What is Fiber/Fibre?

As we reach a stage in life, where we get to take care of kids as a mother, we get lots of questions and only in that time we tend to learn more about food and show eagerness to know more about healthy nutrition. We do worry a lot about our kids and in our minds so many questions will arise. Does my child eat enough? Are they healthy? Lots and tons of questions like that every day.

I am in that stage now and all my friends and neighbors who is having the greatest task of all, mothering kids ask and share their questions and worries with me. The most of the problems they encounter with kids , is constipation. Many parents complaint about how much struggle the kids go through with constipation. Not only kids, many of the adults I know deal with the same problems.

Only when the constipation problem comes everyone tend to think about the solution. And only at that time they learn about the term Fiber. It is mainly because in our adult lives, we cannot seem to find enough ways to make fiber our part of nutrition.

Mostly everyone is having the idea , that the fiber is only a micro nutrient or it can be taken only when needed or occasionally. This is what I realized after watching all our senior people’s diet.
So I want to emphasize the facts about fiber here and bring the fascination over fiber, which should be in the top of everyone’s nutritional requirements list.

What is Fiber?

Dietary Fiber consists of nondigestible carbohydrates that are available only from plants.
These are resistant to human enzymes. So they pass into the human intestine relatively intact. So they cannot provide energy to the body. They provide very little calorific value.

What are the kinds of Fiber?

Fibers are of two kinds. Soluble and Insoluble.
Soluble – These kinds of fibers are soluble in water. They are found in structural material of cell wall of plant food. It adds bulk to stool and softens the stool. It is found in skins of various fruits, bran etc.
Insoluble – they are soluble in water and so bring the gummy or gel like nature to the food eaten. It is found in pulp of fruits, legumes greens etc.

Thus the major sources of dietary fiber are whole grains (unrefined grains like whole wheat, brown rice, oat bran), legumes, vegetables, fruits and nuts.

Why is dietary fiber so important?

Even if fiber brings no energy and less calorific value it is more important in any diet because it does a great deal of other good things and brings lots of physiological effects in the body. Lack of these fibers in the diet, can result in inadequate fecal bulk and may detract from optimal health.

Gastric emptying and satiety:

Consumption of soluble fibers expands the food taken and thus delays the gastric emptying process. This also delays the process of digestion and absorption of nutrients
once in the small intestines. So the extended stay of nutrients brings satiety and fullness.
So the dietary fibers are considered as an important component in weight loss diets. Thus soluble fibers and water together help in weigh control and maintenance.

Laxation:

Dietary fibers add bulk to stool and bring effective laxation in humans. This helps to prevent constipation, appendicitis and other intestinal problems by keeping the fecal bulk, moist and easy to eliminate.
Because of the greater bulk and speed of foods through the digestive tract, it is believed that harmful substances cancer causing agents ( carcinogens) are also swept out before they can cause problems .Less carcinogenic exposure to the colon may mean fewer colon polyps and less cancer, Thus fibers helps to prevent colon cancer and other types of cancers too.

Normalizing the blood cholesterol levels:

Soluble fiber lowers total and LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) therefore reducing the risk of heart disease. Consumption of fiber containg foods and supplements thus help to prevent Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and Atherosclerosis.

Reducing blood sugar levels :

High-fiber diet may reduce insulin requirements and increase insulin resistance, improving blood sugar levels overall. Thus dietary fiber helps in treatment of diabetes and to prevent diabetes. The secondary benefits of a high-fiber diet for diabetes include its lower calorie (energy), fat and simple carbohydrate content, which may explain its beneficial effects in weight management.

So add fiber everyday, keep the doctors away.

How to reduce the risk with high blood cholesterol?

The following steps can be taken to keep your cholesterol low and reduce your risk for atherosclerosis (a heart disease,which is costly and fatal )

- Follow a diet lower in saturated fat and cholesterol

- Be physically active

- Maintain a healthy weight

- Not smoke
-In extreme conditions medications are prescribed

Diet : The fat intake from food matters very much in lowering cholesterol. As there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol there is good and bad fat. The intake of good fat and reduction of bad fat is what really matters when comes to heart disease. The good fats, mono and poly unsaturated fats really help lower the risk. The bad fats, saturated and trans fats increases the risk. The key is to substitute good fats for bad fats. The Recommended daily Allowance for cholesterol is 300 mg per day based on a 2000 calorie diet. So care is needed to limit cholesterol intake on daily basis.

The easiest and best way is to start herba life products. Herbalife has no cholesterol, low carbohydrate, no transfat and low salt. It is rich in protein and full of essential nutrients and fiber. Also Herbalife is the only foods, which provides enzymes, and ginger and other nutrients that facilitate assimilation of the nutrients in to our body effectively .So that way herbalife is the ideal food to reduce risk for heart diseases.

Excercise:

Excercise itself doesnt " burnoff " cholesterol like it can with fat tissue. However, when it is labor intensive(1500kcal or more per week), excericse can increase metabolism and help in conversion of some form of cholesterol ot HDL,the good cholesterol. With regular excercise aproximately 30 minutes a day for 7 days a week, the LDL cholesterol can be reduced by 10 percent.
Thus life style can affect the Blood pressure, blood Cholesterol and blood glucose level. So a change in lifestyle is pretty much needed.

All about cholesterol

Heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women in most countries. More than 90 million American adults, or about 50 percent, have elevated blood cholesterol levels, one of the key risk factors for heart disease, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's National Cholesterol Education Program. If othr risk factors including poor eating, cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity are present in addition to high blood cholesterol, the risk of heart disease is even greater.

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance found among the lipids (fats) in the bloodstream and in all your body's cells. It's an important part of a healthy body because it's used to form cell membranes, some hormones and is needed for other functions. But a high level of cholesterol in the blood — hypercholesterolemia — is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack.

What are the types of cholesterol?

Cholesterol and other fats can't dissolve in the blood. They have to be transported to and from the cells by special carriers called lipoproteins. There are several kinds, but the ones to focus on are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Based on this the cholesterol is of two types.
LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol

What is LDL cholesterol?
LDL cholesterol is called "bad" cholesterol. LDL lipoprotein deposits cholesterol on the artery walls, causing the formation of a hard, thick substance called cholesterol plaque. Over time, cholesterol plaque causes thickening of the artery walls and narrowing of the arteries, a process called atherosclerosis. So high level of LDL cholesterol causes coronary heart disease.

What is HDL cholesterol?
HDL cholesterol is called the "good cholesterol" because HDL cholesterol particles prevent atherosclerosis by extracting cholesterol from the artery walls and disposing of them through the liver.
Total cholesterol is the sum of LDL (low density) cholesterol, HDL (high density) cholesterol, VLDL (very low density) cholesterol, and IDL (intermediate density) cholesterol.

What are the sources of cholesterol in blood?

Dietary intake – animal ,diary products, fat
Liver production - Liver produces the necessary cholesterol needed for the body. As such it is not necessary to get additional cholesterol from food.

What are the desired levels of the cholesterol in blood?

For adults age 20 years or over, the latest guidelines from the National Cholesterol Education Program recommend the following optimal levels:

Total cholesterol levels less than 200 mg/dl
HDL cholesterol levels greater than 40 mg/dl
LDL cholesterol levels less than 130 mg/dl
What is Ratio of cholesterol?

The ratio of HDL to LDL and total cholesterol, is actually more important then total cholesterol in predicting heart attack, heart disease, stroke, arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, coronary artery disease and other cardiovascular diseases.
The Desired ratios are

Total cholesterol / HDL less than 4.2

LDL/HDL should be less than 2.5

Above this range is very risky.

What are the factors affecting this cholesterol level?
A variety of things can affect cholesterol levels. These are things you can do something about:

• Diet - Dietary cholesterol comes mainly from meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products. Organ meats, such as liver, are especially high in cholesterol content, while foods of plant origin contain no cholesterol. So having food high in cholesterol increases blood cholesterol level


• Weight - Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease. It also tends to increase the cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower LDL and total cholesterol levels, as well as raise HDL ,good cholesterol
• Physical inactivity
• Smoking and alcohol
• Diabetes
  
• Things you cannot do anything about also can affect cholesterol levels. These include:


• Age and Gender-As women and men get older, their cholesterol levels rise. Before the age of menopause, women have lower total cholesterol levels than men of the same age. After the age of menopause, women's LDL levels tend to rise.
• Heredity - Genes partly determine how much cholesterol the body makes. High blood cholesterol can run in families.