What are Vital Foods? How Do They Affect Our Health?
Fibrous foods are very important for your nutrition and health. Unlike most other foods, they leave your stomach undigested and reach your intestines. If it's in your intestines intestinal flora It nourishes, helps bacteria and plays a role in many different beneficial and healthy functions.
Some fibrous foods also support weight loss, lower your blood sugar levels and are great helpers in the fight against constipation.
Nutritional authorities recommend that you consume an average of 14 grams of fiber for every 1000 calories you consume daily. This amount corresponds to an average of 24 grams of fiber per day for women and 38 grams of fiber for men.
Unfortunately, according to research by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, an estimated 95% of American adults and children do not meet the recommended daily fiber intake. The average daily fiber intake in the United States is estimated to be 16.2 grams.
Increasing your fiber intake is relatively easy – just include high-fiber foods in your diet and see the benefits quickly.
What is the fiber found in fibrous foods?
Fiber is a catchall term for any type of carbohydrate that your body fails to digest. Just because your body doesn't use fiber as fuel doesn't make it any less valuable to your overall health.
The term “dietary fiber” refers to the indigestible parts of plant-based foods. In other contexts “fiber” may refer to plant-based fabric, but when talking about nutrition the terms “fiber” and “dietary fiber” are often used interchangeably.
Fiber is important for digestion and toilet regularity, weight management, blood sugar regulation, cholesterol maintenance and more. It is also linked to longevity and reducing the risk of cancer.
According to Colorado State University, fiber falls into two categories: soluble and insoluble fiber.
Simply put, soluble fibers such as pectin, gum and mucilage dissolve in water; Insoluble fibers such as hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin do not show the same response. As soluble fiber is digested in the body, it dissolves and becomes a gel-like substance. Insoluble fiber mostly maintains its shape while in the body.
Both soluble and insoluble fibers have important benefits. Soluble fiber is known to help lower blood sugar levels. It also helps lower blood cholesterol.
Insoluble fiber accelerates the passage of food through the digestive system. This helps prevent constipation in general. It also increases stool volume, which allows stools to pass more easily.
Most plant-based foods contain both soluble and insoluble fiber, but the amount of each varies in different foods. Good sources of soluble fiber include beans, lentils, oatmeal, peas, citrus fruits, blueberries, apples and barley. Good sources of insoluble fiber include foods containing whole wheat flour, wheat bran, brown rice, cauliflower, potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers. Some foods, such as nuts and carrots, are good sources of both types of fiber.
What are Fibrous Foods Useful for?
Fibrous foods aid digestion
Dietary fiber helps improve digestion by increasing stool volume and regularity. This is probably the most well-known benefit of fiber foods. Bulkier, softer stools are healthier and easier to pass than hard or watery ones, which not only makes life more comfortable but also helps maintain colorectal health. A high-fiber diet helps reduce the risk of hemorrhoids and diverticulitis (small, painful sacs in the colon). Fibrous foods are used as a solution to many stomach problems.
Fiber Foods Are Good for Heart Health
Fiber also helps lower cholesterol. The digestive process requires bile acids, which are formed in part by cholesterol. As your digestion improves, the liver pulls cholesterol from the blood to create more bile acids, thereby reducing the amount of LDL (bad) cholesterol.
Promoting blood sugar control
It takes longer for your body to break down high-fiber foods. Fibrous foods help you maintain more consistent blood sugar levels, which is especially beneficial for diabetics.
Fiber foods fight possible cancer
While the National Cancer Institute claims that a high-fiber diet does not reduce risk to a clinically significant degree, a 2011 meta-analysis from the British Journal of Medicine found a negative association between cereal fiber and colorectal cancer risk.
A more recent animal trial suggested that fiber may only cause this benefit if a person has the right type and amount of gut bacteria. Fiber naturally reacts with bacteria in the lower colon and can sometimes ferment into a chemical called butyrate, which can cause cancer cells to self-destruct. Some people naturally have more butyrate-producing bacteria than others, and a high-fiber diet may help encourage the growth of the bacteria.
Eating enough fiber may have protective effects against certain types of cancer, including colon cancer. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that some types of fiber, such as the pectin in apples, have antioxidant-like properties.
Long life
A recent study suggests that grain fiber from foods such as whole-grain bread, cereal and pasta is particularly effective. Observation over a 14-year period found that those who ate the most grain fiber were 19 percent less likely to die than those who ate the least. This proves the benefit of fibrous foods.
New research suggests that fiber may play a role in preventing food allergies, the existence of which has long puzzled scientists. Again, this theory comes down to the interaction between fiber and bacteria in the gut.
Allergic reactions and asthma
Scientists theorize that people don't produce the right gut bacteria to combat allergens from foods commonly associated with allergies, such as peanuts and shellfish. Without the right bacteria, particles from these foods enter the bloodstream through the intestines. Fiber helps produce a bacteria called Clostridia, which helps keep the gut safe.
The same logic explains why fiber may help people with asthma. Unwanted particles that escape from the intestinal flora and enter the bloodstream can cause an autoimmune response such as asthma inflammation. A 2013 animal study found that mice fed a high-fiber diet were less likely to experience asthma inflammation than mice fed a low- or medium-fiber diet.
Fiber provides many health benefits, but it is important to gradually introduce fiber-containing foods into your diet over several days to avoid negative effects such as bloating and gas.
What are fibrous foods?
Pear: 5.5 grams per medium-sized, fresh pear or 3.1 grams per 100 grams
Strawberry: There are 2 grams of fiber in 100 grams of strawberries.
Avocado: 10 grams in 1 cup of fresh avocado or 6.7 grams per 100 grams
Apple: HE4.4 grams per medium-sized, fresh apple or 2.4 grams per 100 grams.
Raspberry: One cup of fresh raspberries contains 8 grams of fiber, or 6.5 grams per 100 grams.
Banana: A medium-sized banana contains 3.1 grams of fiber. There are 2.6 grams of fiber in 100 grams.
Fiber Foods
Other high fiber fruits
Blueberries: 2.4 grams per 100 gram serving.
Blackberry: 5.3 grams per 100 gram serving.
Carrot: 100 grams of fresh carrots contain 2.8 grams of fiber.
Beetroot: 100 grams of fresh beets contain 2.8 grams of fiber.
Broccoli: 2.6 grams of fiber per 100 grams.
Artichoke: 6.9 grams in 1 globe artichoke or 5.4 grams per 100 grams.
Brussels sprouts: 3.7 grams per 100 grams of raw Brussels sprouts.
Other high fiber vegetables
Spinach: 2.2 grams in 100 grams of spinach.
Tomatoes: 1.2 grams in 100 grams of tomatoes.
Lentil: 7.3 grams per 100 grams of cooked lentils.
Kidney bean: 6.8 grams in 100 grams of cooked kidney beans.
Chopped peas: 8.3 grams per 100 grams of cooked peas.
Chickpeas: 7.6 grams of fiber in 100 grams of cooked chickpeas.
Other high fiber foods:
Fiber Foods
Cooked black beans: 8.7 grams per 100 grams.
Cooked edamame: 5.2 grams per 100 grams.
Cooked lima beans: 7 grams per 100 grams.
Haricot bean: 5.5 grams per 100 grams.
Oat: 10.1 grams of fiber per 100 grams of oats.
Popcorn: 14.4 grams per 100 grams.
Other high fiber grains
Almond: 13.3 grams of fiber in 100 grams of almonds.
Chia seeds: 34.4 grams per 100 grams
Fresh Coconut: 9 grams
Pistachios: 10 grams
Walnut: 6.7 grams
Sunflower seeds: 11.1 grams
Pumpkin seeds: 6.5 grams
Sweet potato: A boiled medium-sized sweet potato contains 3.8 grams of fiber, while 100 grams of sweet potato contains 2.5 grams of fiber.
All values are for a 100 gram serving.
Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate is undoubtedly one of the most delicious and beneficial fibrous foods in the world. Just be sure to choose dark chocolate with a cocoa content of 70-95% or higher and avoid products containing added sugar.
Fiber content: 10.9 grams per 100 grams
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