Most health experts nowadays are encouraging consumers to eat more fiber. This is due to the evidence that inadequate levels of fiber in the diet can result in several diseases. Common among these diseases are diabetes, constipation, obesity and colon cancer. These diseases are life threatening diseases you wouldn’t want to associate with.
Eating high animal fat is liked to increase risk of colon cancer. High consumption of fiber nevertheless protects against colon cancer. This is done by the speeding up the passage of food through the digestive tract, thus prolonging the period of exposure of the tissues to agents in food that might possibly cause colon cancer.
By so doing, the toned muscles can more easily move waste products through the colon for excretion.
Fibers bind cholesterol chemicals and eliminate them from the body alongside feces, and inhibit the production of cholesterol in the body as well as improving the clearance of cholesterol in the blood. The result of this is that, the risk of heart diseases such as atherosclerosis is lowered.
Fiber fights or averts the risk of diabetes by improving blood sugar tolerance and reducing insulin secretion thus delaying glucose absorption. Fiber reduces the energy density of the diet thus reducing the risk of obesity.
Forms of Fiber
Fiber has two forms that are; soluble fibers and insoluble fibers. Both of these forms of fibers found in diet helps prevent many diseases. Insoluble fibers don’t dissolve in water and include fiber types called cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Soluble fibers on the other hand dissolve or swell when placed in water. They include fiber types such as pectin, gums and mucilage.
Sources of Fiber
Dietary sources of insoluble fibers comprise fruit resources such as bananas, apples, peaches, pears and strawberries. Other sources are rice bran, brown rice, seeds, plums, wheat bran, nuts, corn bran, legumes, whole wheat and cereals.
Fruit sources of soluble fibers are citrus fruits, apples, bananas, pears and grapes. Other dietary sources include legumes, sweet potatoes, apricots, barley, corn, potatoes, prunes, oatmeal, oat bran and vegetables like cabbage, carrots and broccoli. For more check out Animal Removal Chattanooga