Nowadays, people are really concerned about their health and are looking for various ways to improve it. This is the reason why there are so many diets out there. Certain diets will help a person lose weight while others will help a person gain it. There are also diets for people who should avoid eating certain foods. An interesting diet is one called high fiber diet. Experts believe that this particular diet is pretty healthy and a lot of nutritionists and doctors will recommend it. The main reason why that is so, is because dietary fiber is good for the digestive system and it cleans it. Thanks to that, a person will prevent or relieve constipation if he or she suffers from one. Dietary fiber can mainly be found in whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits. In addition to the fact that high fiber diet is good for digestion, doctors also agree that it is good because it lowers the risk of heart disease, weight loss, diabetes and various digestive conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, hemorrhoids and colorectal cancer.
How does dietary fiber work in a high fiber diet?
People need to know that dietary fiber is actually the parts of the plants that the body cannot digest or absorb. Some of the best known dietary fibers are cellulose, lignins, pectins, gums, mucilages and hemicelluloses. All of these fibers go through the digestive system and do not get changed. Experts have categorized dietary fiber into two categories, soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and insoluble does not.
Soluble fiber becomes a gel-like material after dissolving in water and it aids in the lowering of blood glucose levels and cholesterol. This type of fiber can be found in barley, carrots, apples, citrus fruits and peas and beans.
On the other hand, insoluble fiber increases the bulk of stool and aids in the passage of food through the digestive system. Nuts, wheat bran, whole-wheat flour and lots of vegetables are known to be rich in insoluble fiber.
Foods to include in high fiber diet
When grains are considered for a high fiber diet, people should include a lot of whole grains, cooked cereal, breads, bagels and pastas made of whole wheat. Vegetables are an important part for the diet and spinach, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, green peas and lots of other leafy vegetables need to be a part of it.
Fruits like kiwi, apple, mango, banana, oranges, strawberries, blueberries and dried fruits should be included in the diet.
Certain nuts and seeds like almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds should be a huge part of the diet plan.
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