A high-fiber diet can work in many ways to help you stay healthy and maintain a healthy weight. Two types of dietary fiber are important for good health. Each type has a different effect on your body and your health. A high-fiber diet that works is a largely plant-based diet that consists of a variety of foods that provide both types of fiber.
Types of Fiber
The two main types of dietary fiber are soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves in the fluids that pass through your digestive tract, while insoluble fiber does not. The nature of each type of fiber determines how it functions in your body and how it protects your health. When soluble fiber dissolves in your digestive tract, it forms a gel-like substance that slows down the passage of food. Insoluble fiber has the opposite effect; it helps move food more quickly through your digestive tract.
Benefits of a High-Fiber Diet
The gel formed by soluble fiber traps some of the cholesterol in your intestinal tract so it is excreted before it is absorbed into your bloodstream. In this way, a high fiber diet can help you maintain lower blood cholesterol levels which, in turn, may help reduce your risk of developing clogged arteries and coronary heart disease. By binding with water rather than dissolving in it, and pushing food through the intestinal tract, insoluble fiber helps prevent and sometimes treat conditions such as constipation, hemorrhoids and diverticulosis. A high-fiber diet can also help you lose weight because high-fiber foods tend to be chewy and take longer to eat than low-fiber foods and fiber's tendency to swell in the digestive tract helps you feel full soon after eating.
Good Sources of Fiber
Fiber is found only in plant foods, such as grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Good sources of soluble fiber include oatmeal and oat bran, legumes such as dried beans, lentils and split peas, apples, pears, berries, nuts and seeds. Good sources of insoluble fiber include whole grains and whole-grain products, such as whole-wheat bread and whole-grain cereals and pastas, brown rice, seeds and vegetables such as carrots and tomatoes.
Warning
Although a high-fiber diet is healthy for most people, too much fiber can cause intestinal problems such as gas, bloating and cramps in some people. Be sure to add fiber to your diet a little at a time and allow your body to adjust to the increased amount before you add more. It is also important to drink plenty of fluids on a high-fiber diet to help move fiber through your digestive tract. The National Institutes of Health recommends drinking approximately 8 cups of water or other calorie-free fluids throughout each day.
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