Fiber: What is it and Why you need it

Thanks for the informative post there are lots of things in that list that Ican take away and use in my eating habits. Methinks I don't eat nearly as much fibre as I should do, time to re-hash the food list next time.

Very concise and beneficial. As soon as I started eating more fibre-rich foods as well as more greens (in particular, cruciferous vegetables), my skin problems totally disappeared.

In regards to weight, I've lost 40 lbs by eating high fiber diet and eliminating processed foods. I'm now "maintaining" and enjoy processed foods from time to time but high fiber foods are the majority of choice. I also noticed that I can eat more quantity of high fiber foods without any significant weight gain (carb ratio for fruits, vegetables and seeds is significantly lower than most processed foods).

Does it matter if it's soluble or insoluble fiber?

I find that high-fibre foods fill me up more (and I tend to have to chew more, so eat slower.) Did anyone else ever try the F-plan or is that a UK thing? It was a high-fibre low-cal diet plan in (I think) the 1980s -- I borrowed my mum's book as a teenager!

I was interested to read this:

"Only 1 in 10 North Americans get the recommended 25-40g of fiber per day!"

In the UK, the recommended minimum is 18g.

I'm one of the IBS-ridden folks mentioned in the list and fiber has DEFINITELY worked for me. Love it!

Eat fruits and vegetables and you will get all the fiber you need. Of course get rid of processed foods as well.

Avoid BRAN...it's an anti-nutrient and marketing gimick. Here's a good overall info page on it:
http://easydiagnosis.com/articles/cholesterol3.html

Fiber has its dark side as well.

Someone even wrote a book about it, "Fiber Menace":
http://www.fibermenace.com/

Though, this was written by someone who practically blew out his colon from eating too much fiber. So it really should be taken with a grain of salt. But, with that caveat, there is some very good information presented.

That said, I think the recommendations on fiber are set too high. If a person is regularly eating fiberous produce, such as fruts, vegetables and nuts, then they're getting plenty fiber to see the most beneficial results.

I would never go so far as to take a fiber supplement. That's not the way to move stools, which should be passed by peristalsis, and not so much by sheer bulk.

As for weight loss, a person should already be turned on to vegetables, as a part of their new, normal dietary intake. There's really no reason to pay one's attention toward getting "X amount" of fiber, if doing everything else right.

The problem is that "X amount" of fiber might be enough to cause some very real complications, if we set "X" too high. And for a lot of people, bigger is better, especially when the pounds don't seem to be dropping fast enough.

Just be careful in this regard, and stick to whole foods when you can.

E. said:
Does it matter if it's soluble or insoluble fiber?[...]

The quick answer is you need both - but in what concentrations???

Insoluable fiber helps with promotes bowel regularity and reduces the risk of colon cancer and other colon problems.

Soluable fiber helps regulate blood sugars and thus weight control.

I also learned from a friend who is a micro-biologist doing research for NIH that his team has discovered that soluable fibers also help to remove "bad" bacteria from the stomach and out of your system by absorbing them. Though the research is still in progress, it looks like it will be another good reason to eat fruits, vegetables, oat bran, etc...

I think that it doesn't matter what kind of food you are talking about, there is always the danger of too much of a good thing. But that's talking about when people go to extremes, and most people don't. A couple of years ago, I decided to add a lot more fibre to my diet. (foods I ingested, not supplements) Before I did it I checked it out with my doctor, and different other sources, and what I learned was that the most likely consequence of too much fibre (I mean, maybe 100-200 percent of the RDA, not going to extremes) would be an upset stomach, maybe some additional gas for a couple days, while my body adjusted. And that's pretty much what happened, but the benefits sure outweighed the minor negatives.

I have probably settled at around 100%, some days a bit more of my RDA of fibre. I'm not really counting but I guess I get around 25-30g, from a variety of sources, all things I really enjoy - the fruits, veg, whole grains, nuts and beans that article talks about. I would think that gives you a nice balance of soluble and insoluble fibre but haven't checked the numbers, I admit. And if for some reason I veer from that I really miss it, not just physically but emotionally too. It just makes me feel better all around to eat that way.

I'm one of the 10% of Americans that does get the recommended fiber dosage each day. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and whole grains, so I definitely don't need a supplement. Just be sure to drink a lot of water to make sure everything moves through your system smoothly. I also have IBS and I've found that consuming enough fiber every day actually helps to decrease my symptoms.

@Kailash--I can see how eating WAY too much fiber could possibly cause problems (decreased nutrient absorption is one of them), but I doubt anyone would be able to eat that much fiber at once. You won't blow out your colon eating too much fiber if you spread out your consumption throughout the day. What you don't want to do is take a lot of fiber supplements without sufficient water because they can expand in your intestines and possibly cause a blockage. You don't usually get that problem with fruits and veggies because they are mostly water anyway. I'm pretty sure that people back in the day (before refined grains came into being) probably ate at least 40g of fiber a day. I've even heard that ancient people ate as much as 100g per day with no apparent problems. I guess if you're eating lots of wild greens, berries, roots, barks, etc., you'd get a lot of fiber.

I'm curious about the link between fibre consumption and suicide. When was that study done, and by whom? Is there a link to more information about that study? Where can I find out more?

I eat lots of fiber - hard not to when you eat a lot of vegetables and whole grains. Makes me feel 100x better -- fiber is pretty close to a miracle, in my experience, at improving how you feel.

Some have recently said that vegetables are not meant to be eaten by man. That we should only consume animal flesh.

Fitness_Fanatic said:
Some have recently said that vegetables are not meant to be eaten by man. That we should only consume animal flesh.[...]

Tyson Foods?