Offering multiple perspectives from many fields of human inquiry that may move all of us toward a more integrated understanding of who we are as conscious beings.
Uh, <cough> bullshit <cough>. That was my first thought when I saw the headline, then I read the article and saw that the researchers and the funding came from General Mills, you know, the people whose livelihood is based on Americans consuming a LOT of grains. They own brands such as Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Gold Medal (flour), Wheaties, and tons of other crap.
There is one point in the article that is valid - Americans do not get enough fiber in their diets. However, we do NOT need to eat more grains to get more fiber - we need to eat more fibrous vegetables, such as broccoli, asparagus, celery, pumpkin and other squashes, and so on, as well as beans and lentils.
Oh, one last point. I eat ZERO whole grains (or any other kind of grain) and I get around 40 grams of fiber each day on average. Americans have been seriously mislead by the agricultural industry into thinking we need grains (whole or otherwise) in our diet - and the USDA has been their enabler for more than 30 years.
Here is the whole article - as you read it please keep in mind who funded the "research." This should have been posted as an advertorial.
General Mills cereals are displayed on a kitchen counter in Golden, Colorado December 17, 2009. Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking
(Reuters Health) - Most children and adults in the U.S. are getting less than the recommended amounts of whole grains and dietary fiber, according to a recent study. Researchers found people who did eat the recommended three or more servings of whole grains each day also tended to consume the most fiber. Whole grains are present in some types of hot and cold cereal and bread. Previous studies have tied whole grain intake to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease among adults. The health benefits are in part attributed to the fiber in whole grains. "Most people do not consume whole grains in amounts that can be most beneficial, also many people, even health professionals, are confused about the relationship between whole grain and fiber," Marla Reicks told Reuters Health in an email. Reicks led the study at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. Her coauthors are all affiliated with General Mills, which funded the study. Eating fiber, Reicks said, has been linked to better gut health, less heart disease and lower weights. Fiber is found in whole grains in varying quantities as well as in fruits, vegetables and beans. Dietary guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services say at least half of all grains consumed should be whole grains. That works out to a minimum of three one-ounce servings per day for adults and some kids. Fiber recommendations vary by age. Young kids need 19 to 25 grams of fiber each day while older kids, teens and adults need anywhere from 21 to 38 grams per day. Reicks and her colleagues compared whole grain and dietary fiber intakes among Americans ages two and up using a large national nutrition and health survey. They included data from 9,042 people surveyed in 2009 and 2010. The study team discovered 39 percent of children and teens and 42 percent of adults consumed no whole grains at all. Only 3 percent of children and teens and about 8 percent of adults ate at least the recommended three servings per day. The researchers also found people who ate the most whole grains had the highest fiber intakes: on average, 24.5 grams per day for kids and 28 grams per day for adults, according to findings published in Nutrition Research. Children who ate the recommended amount of whole grains were 59 times more likely to be in the top third of fiber consumers, compared to those who ate no whole grains. Adults who met the whole grain recommendations were 76 times more likely to get the most fiber. Major sources of whole grains for study participants included breakfast cereal, breads and rolls, oatmeal and popcorn. Reicks said people should strive to eat whole grain versions of breads, oatmeal and breakfast cereals when possible. She said having only whole grain versions of those foods available at home will help children see that they are tasty, usual foods and build habits that may last into older childhood and adulthood. Consumers can read labels and look for a special whole grain stamp when shopping. "Some products indicate the whole grain content in grams on the label, which is very useful if you know how much whole grain is needed to count as a serving, and some use the whole grain stamp (The Whole Grains Council), but not all," Reicks said. Stamped products are explained on the group's Website here: bit.ly/1kchZ1J. Reicks added that until labeling is made consistent, a good method is to look at a food's ingredient list. If the first ingredient is whole grain, the product will probably contain enough of it to count as a whole grain product. "The study reinforces the preponderance of scientific evidence and supports the recommendations set forth by many dietary guidelines advisory committees within the U.S. and throughout the globe," Roger Clemens told Reuters Health in an email. Clemens, from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, was an adviser for the most recent government-backed U.S. dietary guidelines. He was not involved with the study. Clemens said there are many reasons why people do not meet dietary recommendations for fiber, including taste and texture of whole grain products. Another reason is that high-fiber foods tend to cause gas. He noted that different sources of dietary fiber contain different types of fiber, including soluble and insoluble fiber. "This is important since different types of dietary fiber have different functions in our bodies," he said. Whole grains are equally complex, Clemens added. He said oats are among the whole grains highest in fiber.
SOURCE: bit.ly/1aolUp5Nutrition Research, online January 17, 2014.
Robert H. Lustig, M.D has spent the past sixteen years treating childhood obesity and studying the effects of sugar on the central nervous system and metabolism. He is the Director of the UCSF Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health Program and also a member of the Obesity Task Force of the Endocrine Society.
Here is some info on the book, via the publisher:
Robert Lustig’s 90-minute YouTube video “Sugar: The Bitter Truth”, has been viewed more than two million times. Now, in this much anticipated book, he documents the science and the politics that has led to the pandemic of chronic disease over the last 30 years.
In the late 1970s when the government mandated we get the fat out of our food, the food industry responded by pouring more sugar in. The result has been a perfect storm, disastrously altering our biochemistry and driving our eating habits out of our control.
To help us lose weight and recover our health, Lustig presents personal strategies to readjust the key hormones that regulate hunger, reward, and stress; and societal strategies to improve the health of the next generation. Compelling, controversial, and completely based in science, Fat Chance debunks the widely held notion to prove “a calorie is NOT a calorie”, and takes that science to its logical conclusion to improve health worldwide.
Dr. Robert Lustig: "Fat Chance: Beating The Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease" LISTEN TRANSCRIPT ORDER A CD Monday, January 7, 2013 Recently published research suggests that obese people have a lower risk of death compared to people with normal weight. But this is not news to pediatric endocrinologist, Robert Lustig. He says fat doesn’t matter. What does matter, he argues, is metabolic function. For the past 16 years, he’s been treating childhood obesity and studying the effects of sugar on the central nervous system. In a new book he details the science and politics behind the dramatic increase in our consumption of sugar and explains why this shift is so detrimental to our health. Please join us to talk with Dr. Robert Lustig about obesity and disease. Guests: Dr. Robert Lustig, Director of University of California, San Fransisco Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health Program. Related Links Sugar: The Bitter Truth video (or watch it below) Related Items
A worker at a Turkish sugar refinery is dwarfed by mountains of beet. Photograph: Umit Bektas/Reuters
Here's a mini-quiz for foodists who pride themselves on their knowledge of obscure consumables: what are diastatic malt, dextran, ethyl maltol, panocha and sorghum syrup? They are all names used on food labels for added sugar. Robert Lustig, an endocrinologist who works on childhood obesity, is angry with the food industry and the capturing of western governments by its lobbyists. Added sugar is all around us, disguised under deliberately unfamiliar names, and its sweet molecule – fructose – is, according to Lustig, the prime cause of our ballooning "obesity pandemic". Lustig explains the biochemistry of metabolism, and the vicious cycle of obesity, with patient clarity and some alarmingly vivid imagery. (You know the way sugar helps to brown meat while cooking? It's browning your insides the same way.) He is sceptical about one-shot solutions (miracle diet pills, antioxidants), since there is a complex interdependence between the actions of hormones and food intake. For example: there is fructose in fruit, so why isn't eating fruit bad? Because the fibre in fruit counteracts the noxious effects of the sugar, which is why it's better to eat your fruit than to drink it. (A glass of orange juice contains more sugar than the equivalent volume of Coke.) The bitter pill of Lustig's philosophy is sweetened by an agreeably cute humour: "Naturally occurring fructose comes from sugarcane, fruits, some vegetables, and honey. The first three have way more fibre than fructose, and the last is protected by bees." There is no shortage of fad food books blaming one or other "toxin" for all our fleshly dolours. Yet to dismiss every such tract as populist scaremongering would be just as irrational as to believe them all. (The "experts" – whom it is fashionable in some quarters always to dismiss wholesale as a compromised class – did not, after all, turn out to be wrong about the harmful effects of cigarettes.) Recent reports elsewhere, indeed, indicate that there is a growing consensus behind the idea that the fructose factor helps to explain what otherwise looks like a puzzle: why do different diets – Atkins, the Paleo diet, the traditional Japanese or Mediterranean diets – all have notable health benefits? Because, or so this thinking runs, they are all low-sugar and high-fibre regimes. Fat Chance is a persuasively indignant public-policy manifesto, but it's also a self-help book; curiously, each strain flatly contradicts the other. The crux is whether people can actually change their behaviour. Of course they can, you might retort, citing friends who have successfully slimmed; but Lustig spends most of the book denying that this is even possible, the better to justify government regulation. (He suggests agricultural subsidies for green vegetables instead of for corn and soy, and taxing foods that have added sugar. This latter would be a regressive tax, he admits, but the benefits would also accrue mostly to those on low incomes.) Lustig denies personal autonomy for laudably humane reasons – because he wants to deconstruct the prejudice that obese people have merely given in to "gluttony and sloth". But his insistence on the complete irrelevance of "personal responsibility" leads him to rely on some ropey metaphysics and oversimplified science. "Biochemistry and hormones drive our behaviour," he writes reductively, assuring us that we are merely slaves to the antic nanoreactions of our neurobiology. And because obesity changes our hormonal balance, "weight loss is next to impossible". Apparently, then, we can't choose what to do. "Most of the world views the word behaviour as meaning the actions we choose to do or not through 'free will,'" he writes. "However, the dictionary definition of behaviour is: 'a stereotyped motor response to a physiological stimulus.'" Unfortunately, Lustig does not provide a footnote to indicate which dictionary he was using. I checked the OED, the New Oxford American Dictionary, and Merriam-Webster, and none gave his definition of "behaviour" as primary. Lustig's description is a more specialised one, recalling the tradition of "behaviourism" in psychology. An animal's actions in this sense could be "conditioned", as in BF Skinner's famousSkinner box: a rat in the box learned to push one button for food and avoid the button that generated electric shocks. There's probably a bracing argument to be made that modern humans all live in a giant Skinner box, but Lustig doesn't come out and make it. On the other hand, if Lustig's anti-free-will view is correct, it is hard to see the point of his urging the reader, in the book's self-help chapters, to alter his or her own buying and eating habits. Even so, he provides a six-page shopping list of low-fructose and high‑fibre foods that one can find in any supermarket; and offers advice on how to behave in a restaurant. (Don't be in a fast-food joint in the first place; don't have bread with the meal; don't order dessert.) So personal change is possible? This is not to say that Lustig's advice isn't good. In fact, you can tell it is good because it is so close to what everyone already knows, despite his eagerness to sell the novelty of his version and dismiss the familiar mantra of "eat less and exercise more" as a "myth". So what is his answer? Er, eat less sugar, eat more fibre, and exercise more. Or, if you want it further reduced: avoid "processed" rubbish and just "eat real food". I worried for a moment that much of my own diet would, on Lustig's stringent criteria, turn out to have been unreal food: merely colourful hallucinations of elaborate victuals, simulated scoffing. But then I couldn't help myself, could I? • Steven Poole's You Aren't What You Eat is published by Union Books.
Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public [7/2009]
Relationship guru, John Gray, whose newest book is Venus on Fire, Mars on Ice, is promoting a supplement as part of his plan to make your relationship work better than it ever has before. His new approach is all about hormonal balance.
Before we get to that, however, let's dispel any myth that John Gray is an expert in anything, certainly not health. He always refers to himself as a Dr. or a PhD - but he's not either. His website says that heholds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia Pacific University. Problem is, the school was a "diploma mill" not accredited by any organization, and was forced to shut down by the Marin County Superior Court.
The Rick Ross cult watch (and guru busting site) has been keeping tabs on Gray - here is the skinny on his education:
Previously CultNews.com reported that Gray's doctorate is "worthless." According to California's attorney general a "diploma mill" that was later shut down issued it.
CultNews kept checking further and can now report that both of John Gray's other purported degrees are also unaccredited and essentially worthless too.
Neither his BA nor his MA is from an accredited institution of higher education.
Gray received his undergraduate degrees from Maharishi European Research University in Seelisberg, Switzerland before returning to the United States in 1982, according to his posted bio at Brooks International.
OK, that's all old news - but it's relevant because Gray continues to pass himself off as an expert. In his new book, he is touting a supplement called PGX.
His newest book claims to solve all your relationship problems by fixing your hormone imbalances - although I'm not sure what his training is in nutrition, the endocrine system, or even relationships for that matter. Here is the brief summary from AlterNet's Vanessa Richmond -in Why Self-Help Books That Promise Happiness Are a Scam.
The modern world is stressful for men and women, more so than ever, and thus humans produce more cortisol in response. But while cortisol gives us the jolt needed to outrun saber tooth tigers, or deal with equivalent emergencies like mis-addressing a sensitive email, over time, cortisol suppresses other good hormones like oxytocin (for women) and testosterone (for men). That makes us each wound up and run down. Ugh. Men and women are from different planets, and it takes lots of energy to communicate with aliens. And this hormonal problem means we have an even harder time of it, and end up arguing more, which produces more cortisol and less happiness.
The solution? Women need to spend more time nurturing and being nurtured, which stimulates oxytocin. And men need to solve problems under pressure, then lie on the couch and watch TV, which uses and then replenishes their testosterone levels. We all also need to eat better. Oh and we need to buy a special nutritional supplement made in Canada called PGX which is "remarkable."
I'm oversimplifying, but not by much.
So being the curious guy that I am, I decided to check out PGX and see what this wonder supplement is and how it works. The PGX site makes a lot of incredible claims but nowhere does it provide a list of ingredients, other than this:
PolyGlycopleX (PGX) is a unique blend of highly-purified, water-soluble polysaccharides (plant fibers) developed using advanced EnviroSimplex technology. This technology combines these natural compounds in a very specific ratio making PGX an effective weight loss aid and dietary supplement. PGX is available in Ultra Matrix softgel capsules, granules, meal replacement drink mixes and regular capsules.
They make the following claims for their supplement:
PGX Supports Healthy Weight Loss
PGX Helps Maintain Healthy Blood Sugar Levels Already within a Normal Range
PGX Supports the Excretion of Cholesterol
PGX is High in Fiber
PGX is Safe and Stimulant Free
Does any of this sound familiar? The other day I posted an article by Dr. Mark Hyman (an actual real doctor) on a newish supplement on the market that does exactly all of those things - it's called glucomannan.
So I think to myself, I wonder if that is what's in PGX? So a little more digging turns up a diet supplement review site - UltimateFatBurner.com - that offers a little insight into this new wonder supplement:
PGX Daily is primarily a glucomannan/konjac supplement. That means it is basically a fiber supplement. There are numerous glucomannan based fat burners on the market today—Lipozene, FiberThin, Propolene, and Tetrazene are a few that come to mind immediately. So the use of glucomannan in weight loss products is nothing new.
Further down, after listing some of the studies that support glucomannan, there is this:
Also present in a single capsule (according to the advertising I reviewed) are...
Sodium alginate: An algae-based thickener that is commonly used in pie fillings.
Xanthan gum: A thickening agent formed when the bacteria Xanthomonas campestris is combined with corn sugar.
These two ingredients, along with the glucomannan, comprise the "PolyGlycoplex" element of the formula, and total 750 mg.
So essentially, the only "active" ingredient is the glucomannan - the rest is just filler to increase the density of the supplement. Having done a lot of reading dumbass marketing claims for PGX, I found no evidence that glucomannan or any form of soluble fiber can help to control cortisol - in fact, I am not aware of any supplement that controls cortisol (this has been the holy grail of bodybuilding supplement companies since controlling cortisol can decrease muscle loss while dieting).
On his own site, Gray is selling Daily PGX for 39.95 for a bottle of 120 capsules. The label claims 2250 mg of the three fiber substances PLUS 1800 mg of MCT oil, which has no known weight loss benefit unless one is going ketogenic (the oil is a laxative, too, so it gives you the double whammy with the fibers). But let's do the math - that would 4050 mg in 3 capsules - there's not any way that is correct, so there must be less of something in this product, the question is which part?
Anyway, since the only real substance of value is the glucomannan, let's see what we can expect to pay for that supplement around the web.
Puritan's Pride, 90 caps, 500 mg per cap, 2 (180 caps) for $12.99, 5 (450 caps) for $25.98 Nature's Way, 180 caps, 665 mg per cap, $13.99 Swanson, 90 caps, 700 mg per cap, $2.74 Now Foods, 180 caps, 575 mg per cap, $7.99 Gluten Smart, 500 grams bulk powder, $17.99 Herbal Extracts Plus, 1 lb bulk powder, $29.40
Other products labeled as Daily PGX sell for between $27 (120 caps) to $80 (180 caps).
The bottom line on glucomannan is that it is a soluble fiber - nothing. Increasing dietary fiber, soluble and insoluble will aid digestion, slow gastric emptying, and may help reduce insulin levels - but you have to eat well and exercise. Claiming you can lose weight without exercise and proper nutrition is simply a lie.
One last note - his site also sells the HCG Diet (for $100) - which is dangerous, as detailed here.
However, according to WebMD, if you are on diabetes medications, you need to be careful with this supplement, as it changes how your body processes sugars. In the long run, it might help control diabetes without medications.
Also, if you are taking any oral medications, be sure to space the meds and the use of this supplement, as it will reduce the amount of the medication absorbed.
T-Muscle also offered this possible negative side-effect for users of glucomannan, and this is the most serious issue I would have for my own use:
Glucomannan isn't perfect as there can be some negative side effects. It was effectively used in a 2007 study to successfully reduce thyroid hormone levels (T3 & T4) in hyperthyroid individuals.(9) The exact mechanism by which glucomannan was able to decrease T3/T4 levels is not completely understood. There's also no evidence to suggest that thyroid hormone levels would be affected in normal individuals.
If someone has considerable weight to lose, or is diabetic, or has gut bacteria issues (might this help with irritable bowel?), the benefits might outweigh risks.
Take a couple of capsules with water 15 minutes before a meal and you'll eat less, plus you'll get all the health benefits associated with increased fiber and a healthier gut.
Imagine eating 12 pounds of food a day -- and still staying thin and healthy. That may sound crazy, but it's exactly what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate for millennia! And they didn't have any obesity or chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or dementia.
Of course, I wouldn't advise anyone today to eat 12 pounds of food, because the food in our society lacks one major secret ingredient that our ancestors ate in nearly all their food -- fiber!
Fiber has so many health benefits that I want to focus on it in this week's blog. I'll explain some of its benefits and give you nine tips you can begin using today to get more fiber in your diet. I'll also tell you about my favorite "super-fiber" that can help you increase your total fiber intake overnight.
But before I tell you about what fiber can do for you, let's a look a little more at the history of fiber.
Why Bushmen are Healthier than the Average Westerner
Dr. Dennis Burkitt, a famous English physician, studied the differences between indigenous African bushmen and their "civilized" western counterparts. The bushmen seemed to be free of the scourges of modern life -- including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
Dr. Burkitt found that the average bushman had a stool weight of two pounds and the "civilized" men had a stool weight of only four ounces - that's 87.5 percent smaller! The difference was in the amount of fiber they ate.
Today, the average American eats about 8 grams of fiber a day. But the average hunter and gatherer ate 100 grams from all manner of roots, berries, leaves and plant foods. And the fiber is what helped those ancestors of ours stay healthy. Just take a look at all the good things that fiber can do for your body.
You need fiber to keep you healthy from top to bottom, as well as to provide food for the healthy bacteria that work within you to promote health.
In fact, fiber can actually prevent obesity(i) and all the chronic disease of aging. This is because fiber slows the rate at which food enters your bloodstream and increases the speed at which food exits your body through the digestive tract. (ii) That keeps your blood sugar and cholesterol in ideal balance -- and quickly eliminates toxins from your gut and reduces your appetite,
There's good science to back this up. Research shows that fiber can lower blood sugar as much as some diabetes medications,(iii) lower cholesterol(iv), and promote weight loss.(v)
It's clear, fiber is a great ally in the battle of the bulge.
But it's also a hero in more serious battles.
For example, one recent study showed how butyrate made by gut bacteria from certain types of fiber acts as a switching molecule that turns on an anticancer gene -- and turns OFF colon cancer. In fact, fiber has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer by as much as a third and breast cancer by almost 40 percent.
It also lowers cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease by as much as 40 percent.(vi) And if you have diabetes, adding fiber to your diet may even help you use less insulin. Plus, it's a great natural cure for constipation and irregularity.(vii)
Now that you know how beneficial it is, let's look at how you can begin taking advantage of fiber's health benefits.
Getting Enough Daily Fiber
You should shoot to get 30 to 50 grams of fiber into your diet every day.(viii) The type of fiber you choose is important, too.
Most people think that bran is the best type of fiber to eat. But bran (wheat fiber) is mostly insoluble and doesn't get digested. Think of it as more of a scouring pad for your intestines. That's good for getting you regular, but it just can't help your health the way that soluble fiber can.
You'll find soluble fiber in fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and most whole grains. The bacteria in your gut metabolizes the soluble fiber in these foods, and that's when the benefits start.
In just a minute, I'm going to tell you how to increase your fiber intake. But first, I want to tell you about some recent discoveries regarding an ancient fiber source that can help you lose weight, lower your cholesterol, reduce your appetite and lower your blood sugar more effectively than ANY other fiber. It's called glucomannan, but I call it super fiber!
Glucomannan: The Benefits of Super Fiber
Glucomannan (GM) is a soluble, fermentable, and highly viscous dietary fiber that comes from the root of the elephant yam, also known as konjac (Amorphophallus konjac or Amorphophallus rivieri), native to Asia. The konjac tuber has been used for centuries as an herbal remedy and to make traditional foods such as konjac jelly, tofu, and noodles. More recently, purified konjac flour, or GM, has been used as a food stabilizer, gelling agent, and supplement.
What makes this fiber so super is the fact that it can absorb up to 50 times its weight in water -- making it one of the most viscous dietary fibers known.
That means that GM can help you shed pounds. In many studies, doses of two to four grams of GM per day were well-tolerated.(ix),(x) This amount also resulted in significant weight loss in overweight and obese individuals.(xi)
GM works by promoting a sense of fullness.(xii),(xiii) Plus, it pushes more calories out through your colon, rather than letting them be absorbed.(xiv) It also lowers the energy density of the food you eat. In other words, it bulks up food in your gut -- creating a lower calorie content per weight of food you eat.(xv)
And since fiber has almost no calories but a lot of weight, adding it to your diet lowers the energy-to-weight ratio of the food that you eat. Studies show that the weight of food controls your appetite, so the fiber increases the food's weight WITHOUT increasing calories -- a critical factor in weight control.
This powerful fiber may also control your appetite in other key ways.
For example, it sends signals to your brain that there is a lot of food in your gut and tells it to slow down on stuffing food in there.
GM also leaves your stomach and small bowel slowly because it is so viscous. By slowing the rate of food absorption from the gut to the bloodstream, GM reduces the amount of insulin produced after a meal, which also controls your appetite.
It may also increase the level of hormones in the gut (such as cholecystokinin), which is another way to control your appetite.(xvi)
And finally, you lose more calories through stool because GM soaks up all those extra calories!
With all those benefits, there's no doubt you should eat more fiber. No, you probably won't be eating 12 pounds of food like your ancestors did! But you can increase your fiber intake, just by being smart about what you eat. Here are some simple suggestions for increasing fiber in your diet.
9 Tips for Increasing the Fiber in Your Diet
1. Get the flax. Get a coffee grinder just for flax seeds, grind 1/2 cup at a time, and keep it in a tightly sealed glass jar in the fridge or freezer. Eat 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds a day. Sprinkle it on salads, grains, or vegetable dishes or mix it in a little unsweetened applesauce.
2. Load up on legumes. Beans beat out everything else for fiber content!
3. Bulk up on vegetables. With low levels of calories and high levels of antioxidants and protective phytochemicals, these excellent fiber sources should be heaped on your plate daily.
4. Go with the grain. Whole grains like brown rice or quinoa are rich in fiber, too.
5. Eat more fruit. Include a few servings of low-sugar fruits to your diet daily (berries are the highest in fiber and other protective phytochemicals).
6. Go nuts. Include a few handfuls of almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts to your diet every day.
7. Start slowly. Switching abruptly to a high-fiber diet can cause gas and bloating. Increase your fiber intake slowly till you get up to 50 grams a day.
8. Consider a good fiber supplement. If you're have trouble getting your fill of fiber, choose a supplement that contains both soluble and insoluble fiber and no sweeteners or additives.
9. Choose GM. By now, you know that my favorite kind is glucomannan (GM), or konjac. Many companies sell it in capsule form. Although I don't normally recommend specific brands, I like the one produced by Natural Factors called WellBetX. You can take 2 to 4 capsules with a glass of water, 30 to 60 minutes before eating. Don't take any medications within 1 hour before or 2 hours after taking it because the fiber may absorb the medication.
As you can see, fiber has big benefits for your health -- from encouraging weight loss to preventing chronic diseases. I hope you'll start adding more of this important compound into your diet today!
Now I'd like to hear from you ...
Have you noticed any ill-health effects from having a low fiber intake?
How much fiber do you think you currently eat every day?
What high-fiber foods do you enjoy?
What steps are you taking to get more fiber in your diet?
Please let me know your thoughts by adding a comment below.
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, M.D.
References
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(ii) Burton-Freeman B. Dietary fiber and energy regulation. J Nutr. 2000; 130(2S Suppl):272S-275S
(iii) Vuksan V, Sievenpiper SL, Xu Z, et al. Konjac-Mannan and American Ginseng: Emerging alternative therapies for type 2 diabetes mellitus. J Am Coll Nutr. 2001;20(5Suppl):370S-380S.
(iv) Gallaher DD, Gallaher CM, Mahrt GJ, et al. A glucomannan and chitosan fiber supplement decreases plasma cholesterol and increases cholesterol excretion in overweight normocholesterolemic humans. J Am Coll Nutr. 2002;21(5): 428-433.
(v) Baer DJ, Rumpler WV, Miles CW, Fahey GCJ. Dietary fiber decreases the metabolizable energy content and nutrient digestibility of mixed diets fed to humans. J Nutr. 1997;127: 579-586.
(vi) Vuksan V, Jenkins DJ, Spadafora P, et al. Konjac-mannan (glucomannan) improves glycemia and other associated risk factors for coronary heart disease in type 2 diabetes. A randomized controlled metabolic trial. Diabetes Care. 1999;22(6):913-919.
(vii) Astrup A, Vrist E, Quaade F. (1990). Dietary fibre added to a very low calorie diet reduces hunger and alleviates constipation. Int J Obes. 1990;14:105-112.
(viii) Walsh DE, Yaghoubian V, Behforooz A. Effect of glucomannan on obese patients: A clinical study. Int J Obes. 1984;8:289-293.
(ix) Livieri C, Novazi F, Lorini R. The use of highly purified glucomannan-based fibers in childhood obesity. Pediatr Med Chir. 1992;14(2):195-198.
(x)Vita PM, Restelli A, Caspani P, Klinger R. Chronic use of glucomannan in the dietary treatment of severe obesity. Minerva Med. 1992;83(3):135-139.
(xi) Cairella M, Marchini G. Evaluation of the action of glucomannan on metabolic parameters and on the sensation of satiation in overweight and obese patients. ClinTer. 1995;146(4):269-274.
(xii) Burley VJ, Paul AW, Blundell JE. Influence of a high-fibre food (myco-protein) on appetite: Effects on satiation (within meals) and satiety (following meals). Eur J Clin Nutr. 1993;47:409-418.
(xiii) Hill AJ, Blundell JE. Macronutrients and satiety: The effects of a high protein or high carbohydrate meal on subjective motivation to eat and food preferences. Nutr Behav. 1986;3:133-144.
(xiv) Pasman WJ, Saris WH, Wauters MA, Westerterp-Plantenga MS. Effect of one week of fibre supplementation on hunger and satiety ratings and energy intake. Appetite, 1997;29:77-87.
(xv) Liu S, Willett WC, Manson JE, Hu FP, Rosner B, Colditz G. Relation between changes in intakes of dietary fiber and grain products and changes in weight and development of obesity among middle-aged women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003;78(5):920-927.
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