Vitamins and Your Health: Health Benefits of The High Fiber Diet
Learn more about today’s vitamins and your health topic; what health benefits does the high fiber diet offer?
Today’s vitamins and your health topic analyzes the high fiber diet. What health benefits does the high fiber diet offer? High fiber diets help to prevent and treat constipation, diverticulosis, and hemorrhoids. Specific types of fiber also help to decrease blood cholesterol levels.
Most dietary fiber comes from the portion of the plant that is not metabolized in the intestinal tract, simply because our body does not produce the specific enzyme to break this fiber down. Some fiber can actually be metabolized by the bacteria in the large intestine. Plants contain varying amounts and types of fiber that include gum, mucilage, cellulose, hemi-cellulose, lignin, and pectin.
Gum and pectin are considered to be water soluble fiber that is found inside plant cells. Gum and pectin can be found in oat bran, fruit, vegetables, and beans. Water soluble fiber does slow the passage of food but does not increase fecal bulk. Cellulose, hemi-cellulose, and lignin are considered to be insoluble fiber. This fiber is found inside the cell walls. These types of fiber increase fecal bulk while speeding up the passage of food through the digestive tract. Sources of insoluble fiber include wheat bran and whole grains. Insoluble fiber binds to water allowing stools to be softer and bulkier.
High fiber diets have been proven beneficial for the treatment of diverticula. Diverticula is an outpouching or sac that develops in the intestinal wall that becomes inflamed and quite painful. Once the inflammation has subsided a high fiber diet is very helpful, but your doctor may recommend you avoid seeds and nuts. Seeds and nuts can easily become trapped within the intestinal pouches that may have developed causing inflammation. High fiber foods such as rolled oats are also effective in lowering blood cholesterol levels versus the fiber found in wheat. Vitamins and your health encourages you to harness the health benefits of fiber.
Kristy Haugen
- Read more vitamins and your health from this article-Dietary Therapy: High Fiber Diets.
Vitamins and your health encourages you to learn more about the benefits of the high fiber diet
