Fiber rules Bodily Health

Fiber does the body good. Most of us have heard the comment "you need to eat your fiber" more than once in our lifetimes. However, when it comes right down to it, most people do not know exactly what fiber is, what foods it is in, how much they need and how very important it is for the healthy functioning of the body.
There are two basic forms of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fiber acts as a sort of bulking agent in the large intestine and has a broom like affect in ushering out toxins and such. Good sources of insoluble fiber include: high fiber cereals (please do not choose cereals with high fructose corn syrup-will address in another blog), vegetables, such as celery, and fruits. Soluble fiber, unlike insoluble, dissolves into water and forms a gel like substance which goes through the body and absorbs toxins, cholesterol molecules, etc. By dissolving into water and thus having access to absorption by the entire body, it is able to also help regulate one's blood sugar, thereby, assisting a person in controlling abnormal blood sugar, or in preventing abnormal blood sugar levels. Both fibers assist in weight loss by increasing "satiety" levels in the body. Satiation levels are very important in regulating food intake and in weight regulation. Some great sources of soluble fiber are: psyllium seed, oat bran, beans and legumes. Many people will compliment their diet with a fiber supplement as well. While it is best to obtain fiber from diet due to all the other nutritional components in food, it can be rather difficult to do so. Some other fiber supplement sources besides psyllium are: Acacia, which is harvested from the gum of acacia tree in Africa. Acacia's use dates back to Egyptian pharaohs! Inulin is also a fiber and what is called a pre-biotic, meaning that it helps to feed the healthy bacteria in the large intestine, thereby promoting regularity. I will do a future blog on pre-pro biotics as they relate to colon heath.
The recommended dosage of fiber per day is, 25 grams for females and 30 grams for males. I would start out by reading labels and familiarising oneself with which foods contain how much fiber, then calculate where you are at currently on a daily basis and add about 2 grams per day. This will insure that you will not have bloating symptoms associated with adding too much fiber too soon to the body. It is also very important to drink plenty of filtered water when adjusting one's fiber levels upwards. I would suggest consuming 64 ounces per day starting out and adjusting upwards to approximately one ounce per pound of body weight. This needs to be done in order to avoid adverse symptoms, such as constipation.