Opinions about nutrition are like noses, everybody has one. And opinions about the best nutritional components are hotly debated. However, all the medical experts agree…Fiber is necessary to live healthy! 

WHAT THE MEDICAL PROFESSION IS SAYING ABOUT FIBER?

1. Oprah Winfrey’s Nutritionist and diet guru Bob Greene says about fiber in his best selling book “The Best Life Diet” : “Fiber slows down digestion so that your blood sugar level stays elevated and delays the release of some of the hormones that signal your brain that it is time to eat again. As an added bonus, foods rich in fiber take up space but adds no calories.  Your diet should contain at least 25 grams of fiber a day if you are a woman and 38 grams a day if you are a man

2. Arthur Agatston, M.D., the author of the famous South Beach Diet Book says that fiber delays your stomach’s effort to get at the sugars and starches in carbohydrates. He also mentions a tip to lower the glycemic index of any meal: “Fifteen minutes before you begin eating, have a spoonful of Metamucil in a glass of water.” Dr. Agatston also suggests reaching for a glass of water whenever you are thirsty and that water is especially good for dieters because it creates the sensation of a full belly. 

3. Dr. Mehmet C. Oz M.D. was featured on Oprah (February 2006) talking about the importance of fiber in your diet.  Dr. Oz is a professor and vice chairman of surgery as well as director of the Cardio Vascular Institute and Integrated Medical Center, New York Presbyterian-Columbia University and author along with Michael F. Roizen M.D. You: On a Diet says: “Many of us may associate fiber with better health and increased toilet time, but fiber is the speed bump of your GI interstate.  It slows everything way down. Technically, it works by slowing the transit of food across the ileocecal valve, keeping your stomach fuller for longer. The result: a greater feeling of satiety and an increase of appetite-suppressing CCK-like signals.

4. Dr. Steven A. Schnur, M.D. author of the Reality Diet book says, “Fight Fat with Fiber” Not only does fiber stop hunger it also significantly lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes, as well as other diseases.

5. Tanya Zuckerbrot M.S. R.D. Author of the F-Factor Diet who’s contributed to Shape, Glamour, Red Book and serves on the board of Men’s Fitness not to mention appearing on Today and on Fox News asks the question in her aforementioned book, (p. 60) “If you saw a food label that said “May reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, could lower your cholesterol and control your appetite,” you would think that it was a scam. Yet that is exactly what fiber does.  Adding fiber to your foods is one of the best things you can do to increase the chance of living a long and healthy life.

6. Anne Collins, is a great believer in the power of fiber and believes fiber has significant health benefits and may assist weight control. Anne says “Fiber-deficiency is now linked to a higher risk of digestive conditions, raised cholesterol levels, and some intestinal cancers. Soluble fiber slows down digestion in the stomach and intestines, thus stabilizing blood glucose levels, and may also increase the uptake of minerals and other nutrients during digestion through her Community weight loss Forum. Her weight loss program is used by doctors in obesity clinics, and by dieters throughout America and in 20 countries worldwide, attracting to her website 10 million visitors annually from celebrities to ordinary people.”

7. "People used to fall asleep when you would talk about fiber," says registered dietician Keith Ayoob, associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "Now fiber is hot, and people are realizing it's more than nature's broom." Fiber does more than keep us, um, regular… Research shows that this nutritional workhorse may reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and gastrointestinal problems like diverticular disease.

8. Allen S. Josephs, M.D. says Aside from epidemic obesity rates, we are also a country that consumes inadequate amounts of fiber. So what's the big deal, you might ask about not consuming adequate fiber? In the latest issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers reported on data from nearly 10,000 subjects participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants completed a 24-hour dietary recall questionnaire and were subsequently followed for an average of 19 years. During that period of time, over 1,800 cases of coronary artery disease occurred along with nearly 3,800 cases of other forms of vascular disease. It was found that those individuals who consumed higher levels of soluble fiber reduced their risk of heart disease by 15% compared to those who had the lowest intake of fiber. Another study published in the May 2003 edition of the prestigious journal Lancet, 33,000 participants were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial designed to investigate methods for early detection of cancer. It was noted that high intake of dietary fiber was associated with a lower risk of colon/rectal adenomas which are benign tumors that can frequently lead to cancer. Those participants in the highest quintile of dietary fiber intake had a 27% reduction in the risk of developing adenomas compared to the lowest quintile.

9. In addition, diets high in dietary fiber can help diabetics keep blood-sugar levels under control. "High-fiber diets may protect against obesity and cardiovascular disease in healthy young adults by lowering insulin levels," says Claude Lenfant, M.D., director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, M.D., based on new analysis of data from the multi-center, population-based CARDIA study that's taking place in Chicago, Minneapolis, Birmingham, AL and Oakland, CA. The purpose of the new analysis is to examine fiber's role as compared to that of fat and other major dietary components in the development of cardiovascular disease factors such as hyper-insulinemia, obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol levels.

10. Dr. David Williams, world recognized author in his publication Alternatives for the health-conscious individual (November 2006) says: “Increasing the fiber in your diet is one of the most successful, tools you can utilize to help combat obesity and address most of the problems associated with metabolic syndrome.”