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.

Prevention is Better than Cure!

For the last six months or so mainly, I have not posted anything here mainly because of time constraints.

Recently, I saw an article on newspapers discussing about healthcare. The heading reads something like this:

"Prevention is Better than Cure"
Instead of costly treatment, greater attention should be given to prevention of illness"

According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the world spent a total of US$4 trillion ($6.1 trillion) on healthcare last year (2006), of which 54 per cent was contributed by North Americans. With global demographic changes, it is estimated by World Health Organization (WHO) to reach US$10 trillion in 2020.

Whether you like it or not, HEALTHCARE is poised to be a key growth engine in the global economy. While this will no doubt create tremendous wealth for healthcare companies, it also means that the burden on governments and individuals will become much heavier.

Worst still, the impending ageing global population will see a tripling of people older than 60 years old, from 600 million to two billion by 2045 globally. WHO's predicts that healthcare expenditure should explode by 2015 with bulk of the spending on costly surgeries and treatments.

Besides heart disease, other sicknesses accompanying ageing population also include diabetes, hypertension, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, etc.

Health experts believe that concentrating on prevention, on early diagnostics, and on remote patient management will enable us to build healthcare systems that are high quality, patient-centred and financially sustainable.

While finding means to increase funding to meet growing healthcare needs, government should also search for innovative ways to stretch the healthcare dollar.

For individuals, the best solution to counter the escalating healthcare cost is to concentrate on prevention at younger ages instead of dealing with treatment later on.

Is this feasible? Yes, it is possible.

In order to prevent from developing from heart disease or any other diseases, you should adopt a healthy lifestyle starting from young: healthy diet with regular exercise, plus taking some relevant supplements when necessary.

If you are able to do all these, you can greatly reduce the chance of, but unfortunately cannot be guarantee to be free from getting into diseases at older ages. This is because family health history also play an important part in your body's health condition.

Which Fibers To Take? Bran, Beans and Lentils

Being the outermost layer of a grain, bran is typically removed when grains are processed. The purpose is to increase their shelf life. Many foods are subsequently enriched with bran fiber. For example, a half cup of wheat bran cereal has approximately 13 g of fiber.

Beans and lentils contain fair bits of fibers too. For instance, a cup of kidney beans provides over 11 g of fiber while the same amount of chick peas gives over 12 g of fiber, almost half of the daily recommended intake. Lentils can furnish even more fiber with a cup providing over 15 g of fiber.

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.

Are There Other Ways To Boost Your Fiber Intake?

Besides fruit and vegetables, you can start your day right by eating a fiber-rich breakfast. For example, you can try oatmeal with fruit, or make a smoothie in the blender with yogurt and a variety of fruit like banana, mango and berries. Furthermore, don’t forget to add in a tablespoon of ground flax seeds.

Another way to increase fiber intake is to consider beans in dips as well as in soups, salads and stews. Beans are wonderful things that you should not ignore.

Refined foods lack fiber. For example, there are not much fiber left in white bread and white rice. Remember to stick to whole, unprocessed foods and experiment with new grains. Brown or wild rice, buckwheat, millet and quinoa should be included into your meals. These work well as a side dish or in a salad.

Take More Fruit and Vegetables To Increase Your Fiber Intake

Fiber forms an important part of our daily diet in order to keep us healthy. But not many people are aware of this or they simply ignore taking fiber because they do not like it.

Let us look at some ways that you can boost your fiber intake!

Fruit contains fiber. But you should take them without peeling, and not in juice form. This is because the skin of apples and pears, and the fine membrane that holds orange segments are rich sources of fiber. Another way to get fruit fiber is to snack on dried fruit.

Vegetables are also excellent origins of fiber. In order to increase the fiber intake, you can have a side salad with your meals. Iceberg lettuce does not have much fiber. So you may want to discard it and instead, choose other alternatives such as spinach and aragula leaves. If you like, you may add beans, grains and even different vegetables to your salad. Some people also add fruit into salad to make it more tasty and colorful to induce appetite.

Nevertheless, make sure you rinse fruit and vegetables thoroughly before eating. If you are very concerned about the possible pesticide residues, you can choose organic fruit and vegetables.

How To Make Our Meal Tasty And Healthier With Less Salt?

We are always told to cut down the salt in-take in order to avoid high blood pressure which can lead to heart disease. However, food without salt is simply tasteless for most of us.

A meal without salt is not a meal! This proverb does make some sense. Isn’t it? So, what should we do?

Besides training our tongue to get use of natural taste of food without salt, there are also other ways to improve the flavor of our food without excessive salt. Here are some suggestions.

You can choose gravy instead of stock cubes and artificial seasoning. Garlic, chili, onions, lemon, lime, pepper or basil may be employed as alternative seasoning. When preparing pasta, meat and vegetables, you can simply use fresh herbs to season. In order to achieve better flavor for our food, marinade meat and fish in advance to allow the flavor to soak through. Where applicable, white and red wine can be added to accentuate the taste of our foods.

Some Measures to Lower Our Salt Intake

When you eat outside, it is important that you assess the sources of salt in your diet. If possible, you should ask for no or less salt added.

On your next trip to supermarket for purchasing items such as cereals, crackers, canned foods, or pasta sauces, read the labels and select those with low-salt options.

In case your meal is high in sodium, you can always balance your diet with high-potassium foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, which have plenty of fiber and nutrients as well.

Add salt only at the end of your cooking because cooking the food longer may mute the flavor. Reduce your salt gradually over stages so as to train your tongue. Once you get used to it, you can go for salt-free and enjoy the natural taste.

Remember this, salt is always added to processed foods. So fresh is best. As far as possible, choose fresh vegetables, poultry and meat over processed, pickled or cured food.