When we talk about improving our health, we often are told about the things we should remove: processed foods, sugar, alcohol, smoking, sedentary behavior, gluten, watching too much tv.. While I certainly agree that practicing moderation of these somewhat “toxic” ingredients and behaviors will improve your overall health, when it comes to encouraging people to make sustainable lifestyle changes, I prefer to adopt a mindset of ABUNDANCE, where we focus on adding what is GREAT for us, and watch how the rest naturally diminishes.
There are so many things we can ADD in to improve our health, one tool that’s SIMPLE and often overlooked, is getting enough fiber. As of recently, I was introduced to the brand Supergut who’s fiber blend product I’ve been enjoying for optimizing gut health, this inspired me to write a blog about fiber and the (science backed) benefits it has to offer.
SO WHAT IS FIBER?
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body does NOT digest or absorb. And that’s actually what makes it particularly essential for our health.
While most carbohydrates get broken down into sugar and absorbed in our blood stream to give us energy, fiber cannot be broken down into sugar.
Instead, fiber acts as a nutrient’s best friend. It binds to water and bodily fluids in our intestines and travels through our digestive system to regulate the body’s use of sugars, excrete waste, and add bulk to our stool.
There’s two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble fiber.
Soluble fiber dissolves in water, forming a gel-like material. This type of fiber is important to lower cholesterol levels, and helps regulate blood sugar.
Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water, it absorbs them and binds to other material in our colon to form a stool. Insoluble fiber helps to pass a bowel movement more quickly, which prevents constipation and aids in the excretion of waste, undigested food, bad bacteria and even parasites.
Getting the right amount of each fiber aids in total digestion and lowers the risk of cancers and GI related disease (P.S A lot of disease stems from poor digestion, including mental health).
Now that we have a good idea of what fiber is, and the different types and functions,
Here’s 5 reasons why getting more fiber in your diet can boost your health.
BLOOD SUGAR MANAGEMENT + REDUCED RISK OF DIABETES: Getting enough fiber in our diet helps in blood sugar management and reduces the risk of developing diabetes as fiber actively improves the body’s response to insulin production. When we eat a meal with carb/sugar containing foods, the nutrient converts to glucose which builds up in our bloodstream, and causes a spike in blood sugars. Over time these large spikes in blood glucose cause our glucose levels to stay elevated putting a lot of strain on our body and the constant production of insulin. Adding fiber to a meal can reduce the blood sugar spike from the carbs/sugars we ingest as fiber slows down the absorption of the sugars. When blood glucose levels are lower and more stable throughout the day, we are actively preventing the risk of diabetes. Soluble fiber is the best kind of fiber to regulate blood sugar and keep cholesterol levels low- you can get this fiber through foods like apples, bananas, berries, citrus, broccoli, carrots, oats, beans.
2. BETTER GUT HEALTH AND DIGESTION: When soluble fiber absorbs water and reaches our colon, it feeds the good gut bacteria that’s found in our microbiome. The good bacteria in our gut (AKA our microbiome) is responsible for keeping good digestion, and fighting off bad bacteria that can lead to infection, inflammation, discomfort and digestive diseases like SIBO and IBS. Fiber is also extremely helpful for digestion in its insoluble form. Insoluble fiber adds to bulk to our stool by attaching to molecules in our intestine, thus creating a bulkier, softer stool, and causing us to pass a bowel movement more quickly. This prevents constipation, and the regularity keeps any bloating, distention, and gas at bay. Insoluble fiber is found in foods such as wheat bran and multigrain breads, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, cauliflower, green beans, kiwi, berries and more.
As of recently, I’ve been working on improving my digestion that got thrown off from life’s stress and changes (stress constipation, anyone?). To ease my digestion while I am out of the house, or having a hard time regulating my bowel movement in general, I have been implementing Supergut’s Gut Balancing Add-To-Anything Fiber mix, and I have to say it’s been a game changer. Supergut’s individual fiber mix packages have been very convenient for those always-on-the-go days, when quality ingredients are still a priority of mine. The fiber mix contains 8 grams of prebiotic fiber, has NO artificial flavors, colorants, or sweeteners, as well as no soy (WIN, WIN, WIN, WIN!). The fiber blend also contains clinically validated resistant starch- a starch that acts similar to soluble fiber as it resists digestion to improve insulin sensitivity, lower blood sugar levels, reduce appetite, feed good gut bacteria and helps pass a bowel movement. Resistant starch is usually formed from cooking and then cooling starches like oats and potatoes, and to be completely honest, sometimes I just have NO time or patience for that. So I’ve used this powder to take with me to work, add to my Starbucks drink, a savory meal, and the occasional green juice which all contain 0 fiber, and tend to spike my blood sugar. The first day I tried the product, I added half the packet to my yogurt, and the other half to my morning matcha latte. The blend mixed effortlessly to both textures and is tasteless, and the fiber definitely did it’s job, if you know what I mean!
If you want to try Supergut's Fiber Mix , I highly recommend it. Not only is the fiber blend convenient and affordable, but I truly believe this brand has been working hard to put our quality product, and it shows! You can use the link here to access the Fiber blend mix, and get 10% off using the code FLAMINIA10
3. WEIGHT LOSS/ MANAGEMENT: When it comes to weight loss or management, I’m all about adopting a mindset of ABUNDANCE of the good, rather than restriction of the bad. In this approach, we have fiber. A study done from the University of Massachusetts Medical School once compared two groups of individuals with metabolic syndrome (prone to gaining weight) to observe which group would lose more weight. One group was told to adopt a Mediterranean diet of vegetables, fish, lean meats, legumes, and cut out sugar, salt, fat, and alcohol. The other group was simply told to get 30 grams of fiber in per day and avoid any changes to their diet. At the end of the study both groups had averaged 19 grams of fiber per day, both groups lost weight as well as lowering blood pressure and improving insulin response. The fiber group lost on average 1.3 pounds LESS than the group following the Mediterranean diet, however the group lost an average of 4.6 pounds, and maintained their weight loss for 12 months. If you ask me, although the Mediterranean diet saw slightly greater results (and probably learned more about nutrition) the Fiber group had a fairly easy and low effort approach to losing weight and success managing afterwards. Weight loss from adequate consumption of fiber happens because fiber slows down the digestion of carbohydrates. This makes us feel fuller for longer, and have a better insulin response. The lower blood sugar spikes also reduce sugar cravings, making it easier to avoid sugary and high calorie foods that can cause overeating and weight gain. Plus, the improved digestion benefit that fiber offers leads to less bloating and a flatter stomach, which can certainly make you appear healthier and leaner, and give that confidence boost!
4. IMPROVED BRAIN FUNCTION AND MENTAL HEALTH: Fiber rich foods often contain pre and probiotics that aid in feeding the good bacteria in our gut microbiome. Pairing fiber with pre and probiotics aids in the absorption of these gut friendly bacterias that float around our microbiome. But how does this translate to mental health? Our body has a GUT-BRAIN axis that consists of direct communication between our nervous system in our brain, and our enteric nervous system (ENS) found in the wall of our gastrointestinal system. This means that the health of our brain is a constant reflection of the health of our gut, as many neurotransmitters like serotonin (happiness and pleasure), dopamine (adrenaline and focus), GABA (relaxation, sleep) are mostly produced in the GUT! In addition, fiber aids in reducing inflammation in the body (again a response from better blood sugar management) and the brain, which helps in reducing brain fog and improve the availability of these mood boosting neurotransmitters. So long story short- fiber is extremely helpful in absorbing probiotics, and growing a healthy gut environment that supports your mental health. Some foods that include both fiber and pre-probiotics include fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi, as well as berries and artichokes, and yogurts. Finding foods that contain both fiber and pre/probiotics can be more tricky as sometimes these foods can be harder to digest for those who don’t have a very diverse gut microbiome, or may have food intolerances. To help this, you could start by using Supergut’s Fiber Mix that includes prebiotic fiber + resistant starch, to give your body the fiber it needs without the fermentation that can cause discomfort.
5. CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: Both soluble and insoluble fiber have been linked to improving heart health. Fiber’s role in preventing heart disease stems from its ability to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. Soluble fiber especially aids in lowering cholesterol by lowering the low-density lipoprotein (“bad” cholesterol). High blood pressure and cholesterol levels increase the risk of heart disease as it causes the arteries to become narrower and less elastic. This makes it harder for the heart to pump blood through our body. With enough fiber keeping our inflammation and blood sugar lower, our arteries stay clear of built up plaque that grows from high cholesterol. High fiber foods that are exceptionally good for heart health include beets and dark leafy greens, flaxseeds, and oat bran.
HOW MUCH FIBER SHOULD WE GET IN?
The academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends consuming roughly at least 25 grams of fiber for women, and 38 grams for men. Like everything in life, more is not always better. When increasing your fiber intake, my best recommendation is to take it slow. Adding too much fiber suddenly within your diet can cause gas and bloating as your body is not used to requiring such work to break down the foods. Try slowly increasing your fiber intake over weeks to allow the digestive system to adjust. Remember to drink plenty of water as fiber works best when absorbed with water.
FIBER BRAND RECOMMENDATION:
If you find yourself on the go a lot and are looking for easy ways to increase your fiber, I recommend implementing a fiber powder supplement that you can pair with a snack, or meal or add to any drink like coffee, juices, and tea. I love using the Supergut’s Gut Balancing Fiber Mix because it contains 8g of fiber per serving with clinically validated resistant starch from real food sources like bananas and oats. This product is something that I wish I had before in times when I was healing and strengthening my gut microbiome, something that we ALL can benefit from. It easily mixes into drinks, unlike other products I’ve tried such as psyllium husk (which always clump and taste gross). The blend is unflavored, and unsweetened ensuring that no funky sweeteners or gut damaging additives are in the product.
My best tip is to mix the product into a green juice to improve glycemic control by reducing the blood sugar spike!
Supergut is now offering 10% to customers using code FLAMINIA10 , get yours now and let's heal your gut! https://my.supergut.com/floghigo
Xoxo,
Flo
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