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Why Is It So Important?: Fiber
- Sophia Dinsmore
- Dec 15, 2022
- 4 min read
Fiber, fiber, fiber you definitely heard that you should be eating fiber everyday, but why? Is it really that important? Short answer: Yes. Long answer: There's so many beneficial health effects from eating fiber other than helping you poop! Keep reading to learn about these amazing effects!
First things first: What is Fiber?
Fiber is a kind of carbohydrate from plant materials your body can't break down and digest. This sounds like it wouldn't be a good thing but it's actually a great thing! Fiber is found in all fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds and whole grain products.
There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. This just means one dissolves in water and the other doesn't which yields different physiological effects. Soluble dissolves in water and is what helps with blood sugar maintenance and lowering cholesterol. Insoluble does not dissolve in water and is what helps with pushing stuff through your system and makes you poop.
1. Helps with blood sugar spikes
Now, first let's quickly talk about what a blood sugar spike is for those of you who don't know! After every meal you eat the sugars in that meal are absorbed and go into your bloodstream. This is important for our body and necessary to be a healthy human! But what isn't necessary are extremely high spikes that are actually harmful to the body. These constant spikes overtime is what leads to insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes. High blood sugar spikes come from eating very sugary foods or high carb meals without much protein or fat incorporated in. I also want to add, I'm not saying eating foods like this are gonna give you diabetes immediately but constant meal patterns like this overtime are not good for your health and have been linked with the risk of type-2 diabetes. So how does soluble fiber help with these spikes? Since fiber is an indigestible carb, the body has to work hard to digest everything around it. This means fiber slows down the time it takes for your body to digest and absorbs the sugars resulting in more balanced blood sugar levels, meaning less spikes!
2. Feeds your microbiome
You've probably heard about your gut microbiome before, the topic has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. There are tiny microorganisms that live in our intestines and have many amazing functions. New research suggests that these little friends might actually have something to do with our mental health! That's a whole other topic I will write about soon because it's so00 interesting but I digress. The indigestible fiber makes its way to these organisms and it makes them really happy, this is their food! The organisms feed on the fiber and ferment it which creates gas (yes this is what farts are). This could explain why beans make people so gassy, lots of fiber = lots of fermenting! This fiber is crucial for the promotion of a happy, healthy colony of bacteria.
3. Can aid in lowering cholesterol
Everyone always speaks bad of cholesterol but there are important uses for it! Cholesterol is a type of fat that has the job of making hormones, making bile (fluid made by the body to digest our food) and many more functions. Although cholesterol is important for the body, too much is very harmful. High LDL cholesterol (the bad guy) can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. So you know how I just said cholesterol is used to make bile? Well this is where fiber can help lower cholesterol! The body makes the bile out of cholesterol (and other stuff), we use the bile to digest our food and then it is reabsorbed and recycled to be used again. Since soluble fiber is indigestible and dissolves in water, it holds onto the bile and it doesn't have a chance to be reabsorbed, instead it is excreted. This causes the body to need to make more bile using its supply of LDL cholesterol (remember this is the bad guy we want less of it). This process overtime will lower your levels of LDL and can make you healthier! Human nutrition science is so cool!
4. Makes you poop
Last but certainly not least, we all know fiber helps us poop right? But how? Let's talk about the insoluble fiber, the kind that doesn't dissolve in water. This kind of fiber adds bulk to your poop and helps push it through the digestive tract. This causes more regular bowel movements and makes it easier to go! This can also lower your risk of colorectal cancer because as we know poop is all the waste from our body and it is toxic. So think about it, the longer you have this toxic material hanging out in your colon the more opportunity for it to make your cells sick and possibly even cancerous. By bulking up your poop with fiber and speeding up the transit time, less risk for cancer!
Sources of Fiber:
Soluble Fiber: | Insoluble Fiber: |
Black beans, lima beans | Whole wheat products |
Avocados | Dark leafy greens |
Brussel sprouts | Green peas |
Flax seeds | Cauliflower |
Oats | Blackberries |
Carrots | Apples with skin |
Sweet potatoes | Nuts |
Final notes:
These are not ALL the benefits of fiber (there's so many) but these are the ones I like the most and think are the most important! Also this is not a complete list of fiber sources, more sources can be found online. It is recommended that women eat 21-25g per day and men eat 30-38g per day.
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