Fiber is an important part of a healthy diet. Most Americans don't eat enough fiber and this can have real health consequences. One common consequence of a low-fiber diet is constipation or the presence of hard stools that are difficult to eliminate. One effective way to treat this problem is by increasing the amount of bulky, insoluble fiber in the diet.
Types of Fiber
There are two main kinds of fiber in food that people eat: soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber is a kind of fiber found in many fruits and vegetables that helps lower cholesterol and slow the absorption of sugar and other nutrients from the bowel. Insoluble fiber is a rougher kind of fiber that passes through the gut largely unchanged and therefore provides "bulk" to stools. Insoluble fiber is essential for good bowel health and helps prevent common bowel disturbances like constipation and hard stools that are difficult to pass.
Sources of Insoluble Fiber
Insoluble fiber comes from many different plant sources. Many foods are rich in both soluble and insoluble fibers, including oat bran, beans, peas, citrus fruit pulp and strawberries. Foods which are high in insoluble fiber include wheat bran, wheat cereals, cabbage, beets, carrots, sprouts, cauliflower and most nuts and seeds.
The skins of fruits that are most like apple skins are likely to be high in insoluble fiber, too. These foods have a high level of non-digestible fiber (insoluble fiber) that passes through the gut without being changed much by the enzymes and microorganisms in the gut. Because of this, stools will be made up of more of this material instead of fermented carbohydrate and processed protein, which leads to hard, compact, and difficult to pass stools.
Making Fiber Work for You
Cooking foods--even those high in insoluble fiber--will reduce their fiber content and make the remaining fiber less effective. When food is cooked, some of the chemical bonds within the molecules of the food are broken and this weakens the structure of the food. This is why food becomes softer when we cook it--even if no water is added to the food during cooking. So, if you have an option of eating the apple raw or having fried apples for breakfast, eat the raw apple if you want the benefits of the fiber.
Drink plenty of water during the day. Adding additional fiber to your diet will help stabilize bowel function and soften and bulk the stools, but if you don't drink enough water during the day, the gut will absorb what it can from the food you eat, also leading to hard, dense stools that are hard to pass.
References
- Lunn, J., & Buttriss, J. (2007). Carbohydrates and dietary fibre. Nutrition Bulletin, 32(1), 21-64.
- American Heart Association: Making Health Food Choices
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