Dietary Fiber

Dietary Fiber Important to Health (1)

Most of us will get fiber directly from the foods we eat, unless we tend to eat only meat and processed foods. PCRM states it bluntly, fiber exists, at various quantities, only in veggies, fruit, whole grains, and legumes.

General Health

A high-fiber diet appears to reduce the risk of developing various health conditions: heart disease, diabetes, diverticular disease, constipation and colon cancer. It is important for the health of our digestive systems, and helps lower our cholesterol, maintain blood sugar levels, and promotes a healthy weight.

Women’s Health

Another post at PCRM writes, an increased daily intake of fiber is inversely associated with depression among premenopausal women, according to a study published online in Menopause. Researchers compared dietary fiber intake and depression levels with menopause status for 5,807 participants aged 19 or older from the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey data. An increase of 1 gram of fiber per 1,000 calories resulted in a 5% decrease in prevalence of depression among premenopausal women, but not postmenopausal women. Increased fiber intake benefits gut microbiota which promotes brain health that protects against depression.(The bolded item is mine.)

Soluble + Insoluble (2)

Dietary fiber is the carb component of the plant cell material that cannot be broken down by human digestive enzymes. There are two types of fiber and they are different from each other, but both have their purposes.

• Soluble — Water-soluble fibers absorb water during digestion and are in fruits (such as apples, oranges and grapefruit), vegetables, legumes (such as dry beans, lentils and peas), barley, oats and oat bran.
• Insoluble — Water-insoluble fibers remain unchanged during digestion and are found in fruits with edible peel or seeds, vegetables, whole grain products (such as whole-wheat bread, pasta and crackers), bulgur wheat, stone ground corn meal, cereals, bran, rolled oats, buckwheat and brown rice.

Requirements Per Day? (3)

The American Heart Association Eating Plan suggests eating a variety of food fiber sources equal to 25 to 30 grams a day from food.

• Currently the US average is 15g/day.
• Adult men require about 34 grams (g) depending on their age
• Adult women require about 28 g depending on their age
• Teenagers aged 14 to 18 require 25.2–30.8 g
• Adolescents aged 9 to 13 require 22.4–25.2 g
• Children aged 4 to 8 require 16.8–19.6 g
• Children aged 1 to 3 require 14 g

How Do I Increase Dietary Fiber? (4)

Grains and Cereals

• Include at least one serving of whole grain in every meal.
• Use whole grain flour when possible in baking.
• Choose whole grain bread.
• Choose cereals with at least 5 grams of fiber per serving.
• Cook with brown rice instead of white rice.
• Add Psyllium Husks to your meals

Legumes and Beans

• Add 1/2C kidney beans, garbanzos or other beans to salads.
• Substitute legumes for meat 2-3 times/week.
• Eat wonderful Indian or Middle Eastern dishes.

Fruits and Vegetables

• Eat at least five servings of unpeeled fruits and vegetables each day.
• Have fresh fruit as dessert.
• Do not drink fruit, there is no fiber in juice.
• Dried fruits have a higher amount of fiber than the fresh fruit.
• Add sliced banana, peach or other fruit to your cereal.
• Grate unpeeled carrots on salads.
• Drink plenty of fluids.

Issues With Eating Fiber? (5)

Eating too much fiber to quickly can cause digestive problems, so when you start a diet that increases fiber do so gradually and drink plenty of water. If not careful, you may experience bloating, gas, constipation, cramping, diarrhea — wait is this not a Pepto Bismol commercial jingle??

Fiber can also attach minerals your body needs to itself and pass. So as you start to eat more whole foods with fiber, or add fiber to your dishes, remember to pay attention to your body and what it is telling you.

Before you reach for the fiber supplements, consider this: fiber is found naturally in nutritious foods. Studies have found the same benefits, such as a feeling of fullness, may not result from fiber supplements or from fiber-enriched foods. If you’re missing out on your daily amount of fiber, you may be trailing in other essential nutrients as well. Your fiber intake is a good gauge for overall diet quality. 

Substitutions (6)

But remember, I am only a cook, not a doctor, nutritionist, or dietician. Please speak to your own medical provider before adding supplemental fiber to your meals.

Fiber

Fiber supplements are often referred to as edible soluble fiber and prebiotics (1) that mostly contain no other macro-nutrients (2). What I have in my cupboard is a lightweight bag of psyllium husks that look like sawdust, and can hold up to 16x its dry weight in water. Once digested, it expands into a Chia-like gel as it sweeps through the colon. It’s most commonly used as a bulk-forming laxative or gentle stool softener, and is the main ingredient in OTC (over the counter) Metamucil. 

My recommendation is to check with your doctor before using any supplemental prebiotic, probiotic, vitaman, herb, or psyllium seed husk. Every comment I have seen written is very clear, it is best to get fiber from your diet. Long term, supplemental tools like psyllium husks are not as good as food, in that there is nothing nutritionally there but fiber.

I had to use this product when I was on a liquid-only diet for 6 weeks, and was experiencing physical issues as food was reintroduced. I had to drank lots of liquids daily and was using 1T psyllium husks twice a day for a while (under strict doctors care). But now, I just incorporate the husks into my food prep to make sure that at each meal my family is getting is up to, but not greater than, 30 grams of fiber/day. (This is why I provide fiber numbers on the recipes so you can know how much you are getting.)

Beyond 30 grams/day and you are entering potential problem areas. Go slow with the addition, some people have been known to have allergic responses to the husks (3). High doses of psyllium may also affect some types of antidepressants, heat medications, seizure medications, cholesterol-lowering drugs, and diabetes drugs (4).

Cooking With Psyllium Seed Husks

Enough with the dietary comments, which are not my area of expertise. Let us turn to how to cook with psyllium seed husks.

• Psyllium seed husks can also be used as thickeners just as I use ground flax or chia seeds.
• It is a good binder without any taste of its own.
• Where it can be easily used is in shakes, juices, or water (if you add it and drink it quickly).
• Add it to baked goods, soups, stews and even pureed vegetables.
• If used in cooked foods, it needs to be mixed with enough fluid so that the husk can bulk up before entering your digestive system and thereby reducing the risk of constipation.
• If using psyllium as a breadcrumb replacement (meatloaf, meatballs, etc.) less fluid may be used as the husks are a binding agent.

You will note only a few of my recipes will call for psyllium seed husks and those are very low fiber foods. I will always use this product with caution and will provide clear instructions when I do ue them. Mostly I tend to use Chia seeds and Flax meal instead of psyllium, but there are times when I want to up fiber and this is an easy way to introduces small doses.

—Patty

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