The Importance of Dietary Fiber :: Health Medicine

The Importance of Dietary Fiber We share many experiences with the kings of old pastries, for instance,and home entertainment and holiday trips to far-off lands. Ancient-daycommon folk knew nothing of such things. Then again, they werent slow up...We are. Not all of us, of course. But enough Canadians so that somedoctors call ours a constipated society. And even if youre notconstipated, your present day diet may be leading you to more seriouscomplaints like disorders of the large intestine or colon. These, too,were afflictions of of the upper berth classes of old. Why? Because in generalthe rich refined their food, along with their lives, and so stripped itof an odd but essential ingredient called dietary fibre.Like its fellow carbohydrates, the various types of dietary fibre are theproduct of sunlight, water and carbon dioxide combining in green plants. Most form part of plant cellphone walls. But unlike the other carbohydrates,fibres do not break down into sugars in the human digestive system andthen course through the tune stream fueling muscles and nerves. Rather,when eaten they tumble intact through the stomach and small intestine andend up in the colon where billions of bacterial feed on them - in turnproducing intestinal gas. No wonder, then, that dietary fibre has beenunwelcome in many of historys nicer neighborhoods.Even 20th century doctors reasoned that since the bulky sensible providednot a single nutrient, it would only strain already troubled guts. Accordingly, they recommended low-fibre diets for patients suffering fromhemorrhoids and other colon disorders often found in the West. But then, some 15 years ago, the prescription was reversed as researchers foundthat poor Africans, who eats lots of fibre, rarely suffer from suchcomplaints. Fibre, the researchers learned, actually eases the bowelsburden by mixing with water and other food residues.Soon, nutritionists came to see the low-fibre diet of most North Americansas a culprit in the onset of disorders ranging from tooth decay to heartattacks. Increasing the consumption of certain kinds of fibre, they found,could slow the bodys absorption of sugars to which diabetics aresensitive, and of cholesterol, which may lead to heart disease.Furthermore, fibres fight obesity. Theyre filling, especially thepectins in citrus fruit and the gums in some beans. And theyre mainlyindigestible. So dieters eating lots of fibre are likely to eat less ofother, more fattening foodstuffs.As for why populations on high-fibre diets seem to experience fewer colon