Fiber is essential for human health and a shortage of it in the diet can promote many disorders of the digestive tract. The fiber in food helps slow down digestion, keeping blood sugar stable and hunger at bay. Colon and rectal cancer are the second leading cause of death in the United States. Fiber helps to prevent colorectal cancer, constipation, diverticulosis and most other illnesses of the lower bowel. Fiber also slows the absorption of sugar and is, therefore, beneficial to diabetics and hypoglycemics. Even people who are eating diets high in fiber-rich cooked vegetables might not be getting the fiber they need to prevent these diseases because the fiber is partially destroyed by cooking.
All animal products (i.e. beef, chicken, lamb, pig, fish and shellfish, turkey, goat, etc) completely lack fiber. All dairy products (i.e. milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, etc.) are also fiberless. Nor do eggs contain fiber. On the other hand all fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and grains contain ample amounts of fiber in their whole and unprocessed state.
Egg whites and dairy products, as well as wheat protein (gluten) cause constipation. When wheat grain is processed into flour, the fiber is taken out, along with most of the nutrition. Many people become addicted to this fast source of carbohydrates which is lacking in nutrients.
Modern statistics show that , in Africa, the average diet has approximately seven times more fber than the American diet; colon/rectal problems are rare there, while they are commonplace in the United States.
Even the Quaker Oats Company is aware of the medical benefits of fiber and is using them to market their product to a population plagued by the effects of a diet high in fiberless animal food and low in unprocessed sources of fiber. I found the following written on a box of Quaker Oats: "Three grams of soluble fiber from oatmeal daily in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease. This cereal has two grams per serving." The soluble fiber in oats binds with cholesterol-based acids and prevents these acids from being absorbed into the bloodstream.
Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (edition 14) gives a good definition of dietary fiber and outlines many of its functions.
"Components of food that are resistant to chemical digestion include portions of food that are made up of cellulose, hemi-cellulose, lignin and pectin. These substances add bulk to the diet by absorbing large amounts of water and are used in diets to produce large bulky bowel movements. Foods rich in fiber include whole grains, bran flakes, fruits, leafy vegetables, root vegetables and their skins, and prunes, which also contain a laxative substance, diphenylisatin.
Diets high in fiber may help to prevent diverticula of the intestinal tract, may help to lower blood cholesterol and possibly prevent cancer of the intestinal tract.
Some diabetic individuals on low insulin doses have been able to further lower their insulin requirements by following a diet high in fiber and carbohydrates and low in sucrose."
While diverticula are common in people on the standard American diet, they are rare in peoples of the world who eat high fiber diets. My parents were told by their allopathic doctor that everyone gets diverticula of the intestinal tract when they get old and that there is no way to prevent it. Yet the medical dictionary states that a high fiber diet "may help to prevent diverticula of the intestinal tract" and studies have shown that diverticula are rare in places where humans consume a high fiber diet. Dr. Neil Painter, a London surgeon, was the researcher who finally proved that diverticula are caused by a fiber-deficient diet, but for 50 years before his 1972 landmark study, diverticula was treated with a low fiber diet.
If you choose to use a fiber supplement rather then getting your fiber from raw fruits and vegetables as I recommend, you should know that psyllium fiber supplements absorb about forty times their weight in water. If there is not a sufficient amount of water in the intestines to hydrate the fiber, it will dry out the intestines and cause constipation. Some supermarket brands of fiber contain artificial colors that are known to cause cancer.
I recommend using ground flax seeds for a fiber supplement. In addition to being highly nutritious, they are about 50 percent nonsoluble fiber and 50 percent soluble so they absorb less water than psyllium fiber. These seeds also contain flax oil which lubricates the intestines. Use a coffee bean grinder to pulverize them because the human digestive tract cannot break them down unless they are chewed very thoroughly. After the flax seeds are ground they must be kept either refrigerated or frozen or they will become rancid. Gandhi once commented that the people in the villages he visited (in India) that consumed flax seeds were noticeably healthier than the people ikpn the villages that did not consume flax seeds.
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