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October 06, 2008
Fiber is One Key to Weight Loss and Good Health
Most people lack a healthy diet for many reasons. One of those reasons is the lack of fiber in their diet. Add to that the fact that too many people are consuming too many fat-filled products like hamburgers and hotdogs, and you're no doubt going to see problems with the gastrointestinal tract - constipation, diarrhea, and even life-threatening conditions like colon cancer.
Fiber comes in many forms, but vegetables are the most common and healthiest. You can get fiber from fruits, oats, and even some products like milled flaxseed or psyllium husk. For that matter, a leather glove would provide a lot of fiber. In every diet, fiber is important for keeping the bowels 'clean', and also keeping the blood 'clean'. Oatmeal contains the best balance between soluble and insoluble fiber, and according to Harvard's health department, is 'the perfect balance...and the dieter's dream food'.
From the Dole Nutrition Institute -- Eating more fiber -- and less fat -- can triple your weight loss. Finnish researchers analyzed the diets of 500 middle-age obese men and women, and found that those who consumed more fiber and less fat lost three times the weight over a 3-year period than those consuming a high-fat, low-fiber diet. This same group was also 62% less likely to develop diabetes!
How does fiber work such wonders? For one thing, fiber helps with appetite control, because it bulks up in your stomach, so you feel fuller longer. Traveling through your digestive system, fiber carries away some fat. This -- plus the lower calorie count of fiber-rich foods like fruits and vegetables -- reduces total energy intake. Certain kinds of fiber -- like the resistant starch found in bananas -- directly increase fat burning by blocking conversion of some carbohydrates into glucose. Finally, the overall nutrient density of fruit and vegetables helps curtail deficiency-fueled overeating.
How much fiber (and less fat) is needed to get these effects? The "biggest losers" in the latest study consumed more than 32 grams per 2,000 calories. This is not as difficult as it sounds: Start with a banana with breakfast, have a medium pear as a midmorning snack, a small romaine salad and a bowl of chili for lunch, a half-cup of raspberries as an afternoon snack and add a side of broccoli to the baked potato you have with dinner and you're at 32 grams! In addition, reducing fat intake to less than 30% of total calories is easily achieved by favoring fish and vegetable proteins over red meat and full-fat dairy. read more...
Bottom line: It's a lot easier to get more fiber in your diet than you might think. Add a fruit, a vegetable, a bowl of Oatmeal, or even a small glass of psyllium husk each day for better health. This one action alone could start peeling the extra fat off you're body if you stick with it for a few weeks or months, consistently.
The Health & Wellness Institute
Diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of degenerative diseases like heart disease and stroke, diabetes and cancer. Juice Plus+® - learn why eating fruits and vegetables is especially important, and how you can benefit from adding Juice Plus+® to your diet. Juice Plus+® is the most thoroughly researched nutritional product in history.
Posted by Dr. Patrick and Julia Havey on October 6, 2008 at 04:50 PM | Permalink
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Comments
I think it is of the utmost importance for people to understand that weight gain is something that can be overcome even if everyone in your family has yet to defeat it. And the Vice Busting way is the BEST way ever!
Posted by: Joanne | Oct 7, 2008 9:51:16 AM








