood sugar spikes.

Both types of fiber though are not fully digested by the human body so it contributes very few calories yet it still fills you up.

Increasing Your Daily Fiber Intake

• add dried fruits to cereals, snacks, rice dishes and casseroles

• add nuts and seeds to salads and baked goods

• add oatmeal to your favorite meat loaf recipe

• homemade stir fry, use more vegetables/less meat

• use beans and barley in homemade soups

• use brown rice or northern wild rice instead of white

So the next time your doctor advises you to up your daily fiber intake, you can now realize the importance of that one simple dietary rule. Eating foods with high fiber leads to better digestion, eventual weight loss and the consistent strengthening of your own health and energy levels.

A healthy gut can also be received though through the contributions from dietary supplements available from the local health food store. Check for the following names, choose one and follow the directions to add to your daily diet:

• glucomannan
• guar gum
• oat gum
• pea fiber
• pectin
• psyllium

A general rule of thumb in the medical profession to give yourself some idea how much fiber is determined as healthy per age group can be reached by using the following formula:

• Preschool 15 grams
  
• School age 20 grams
  
• Teen years 25 grams
  
• Adult minimum 35 to 40 grams

So by adding a good percentage of fresh fruits and vegetables, some air-popped plain popcorn or a peanut butter and celery snack, your child is already over 50% of his way to realizing his daily requirements.

Return to "Diabetic Nutrition" from "High Fiber Foods"