Why should I eat fiber?

I recommend that people eat at least 35 grams of fiber daily for optimal digestive health. When you reach that magic number of 35 grams, some amazing things start to happen. In addition to magnificent stools that drop effortlessly into the bowl, your risk for a lot of the other things that kill Americans -- many types of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and stroke -- all drop too. An apple (or two) a day really does keep the doctor away.

Fiber is essential for health for many reasons.

1. It reduces blood sugar spikes and insulin release.
   
   Fiber aids in slowing digestion and releasing nutrients into the bloodstream in a controlled fashion. This prevents hypoglycemic and blood sugar symptoms and cravings. It also prevents insulin spikes which cause weight gain, elevated lipids, liver and pancreatic stress.
2. It helps with a feeling of fullness by increasing the enzyme CCK. Feeling full and satisfied can also reduce cravings for not so healthy dietary options.
   
   
3. Fiber binds to bile to assist in cholesterol clearance in the bloodstream.
4. It is a prebiotic (food for good bacteria in the gut that modulate immunity, digestion, and toxin clearance).
5. Fiber helps maintain bowel regularity by providing bulk to the stool.
6. Helps maintain a proper pH in the intestine.

Fiber acts like a Brillo pad, cleaning out the bad cholesterol inside your artery walls - before it has a chance to stick around and cause problems. Fiber also aids your digestion.

If you make a complete switch from refined to whole grains, experts estimate you can reduce your risk of heart problems by as much as 30 percent.

Increasing the amount of fiber in your diet can have the following health benefits:

Weight Management
Study after study reveals an inverse correlation between fiber intake and body weight. Fiber helps puts the brakes on overeating by delaying gastric emptying of the stomach into the small intestine, which increases the sensation of fullness. This delay can also help stabilize blood-glucose levels by moderating the amount of sugar released into the bloodstream.

Prostate Health
There are also signs that fiber protects the prostate. A study published in the International Journal of Cancer monitored vegetable fiber intake and incidence of prostate cancer among 1,294 men over a period of 11 years, and found that those who consumed the most vegetables were 18 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer.

Digestive Health
Japanese researchers have found an even stronger correlation between dietary fiber intake and rates of colon and colorectal cancers. Study participants with the highest fiber intake had a 27 percent reduced risk for colorectal cancer and a 42 percent reduced risk for colon cancer. Researchers speculate that these results are due to the tendency of insoluble fiber to promote regularity.

Breast-Cancer Protection
Fiber consumption may also help reduce breast-cancer risk, according to a Swedish study of 11,700 postmenopausal women in which researchers found that those with the highest fiber intake had a 40 percent lower risk of breast cancer.

Gallstone Prevention
Data analysis from the Nurses’ Health Study indicates that insoluble fiber may reduce the risk of having to undergo gallstone surgery. In this landmark study, women with the highest insoluble fiber intake were 17 percent less likely to require gallstone surgery than those with the lowest fiber intake. Researchers suspect that by regulating cholesterol levels, fiber may prevent cholesterol from accumulating in the gallbladder and crystallizing into gallstones.

Fiber is a "friend" of your gastrointestinal tract, moving food through the system and thus reducing constipation and your risk of colon cancer. The less straining a person does during bowel movements, the less likely he or she is to develop conditions such as diverticulosis or hemorrhoids. Fiber also forms a mesh in the gut that promotes the growth of healthy bacteria that aid in digestion and immune protection. The human body is designed for fiber. We need it. The recommended daily amount of fiber is 25 to 35 grams. The typical American diet contains 11 grams of fiber.