The Importance of Dietary Fiber

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The Importance of Dietary Fiber

We share many experiences with the kings of old: pastries, for instance,

and home entertainment and vacation trips to far-off lands. Ancient-day

common folk knew nothing of such things. Then again, they weren't

constipated...

We are. Not all of us, of course. But enough Canadians so that some

doctors call ours a constipated society. And even if you're not

constipated, your present day diet may be leading you to more serious

complaints like disorders of the large intestine or colon. These, too,

were afflictions of of the upper classes of old. Why? Because in general

the rich refined their food, along with their lives, and so stripped it

of an odd but essential ingredient called dietary fibre.

Like its fellow carbohydrates, the various types of dietary fibre are the

product of sunlight, water and carbon dioxide combining in green plants.

Most form part of plant cell walls. But unlike the other carbohydrates,

fibres do not break down into sugars in the human digestive system and

then course through the blood stream fueling muscles and nerves. Rather,

when eaten they tumble intact through the stomach and small intestine and

end up in the colon where billions of bacterial feed on them - in turn

producing intestinal gas. No wonder, then, that dietary fibre has been

unwelcome in many of history's nicer neighborhoods.

Even 20th century doctors reasoned that since the bulky material provided

not a single nutrient, it would only strain already troubled guts.

Accordingly, they recommended low-fibre diets for patients suffering from

hemorrhoids and other colon disorders often found in the West. But then,

about 15 years ago, the prescription was reversed as researchers found

that poor Africans, who eats lots of fibre, rarely suffer from such

complaints. Fibre, the researchers learned, actually eases the bowel's

burden by mixing with water and other food residues.

Soon, nutritionists came to see the low-fibre diet of most North Americans

as a culprit in the onset of disorders ranging from tooth decay to heart

attacks. Increasing the consumption of certain kinds of fibre, they found,

could slow the body's absorption of sugars to which diabetics are

sensitive, and of cholesterol, which may lead to heart disease.

Furthermore, fibres fight obesity. They're filling, especially the

pectins in citrus fruit and the gums in some beans. And they're mainly

indigestible. So dieters eating lots of fibre are likely to eat less of

other, more fattening foodstuffs.

As for why populations on high-fibre diets seem to experience fewer colon

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