There’s a macronutrient in our food that cannot be digested by our body, which is highly essential for our health. But we don’t eat enough of that. Intrigued much?

In today’s blog, we are going to be discussing “dietary fiber” and how it is an essential element for good metabolic health.

What Is Dietary Fiber?

Dietary fiber is mostly a component of plant-based foods. It is found in grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. It is also commonly referred to as “roughage”. Our digestive system is unable to process fiber and it keeps moving through the gut, small intestine, and colon almost intact. However, even as it moves through the digestive system it performs some vital functions for the body.

Before we go further with understanding the functions performed by dietary fiber, let’s touch upon the types of dietary fiber.

Mainly there are two types of fibers - Soluble and Insoluble.

• Soluble fiber can dissolve in water. It transforms into a gel-like material when it travels through the stomach.
• Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. It does not break down into smaller molecules. It passes through the digestive system as it is.

Both these fibers perform essential functions. Soluble fiber has the ability to lower the speed at which food moves through the digestive system. Thus giving it more time to digest properly. While insoluble fiber bulks up the stools and makes them softer for passing out smoothly.

Obviously, these are not the only functions performed by dietary fiber.

Let’s take a deeper look at the functions of dietary fiber in our next section.

Functions of Dietary Fiber

Historically speaking, dietary fiber has come a long way. Early biologists and scientists believed that fiber was “food wastage”. Their scientific findings suggested that fiber should not be consumed at all since it is indigestible. This thought process gave rise to the “refined” food culture. However, as time marched forward and research into nutrition grew, scientists, doctors, and biologists understood the nature of dietary fiber and how it contributes to the health and overall well-being of a human being.

Here are the vital functions performed by dietary fiber -

1. Improves overall gut health

People who include fibrous foods in their diets regularly have soft bowel movements. Stools that are padded with fiber move through the colon tract easily. The stools are solid and soft when rich in fiber. Fiber relieves constipation and other digestion-related issues simply by being present throughout the digestive system.

The presence of dietary fiber in the intestine prevents the build-up of harmful substances in the digestive tract. Fibers are rich in antioxidants and other essential micronutrients too. They play an important role in multiplying good gut bacteria and terminating bad gut bacteria. Research has revealed that fiber-rich diets may prevent a person from suffering any form of gastrointestinal cancer.

2. Prevents metabolic disorders

Blood glucose spikes or heightened levels of blood glucose in the body are alarming signs. It is important to maintain stable blood glucose levels throughout the day for optimizing metabolic health.

Dietary fiber helps in achieving that by slowing down the absorption of glucose in the body since it remains in the intestine for a longer duration. Higher fiber content, especially soluble fiber, ensures that there are lower blood glucose spikes.

3. Achieving A Healthy Weight

The presence of dietary fiber in the body helps achieve a healthy weight. It can proactively aid in fat loss. Eating foods that are rich in fiber fills up the stomach more easily. And since the fiber remains in the gut longer than other foods, it ensures that one doesn’t feel hungry or famished quickly. Also, as compared to the volume of the food, it carries fewer calories, hence it is a healthy choice.

Fiber is an extremely important element for heart health, gut health, blood sugar, and cancer prevention. You can therefore understand how significant it must be for optimizing your metabolic health as well.

To make the most out of this miraculous macronutrient, one should make it a part of their everyday diet. It is essential that we consume at least 50grams of fiber in a day. The best course of action to follow is making fiber a part of every meal that you eat. Another great and easy to follow idea is consuming fiber at the beginning of the meal. This will automatically reduce your overall food intake and fulfill your fiber requirements too.

Metabolic health is a blanket term that is derived from metabolism. However, metabolic health covers much more than just the metabolic rate. Metabolic health is the process of how the body interacts and responds to food, exercise, stress, and sleep. Someone who has good metabolic health will be at a lower risk of suffering from diseases caused by metabolic syndrome such as Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases, and Stroke. While someone with bad metabolic health will automatically show signs of metabolic syndrome which in turn leads to chronic diseases like diabetes, BP, obesity, etc.

At Upside Health, our mantra is to optimize metabolic health. Optimize is a dynamic word that allows you to constantly evolve to a higher level. So you can progress from bad metabolic health to good metabolic health and improve even further.

Where To Find Dietary Fiber?

Automatically in this discussion, the next question that pops up is what foods are rich in fiber. Here’s a sneak peek into foods that contain high amounts of dietary fiber:

1. Seeds (flaxseeds, chia seeds)
2. Beans & lentils
3. All types of legumes
4. Whole fruits (berries, guava, pears and grapefruit)
5. Green leafy Vegetables
6. Oats

Food For Thought

“There is an old saying: If you want to hide the treasure, put it in plain sight. Then no one will see it.”

- Larry Dossey

Fiber is a treasure for optimizing your metabolic health. It has numerous benefits, some of which have been discovered and so many more may come to light as science progresses. We hope you will take full advantage of this treasure and build a healthier lifestyle!