If you are trying to create a healthy diet for yourself, you cannot overlook the importance that fibre will play. The main benefits you'll receive from dietary fibre include improvements in the cardiovascular and digestive system along with providing a high degree of satiety.
Unfortunately, in today's world of overconsumption of processed foods, a high fibre diet is hard to come by. Here are the top facts about fibre you need to know.
Promotion Of A Healthy Digestive System
Fibre's primary role in the body is going to be to help promote a healthy digestive system. It does this by helping to keep the intestines in proper working order and prevent the accumulation of cholesterol along the lining.
Lowering Your Bad Cholesterol Levels
Another thing high fibre foods will do, is help to decrease the level of LDL cholesterol that's seen in the blood. They do this by binding with the dietary cholesterol you take in while it's in the small intestine and then removing it from the body.
Therefore, a high fibre diet can be a very good defence against the heart disease.
Fibre And Weight Loss Women who are consuming high fibre diets on a regular basis generally maintain a much lower weight than those who don't, simply because they typically consume fewer total calories as a result.
Because it takes fibre a long time to be digested by the body, this means you will stay feeling fuller longer than if you would have done without it.
Since it is your end of the day total calorie intake that determines weight gain or weight loss, this is absolutely essential for weight loss.
Getting Enough Fibre
It's recommended, when it comes to being sure you are getting enough fibre in your diet, to try and average 14 grams per 1000 calories you eat. Most women will have diets consisting between 1500 and 2000 calories, depending on your body weight and activity levels, so that will translate to 21-28 grams of fibre total.
Increase Your Intake Slowly
Be sure that if you have not been eating much fibre in your diet at all in the past few months, increase your intake slowly.
If you go from eating very little fibre a day to getting a very high dose, you will likely suffer from extreme digestive upset and will not feel well at all.
Try and increase the consumption over the period of a few weeks to ease this process.
Soluble Fibre
Soluble fibre is the type that plays the more predominant role in the lowering of bad cholesterol levels and is fully broken down the by the body. Sources to try and aim to consume include oat bran, oatmeal, beans, peas, rice bran, barley, and fruits.
Insoluble Fibre
Insoluble fibre, on the other hand is not digested by the body and rather, helps to slow down gastric emptying, causing that increased satiety effect discussed above. This is what will provide the biggest benefit when it comes to weight control for you.
Good sources of this type of fiber include whole-wheat breads, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, wheat bran, cabbage, beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and the skin of apples.
So, be sure you do not overlook the importance of fibre in your diet. If you do get your consumption levels in line, you will most definitely notice a change in how you feel, and more than likely, a change in how you look as well.
About the Author:
Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain found at
http://VinceDelMonteFitness.com
