What Could Spike Blood Sugar?

Good management of a diabetic’s blood sugar (glucose) level is important because diabetes can eventually lead to chronic medical conditions including heart disease and high blood pressure. But for Type-2 diabetics who has abandoned most simple carbohydrates in their diet and has regularly exercised, their blood sugar can sometimes still spikes.

Actually, there are many things that seem harmless to diabetics can actually affect their blood sugar level.

Dehydration, for instance, can make the blood becomes more concentrated and cause the blood sugar readings to go up. To make the thing worse, when the blood sugar is higher, one tends to urinate more, making him or her more dehydrated. So drinking enough water is important for diabetics, especially after exercises or in the hot weather.

Hormones change can also affect a woman’s blood sugar. One study had revealed that decreased insulin sensitivity during menstruation were the most common issue.  This means that the insulin that patients were taking or the pancreas was producing were not sufficient to lower blood sugar, resulting in high blood sugar level.

Stress is another thing that can affect one’s blood sugar level. When a person is under stress, his or her body releases hormones that can make the blood sugar rise. This is more common for Type-2 diabetics. Hence, learning to relax with deep breathing and exercise, and trying to change the things that are stressful, if possible, is very important.

Certain medications can upset one’s blood sugar readings, too. Corticosteroids such as prednisone, which are used to treat rashes, arthritis, asthma, and many other conditions, can boost blood sugar levels. Diuretics (water pills) that are used to manage high blood pressure, and decongestants that contain pseudoephedrine or phenylephrine can be responsible for blood sugar hike.

While birth control pills, patches, implants, injections, and rings are generally considered to be safe forms of contraception for diabetic women, the estrogen in birth control pills can raise blood glucose levels.

People like to skip meals thinking that this may help them lose weight. In reality, skipping meals can only cause the body to store fat and conserve, not metabolize and burn fat. The reason is that the liver normally produces glucose to be used by the body, such as when someone is asleep, and stops the production when it detects insulin in the blood, such as when someone has eaten. If it becomes resistant to insulin, it does not get the signal to stop producing glucose and keeps pumping it into the blood. This excess glucose in the bloodstream is stored in the body as fat.

To keep a healthy blood sugar level, people should have regular meals. If a heavy meal is consumed and one does not want to have a regular size meal later or the next morning, he or she should at least eat something light.

How Weight Training Can Curb Diabetes?

Diabetes is a medical condition in which a person has high blood sugar. If diabetes is developed because this person’s body does not produce insulin, the condition is called Type-1 diabetes. This person has to inject insulin or wear an insulin pump. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy.

 

On the other hand, if the diabetic condition is a result of insulin resistance (insufficient insulin is produced or the body cannot use insulin properly), the condition is referred to as Type-2 diabetes.

 

Type-2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. As of 2012, an estimated 346 million people globally have this type of diabetes.

 

A diabetic who does not receive proper treatments might develop many complications, including heart disease, hypertension, stroke, chronic renal failure, peripheral arterial disease and retinal damage.

 

While adequate medical treatment is a must for diabetics, lifestyle factors such as maintaining a healthy body weight and physically active are equally important.

 

It is known that aerobic exercise is beneficial for diabetes, as indicated by many studies. But, there is so far none have looked at weight training.

 

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Southern Denmark reported online on August 6, 2012 in the ‘Archives of Internal Medicine’ that for diabetes, weight training is probably as important as aerobic training. They used data on more than 32,002 male health professionals, who answered questionnaires every 2 years from 1990 to 2008.

 

It was found that on average, 4 out of 1,000 men developed Type-2 diabetes every year. The risk of getting this disease was only 50 percent for men who did cardio or aerobic workouts at least 150 minutes a week (30 minutes a day, 5 times a week), compared with those who did not do any cardio exercise. The workouts included brisk walking, jogging or playing tennis.

 

For men who did weight training for 150 minutes (30 minutes a day, 5 times a week) or more, their risk of developing the disease was reduced by about 33 percent compared to those who never lifted weights, independently of whether or not they did aerobic exercise.

 

Though weight training does increase muscle mass and can reduce abdominal obesity, it does not cut overall body mass. In fact, any kind of exercise is good to prevent diabetes. Weight lifting, however, can be incorporated with aerobic exercise to get the best results.

 

While appropriate diet is important for diabetes prevention, it is also important for people who already have diabetes to have adequate exercise to help control reduce high blood sugar.

Can Resistance Exercise Really Help Those With Type-2 Diabetes?

When a person is diagnosed with diabetes, his or her body would have problem making or using insulin. Insulin is required for moving glucose (blood sugar) into cells, where it is stored and later used for energy.

An estimated 24 million people in the Untied States have diabetes, with 90 percent of them are diagnosed as Type-2 diabetes, which typically develops after the age of 45. And, it could be the result of unhealthy lifestyle habits.

The glucose levels found in patients with Type-2 diabetes are high because of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. Insulin resistance means that fat, liver, and muscle cells do not respond normally to insulin. As such, blood sugar does not get into cells to be stored for energy.

Once sugar fails to enter cells, abnormally high levels of sugar will accumulate in the blood stream. This will often trigger the pancreas to produce more and more insulin, but can never be enough to keep up with the body's demand.

Diabetes is already a chronic disease by itself. If it is not managed appropriately, it can surely place patients at a higher risk of developing other serious complications including heart disease, blood vessel disease, kidney failure, nerve diseases and even blindness and amputation of legs.

In September 2007, a paper published by Canadian researchers in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that Type-2 diabetics, who exercised regularly, could have better blood-sugar control, especially if they did aerobic exercises as well as lifted weights.

According to most doctors and health experts, exercise is another powerful way to reduce blood sugar, in addition to strict diet control and medication. In general, exercise would help diabetics reduce insulin resistance by allowing cells in the body to have a higher uptake of glucose in the blood stream. This certainly would improve blood sugar control.

Besides aerobic exercise, Type-2 diabetics are advised to perform resistance training at least 3 times a week. Resistance training is one that includes exercises conducted using weights, weight machines or elastic bands. Its purpose is to improve strength by slowly and progressively overloading the muscles over a series of exercise sessions.

Nevertheless, diabetics should be aware of some risks in overdoing exercise. The most common one is patients might experience low blood sugar after drastic exercise. As such, patients should have their blood sugar checked before and after performing their exercise.

Meanwhile, patients with diabetes over long period of time, or kidney, eye or feet complications from diabetes might encounter problems when exercising. So, it is better to consult a physician before starting to engage any training program.

Heart Disease Threats Can Cut Lifespan?

Smoking, high cholesterol and hypertension (high blood pressure) are 3 risk factors that can lead to heart disease. This statement can hardly arouse any objection.

In fact, many studies have confirmed that people, who do not smoke, eat healthily, and exercise, can cut their risk of developing heart disease. However, very few of these studies actually tackled and answered the question: ‘to what extend does having these heart disease risk factors shorten life expectancy?’

In order to seek the answer, researchers from the University of Oxford analyzed the data of 19,000 male British civil servants who were examined in the late 1960s when they were between 40 and 69 years old.

They found out that those male smokers with high cholesterol and hypertension die, on average, a decade sooner than those without any of these risk factors for heart disease. The findings were published on September 18, 2009 in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The detailed information on medical history, lifestyle and smoking habits were provided by the participants at the outset of the study. Their weight, blood pressure, cholesterol level, blood sugar level and lung function were recorded by the doctors.

In 1997, or 28 years after the initial examination, more than 7,000 of those surviving participants were re-evaluated. It was found that those men who had a triple risk threat at the beginning of the study were 2 to 3 times more likely to have died of heart disease than men who were free from all the 3 risk factors. In other words, their lives were shortened, on average, by a decade.

According to health experts, the percentage of people having fatal stroke or heart attack does decline by about a quarter in many rich countries over the last decade. However, similar downtrend is not seen in many known risk factors for heart disease.

In the United States, the American Heart Association revealed that uncontrolled hypertension has fallen by only 16 percent, high blood cholesterol by 19 percent, and smoking by just over 15 percent since 1999.

Meanwhile, other risk factors of heart disease have remained either constant or even increased. For example, the number of people who exercise does not exceed than that more than 10 years ago. On the other hand, obesity rate have increased tremendously, especially among younger generation.

Are There Any Good Fats in Our Body?

Too many fats accumulated in our body are bad for our health. This is because too many fats could lead to overweight or even obesity. More importantly, many medical complications like diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease, etc. could be developed because of overweight or obesity.

Scientists have known that fat that buries in the abdomen (known as visceral fat) can raise a person's risk of diabetes and heart disease, but people with fat deposits in the buttocks and hips, are less prone to these disorders.

In finding out why fat located in different parts of the body have different risks of metabolic disease such as diabetes, researchers from the United States have found a surprising result: a type of fat that accumulates around the hips and bottom may actually offer some protection against diabetes.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School in Boston announced on May 6, 2008 in the journal Cell Metabolism that subcutaneous fat, or fat that collects under the skin helped improve sensitivity to the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar.

A series of experiments were conducted on mice where the researchers transplanted subcutaneous fat from donor ice into the bellies and under the skin of mice. Those mice getting subcutaneous fat transplanted into their bellies started to slim down after several weeks, even though no changes in their diet or activity levels was made. Their blood sugar and insulin levels were also improved compared to those mice, which underwent a sham procedure.

This no doubt is an important finding, as it not only states that not all fats are bad but also highlights a special aspect of fat that would require further research.

The researchers are working hard to find the substance produced in subcutaneous fat that offer the benefit. Once these substances are found, they hope to convert them into drugs or use them as guides to help develop drugs.

Can Sleep Adequately Prevent Heart Disease?

Previous studies have pointed out that getting too little sleep would yield negative health consequences. For instance, little sleep has been shown to raise the risk of depression, obesity and high blood pressure for children. Inadequate sleep, on the other hand, will increase the risk of fall for older adults while raise the chance of getting cancer, heart disease, infections and stroke for people in their middle ages.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults typically require between 7 and 9 hours of nightly sleep.

United States researchers from the University at Buffalo in New York said on March 11, 2009 that people who sleep less than 6 hours at night are prone to abnormal blood sugar levels, thus raising their chance of getting diabetes. In fact, people taking part in the study with fewer than 6 hours of sleep were 4.5 times more likely to develop abnormal blood sugar readings in 6 years compared with those who slept longer. The findings were presented at the Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in Palm Harbor, Florida.

Type-2 diabetes is driven by rising rates of obesity and sedentary lifestyles. It frequently strikes a person when the body makes too much insulin and does not effectively use it. Such condition is also known as insulin resistance.

In order to see if lack of sleep can raise the risk for Type-2 diabetes, the researchers used the data obtained from a large 6-year study. 91 people whose blood sugar rose during the study period were identified and their data were compared to 273 people whose glucose levels remained in the normal range.

During the study period, those who slept less were more likely than those who slept 6 to 8 hours to develop impaired fasting glucose, which is a condition that can lead to Type-2 diabetes. Even after adjusting for age, family history of diabetes, heart rate, high blood pressure and symptoms of depression, the differences remained.

Based on the findings of the current study, the researchers hope that more research will be carried out into this very complex area of sleep and illness.

What Type of Diet Can Control Diabetes and Prevent Heart Disease?

Being the most common form of diabetes, type-2 diabetes is closely linked with obesity. Because of a high blood sugar level, diabetics are at a high risk of developing heart disease, kidney damage, stroke, and blindness.

Therefore, when one is diagnosed with diabetes, he or she will have to adhere closely to the diet suggested by the doctors in order to control the blood sugar level.

The latest findings, which appeared on December 16, 2008 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, by Canadian researchers from St Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto indicated that a diet that is rich in nuts, beans and lentils is better than a high cereal-fiber diet in controlling diabetes and hence preventing heart disease.

In the study, 210 people with Type-2 diabetes were randomly selected to try 1 of 2 diets for 6 months. All the participants were prescribed with medications for controlling their blood sugar and had monthly blood tests.

An abundance of beans, peas, lentils, nuts and pasta were given to people who were on the low-glycemic index diet. They were also asked to have low-glycemic index breads like pumpernickel, quinoa and flaxseed and breakfast cereals including large flake oatmeal and oat bran.

On the other hand, people in the high fiber group were given a largely 'brown' diet, which included whole grain breads and cereals, brown rice, potatoes with skins and whole wheat bread, crackers and cereals.

People in both groups were also encouraged to eat 3 servings of fruit and 5 servings of vegetables daily.

The examination at the end of 6 months showed that those on the low-glycemic diet lost slightly more weight. They had not only significantly better control of their blood sugar but also higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the so-called good cholesterol.

The results showed that the diet could be one of the many options available to people with diabetes, other medical conditions and even healthy people.

According to the researchers, many popular diets including the South Beach Diet and the Zone Diet already focus on low-glycemic index foods, which produce only small changes in blood glucose and insulin levels. In fact, many of the popular books on diets have already been ahead of the scientists in using it.

While food industry has an opportunity to produce modern foods with low-glycemic properties that can fit palatably into the diet, many of the traditional foods such as beans, pasta that were eaten by the older generations, can usefully be brought back into the diet.

Another Way to Lose Weight – Nutrigenetic Diets

Most people are aware that the more weight they gain the higher chances that they might be short-listed as victims of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and even certain types of cancer. Unfortunately, weight can still be accumulated in one’s body gradually and un-noticeably. Once one becomes overweight or even obese, it would be extremely difficult for him or her to lose the unwanted weight.

A recent study outlined a way to help overweight individuals lose weight and keep it off by using personalized diets based on the individual’s genetic makeup. The researchers from Sciona, the Boulder, a company based in Colorado, reported in online journal BioMed Central: Nutrition Journal in 2007 that people who went on ‘nutrigenetically tailored diets’ were more apt to stick to the diet, and had greater success in the long term.

The study was partially funded by Sciona, which makes the testing system used to develop a person's nutrigenetic diet.

In the study, the case histories of 50 'nutrigenetic' dieters were compared with those of 43 patients who did not receive a nutrigenetically tailored diet.

All of these patients were attending a weight loss clinic in Athens, Greece by following a traditional weight management program involving a Mediterranean diet with exercise and regular follow-up clinic visits. Nevertheless, the researchers modified the standard Mediterranean diet of the nutrigenetic group to tailor the genetic results of each patient.

There was no much difference between the 2 groups in term of the amount of weight loss. After about one year, the nutrigenetic dieters continued to lose weight but a slight average weight gain was observed among the traditional diet group.

After another 300 days, it was found that the nutrigenetic dieters were about 5 times more likely to have maintained their weight loss than were the traditional dieters, and the nutrigenetic dieters also had improvements in their blood sugar levels.

In conclusion, the researchers suggest that adding a genetic, personalized component to a weight loss program might improve motivation and compliance. Moreover, the personalized diet is more suitable as the content of macro- and micro-nutrients were optimized for an individual during a period when overall food consumption is reduced and energy expenditure increased.

Is Reducing Diabetes Risk That Hard for Men?

As we know, people with diabetes are exposed to a higher risk of developing heart disease and other medical complications, regardless of whether their diabetes is of Type-1 or Type-2.

For Type-2 diabetics, whether they are male or female, losing weight through diet and exercise are one of the alternatives that might just lower their risk of getting it. Nevertheless, men may have to work harder in order to have the same benefit.

Researchers at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Aurora studied more than 1,100 adults at risk of Type-2 diabetes and found that those who aggressively perform calorie-cutting and exercise did lower their risk of getting diabetes over the next year. However, although men lost more weight and exercised more than women did, their diabetes risk was not greatly reduced by doing so. These findings were published in July 2008 in the Journal “Diabetes Care”.

In the study, participants were randomly assigned to either an intensive program of lifestyle changes or standard lifestyle advice. People in the former group had to lose 7 percent of their body weight by cutting calories and fat from their diet and exercising for at least 2.5 hours per week. Both men and women were 58 percent less likely to develop diabetes over the next year when they were put in the intensive group.

According to the researchers’ observation, men generally exercised more and were more successful at losing weight: 47 percent reached the 7-percent target compared with 37 percent in women. It is known that weight loss can actually be translated into a reduction in triglycerides (a kind of blood fat) and hence blood sugar could be better controlled. For male participants, the decrease in these 2 factors was greater than the female participants.

Interestingly, there was in fact no additional benefit for men when it was related to diabetes risk. The rates of return to normal glucose tolerance levels and the development of diabetes did not differ very much for both sexes.

One possible reason for such phenomenon is perhaps men had more diabetes risk factors to begin with. Therefore, the researchers suggested carrying out further studies to discover whether and how various diabetes prevention tactics would affect men and women differently.

Exercise Is Necessary Even If You Are Old!

Exercise seems to be a routine that you cannot afford to miss, whether you are a healthy person or a person with some kind of medical disorder. Especially when you land into the category of overweight or even obese, exercise is even more important as it will somehow assist you manage your body weight.

Recently, a study had found that a week of exercise significantly improved the function of insulin-making beta cells for a group of sedentary older people who are at risk of developing diabetes. The researchers from University of Michigan published their findings during March 2008 in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Although the study showed that short-term exercise boosts insulin sensitivity, how it might affect beta cell function remains a mystery.

Beta cell function is known to decline with age though the cause is not clear. Ageing may also make people less sensitive to the blood sugar-regulating effects of insulin and impaired insulin secretion may be developed.

There are 12 sedentary individuals aged 60 and above were examined in the study. They were asked to perform an hour-long workout every day for a week. Stints on a treadmill, exercise bike and cross-training machine were included in the exercise sessions. The participants were required to work out at 60 percent to 70 percent of their maximum allowable heart rate capacity.

At the end of one week, the sensitivity to insulin showed an increase of 53 percent, on average, and the beta cell function (called the disposition index) had raised by 28 percent for the study participants. Meanwhile, the researchers could not find any changes in the fat mass, levels of fat in the blood, or any other factors that might explain the effect of exercise on beta cells.

As such, the researchers indicates that longer-term exercise training studies are required and are in fact in progress currently to evaluate further exercise training effects on beta cell function in age-related glucose intolerance.

Diabetes is a condition, if not managed well, that might lead to other complications like kidney failure, blindness, and neuropathy. Meanwhile, a diabetic may have a higher risk of getting heart disease.

Why Bitter Melon Is Good For Diabetics?

The existing drugs for diabetes have been accused of their side effects and limited action. This has therefore prompted for searching of alternatives to treat diabetes.

Bitter melon, also known as balsam pear, is a plant eaten and used medicinally in many parts of Asia. In a recent study, it was found that substances from bitter melon could provide the basis of new drugs for treating diabetes and obesity. As we know, diabetes and obesity are two of the risk factors for heart disease.

The researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai reported in the Journal Chemistry and Biology that bitter melon has shown to reduce blood sugar in animal and human studies.

In the current study, the researchers isolated and described several compounds from bitter melon known as cucurbitane triterpenoids, and tested their effects on glucose (sugar) and fat metabolism in cells and in mice.

When tested in muscle and fat cells, the compounds stimulated the glucose receptor GLUT4 to move from the cell interior to the cell surface, thus promoting more effective glucose metabolism. Several of the tested compounds had effects comparable to those of insulin.

When tested in mice, two of the compounds promoted both glucose tolerance and fat burning, and one was particularly effective in promoting glucose tolerance in animals consuming high fat diets.

As revealed in the study, there may be as many as 70 active compounds in bitter melon. The researchers concluded that the present study provided an important basis for further analysis of structure-activity relationship to develop optimized leads from bitter melon for the treatment of insulin resistance and obesity.

How Does Alcohol Lower Blood Sugar?

Diabetes is not only a risk factor of heart disease but also a serious medical disorder. Diabetics who do not have their blood sugar levels managed properly will lead them to many other complications and in some serious situations, blindness, amputation and even death can just happen to them.

In the past, drinking alcohol beverages has been known to lower blood sugar levels in diabetics. And now, results of a new study on animal, conducted by a group of researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, revealed the mechanisms involved. The findings that were published in the journal Endocrinology show that alcohol produces a massive redistribution of blood flow within the pancreas.

According to what was observed in the study, alcohol seems to send more blood to a region of the pancreas called the islets. The islets contain cells whose main function is to produce insulin, the key hormone that lowers blood sugar levels in the body.

Using various techniques, the researchers showed that pancreatic islet blood flow is increased by about 4 folds in rats after an injection of ethanol. Overall blood flow to pancreas, by contrast, was not affected. The alcohol injection also led to increased insulin secretion, resulting in low glucose levels.

Further study also showed that alcohol induced pancreatic blood flow changes by affecting a chemical called nitric oxide and the vagus nerve, a nerve that is responsible for sending many important signals in the body.

Based on the results obtained from the study, the researchers recommend doctors to advise their diabetic patients, especially those with liver problems, to be very careful with alcohol, if they are taking drugs to lower blood glucose, since these drugs may increase the effects of alcohol.

How Is GI Related To Heart Disease?

GI stands for glycemic index, and it is a measure of how fast the sugar in a food raises one’s blood sugar level compared with glucose.

A recent study conducted by the American College of Cardiology Foundation suggested that people should go low on the GI in order to reduce the risk of developing heart disease. The study was carried out on the food intake of over 17,000 people over a period of 5 years. It was found that those who ate large amounts of high GI foods increased their risk of developing heart disease.

GI ranks carbohydrate foods on a scale of 0 to 100, calculated according to the rate at which they break down and convert to glucose in the body. The higher the GI value, the more it raises the body's sugar level when it is digested. A GI value of 70 and above is considered high.

People consuming food of high GI value are prone to weight gain and diabetes This is because meals with high GI (hence high carbohydrates) tend to increase blood sugar levels, suppress good cholesterol and predispose one to obesity and diabetes. All of these are risk factors for heart disease.

The findings from the study also suggested that people taking foods with high GI-value may end up with colon and breast cancers. Nevertheless, more research needs to be done to be certain.

Foods with high GI value breaks down more quickly in the body, thus raising one's blood-glucose levels at a faster rate. Some of the favorite foods prefered by most people ranks high on the GI, for example, white bread (70), doughnuts (76) and cookies (77).

On the other hand, low-GI foods break down more slowly in the body so the blood-sugar levels raise at a steadier pace. People consuming low-GI foods can sustain energy levels for a longer period of time and do not feel hungry easily. This will actually prevent overeating and overweight in the long run. Soy beans (18) and beans (29) are two good examples of low-GI foods.

Researchers at Hammersmith Hospital in the UK have also found that eating 1 additional low-GI item per meal helps lower one's blood-sugar levels.

Paying attention to the type of foods we eat is not enough, we should also gauge the quantity. For example, white rice is the main food for most Asians. If one wants to take extra rice during the meal, then he or she should cut down the amount of dessert he or she intends to eat after the meal. Alternatively, they may consider replacing white rice with wholemeal bread, if they are comfortable with wholemeal bread.

Fiber Can Be Bad, Are You Sure?

"Too much fibre might be harmful in some cases for some people?"

Surprising? I bet you will but you are not alone!

I was quite astonished when I first looked at the above statement because we are always being reminded by doctors or dieticians to take sufficient amount of fiber everyday.

Nevertheless, most people just do not consume enough fiber on a daily basis, according to statistics.

People do not take enough fiber either because they do not like food of high fiber (usually not too nice to eat) or they do not keep track of what they eat: just grab whatever available to them during meal time.

Doctors and dieticians observe that people not taking enough fiber likely end up with constipation. For people with severe constipation, adding more fiber into their diet may actually worsen the condition.

When the colon is already clogged up as a result of constipation, adding more fiber into the body will add to the bulk. Therefore, it is better to consult doctor and get some medication to ease the constipation.

Consuming too much fiber-rich food may also cause other problems such as a feeling of bloatedness. This is because gas is produced when the bacteria in the guts break down soluble fiber. This will cause tummy bloat and wind. Cramps and mal-absorption may also occur if substantial amount of fiber is being added to one's diet suddenly.

But how do we know we are taking excessive fiber?

It is simple, for a person of average height and weight, consuming 4 servings of vegetables instead of 2 is considered excessive. For your information, 1 serving equals to three-quarters of a cup of vegetables.

Besides preventing constipation, fiber also has many other benefits:

• good for our gut as it helps clear unwanted wastes from our body,
• helps maintain intestinal health and cholesterol levels,
• improves one's blood sugar levels as fiber-rich food take a longer time to break down into sugar in the body,
• boosts immune system,
• reduces risk of heart disease,
• soothes inflammation in the body.

A high-fibre diet may help prevent colorectal cancer and also make us feel satiated on less, thus helping to refrain us from overeating.

Fiber can be found in vegetables such as spinach, cauliflower and carrots; fruits such as guava and apples; and wholegrain.

The conclusion is:

The problems mentioned above should never be used as an excuse for us to reduce our fiber intake. We should eat the recommended 2 servings of fruits and 2 servings of vegetables on a daily basis but remember not to take excessively.

Which Fibers To Take? Oats and Barley

Fiber is very important for us if we wish to be healthy. The aim is to get at least the minimum recommended amount of between 12g and 18g per day for adults. For children over the age of 2, the recommended intake is the child’s age plus 5g, according to United States guidelines. In addition, we should also have a balance of both soluble and insoluble types of fiber.

A few familiar and surprising fiber options will be introduced over the next few days. First of all, Let us take a look at oats and barley.

Study has shown that beta-glucan, a specific soluble fiber contained in oats and barley, can lower cholesterol. Therefore, for people with high cholesterol, consuming a mere 3g of soluble oat fiber per day (it is appropriately the amount found in a bowl of oatmeal) can typically lower their total cholesterol by as much as 23 percent.

Because of these findings, the United States FDA has approved health claims on products that have soluble fiber from foods such as oat bran.

Beta-glucan also has the beneficial effects in stabilizing blood sugar levels, hence it is good for diabetics as well.