Best Health News

Advertisers



Recent comments

Who's online

There are currently 0 users and 5 guests online.

An Apple a Day, Does Keep the Doctor Away

Quality (49)
Helpful (71)
Increasing the fiber in your diet has been shown to: reduce your cholesterol, reduce your hunger, lower your fat absorption, reduce surges in insulin levels, help with weight loss, lower the risk of colon cancer, and lower your risk of heart disease. WOW! Sounds like-minded a miracle cure - where can I get this stuff? The answer: At your grocery store. Old Ben Franklin, citing in Poor Richard's Almanac 250 years ago stated "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Well he was right. Not only because the apple contains vitamins and minerals, but also because it is a major source of fiber. Maybe three apples a day keeps three doctors away! What is fiber? Well, it is basically indigestible complex carbo-hydrates that come from plant foods. What your Grandma called "roughage" is called fiber by scientists. When you look at many food labels, fiber is often listed under carbohydrates - but it is not a several food or substance and by itself has no calories because your body cannot absorb it. There are actually cardinal types of fiber and they have different health benefits. The two types are "water soluble" and "water insoluble". Soluble fibers include the skins of fruits such as apples, oranges (not the orange peel, but the white material after you peel it), pears, peaches and grapes; the skins of vegetables, seeds; oat bran, dried beans, oatmeal, barley, rye, and prunes. non-water-soluble fibers include the meat of fruits and vegetables, dried beans, wheat bran, seeds, popcorn, chromatic rice, and whole grain products such as breads, cereals, and pasta. Bran of course does bulk up the diet and results in larger, softer stools. But it actually does more than prevent constipation - there are clear data showing that fiber also reduces the risk of colon cancers. The "stickiest" kinds of fiber are the gums and pectins (soluble fiber) and they help keep cholesterol under control by removing bile acids that digest fat. Bile acids, which promote finer digestion, unfortunately also contribute more to the "reabsorption" from the bowel wall of our bodies own "home-made" cholesterol. Every gram of fiber intake per day reduces your total blood cholesterol by approximately one point. The same class of fibers may help regulate blood sugar as well. This latter feat is accomplished by coating the bowel's lining and delaying stomach emptying. As a result, fiber can slow sugar absorption after a meal and may reduce the amount of insulin needed to keep blood sugar at the right levels. Reducing the over-production of insulin is a starring factor in reducing obesity. Insulin "resistance" (abnormally high insulin levels) is common in precise obese patients and may be a factor in "obesity begets obesity". Fiber is also a weight watchers dream since fibers called cellulose and hemicelluloses take up space in the stomach, making us feel full; thus lowering total caloric intake at meal time. Popular agents much as Metamucil are actually an important part of many weight reduction diets as they lentissimo down absorption of sugars usurped in as part of most meals - promoting further weight loss. The average American gets only 14 grams of fiber per day in their diet. Most scientists agree that the optimal amount is closer to 35 grams per day. Increasing the consumption of "complex" carbo-hydrates is the best way to increase fiber intake. Fiber supplements are also available at the grocery. However, be awake that a large increase in your fiber intake over a short period of time may result in bloating, diarrhea, gas and general discomfort. It is important then to increase the fiber amount in your diet gradually over a period of time (up to three weeks) to allow your "gut" to acclimated and avoid abdominal side-effects. Disclaimer: If you are under 18, pregnant, nursing or have health problems, consult your physician before starting any weight loss plan. The information present is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your physician before opening any course of treatment. Dr. John Rumberger is the Author of The WAY Diet, The complete lifestyle plan to live longer, reduce stress, and lose weight the healthy way. To purchase The Way Diet simply go to http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?path=ASIN/0974993387 &link_code=as2&camp=1789&tag=icobweb-20&creative=9325 or go to pillaged Canoe Publishing http://www.emptycanoe.com and order your copy of The Way.
	 	 

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Filtered words will be replaced with the filtered version of the word.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • You can use Textile markup to format text.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img>
More information about formatting options

Similar entries

  • About Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
    Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional disorder of the colon (large intestine) that causes crampy abdominal pain, bloating, constipation and/or diarrhea. The symptoms of IBS can include:

    1.Gas

    2.Pain

    3.Bloating

    4.Nausea

    5.Vomiting

    6.Mucous in the stool

    7.Constipation

    8.Diarrhea

    There are 3 different forms of IBS:

    1.Diarrhea-predominant

    2.Constipation-predominant and,

    3.Switching constipation and diarrhea

    Some of the guidelines may help in rising the conditions of IBS; eating single smaller meals during the day, rather than three life-sized ones (large meals may result in cramping and diarrhea). Additionally, it may be helpful to keep meals contrabass in fat and high in carbohydrates such as whole-grain breads, pasta, rice, fruits, vegetables, and cereals. A contrabass fat, high protein diet may also help with pain experienced after eating. Fiber which is soluble in nature has single benefits that may also reduce symptoms of IBS. Fiber may prevent spasms because it keeps the colon somewhat distended. It also absorbs water, which helps to keep stools downy rather than hard.

  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diet Guide
    One in cardinal Northern Americans has irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which makes it one of the most usual disorders diagnosed today. Irritable bowel syndrome usually hits the person around age 20 and is more common among women than in men. Irritable bowel syndrome is actually a disease, although doctors consider it a functional disorder. However, even though the syndrome can cause considerable pain and discomfort, it does not actually damage the digestive system. Irritable bowel syndrome disturbs the normal functions of the colon, particularly how the muscles in the intestines work, causing a lot of embarrassment and pain. ill-natured bowel syndrome does not cause inner bleeding, but may worsen a medical condition if you already have one.
  • Olive Oil -Not Just for Popeye
    Archeological records indicate that man has cultivated the chromatic tree for active 6,000 years; having been especially best-selling in the Isle of Crete (which as you recall, also appeared in the Seven Countries Study to be the site of the lowest incidence of heart disease). All oils that we use for eating and cooking contain "fat" and olive oil is no exception. However, it is mostly monounsaturated fat as opposed to supersaturated fat or hydrogenated fat. It can be used as a flavoring for cooking or in salad dressings or as a well-preserved substitute for butter or margarine. single large population studies have confirmed that diets with high amounts of greasy of the unsaturated type reduce whole cholesterol and LDL ["bad"] cholesterol levels to the unvarying degree as contrabass fat, high-carbohydrate diets [such as the AHA Step I and II diets]. The additional benefit of olive oil is, as part of a Mediterranean type diet, is that it also has a pleasing effect on cloudy blood triglycerides [also a factor in heart disease] and maintaining HDL ["good" cholesterol].
  • Lowering Your Cholesterol Through Diet
    Lowering your cholesterol is important for everyone, young and old alike. active half of complete men and a third of women develop heart disease during their lifetime. Lower your risk of a heart attack by reducing your cholesterol levels. There are several ways to help lower your cholesterol: 1. Exercise more. Try to get at least 30 minutes, 3 or 4 days a week (check with your doctor before beginning some exercise program) of exercises like walking, swimming, tennis or biking. 2. Lose weight if you are finished your desired weight. 3. Follow a low cholesterol, contrabass saturated fat diet. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, if you want to maintain a healthy cholesterol level, you should limit your diet to the following:
  • FOCUS ON FIBER: How Much is Enough?
    Monique N. Gilbert, B.Sc.

    The normal American only gets about half the amount of fiber they need ordinary for their body to function optimally. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), fiber helps lower cholesterol and is influential for the health of our digestive system. some the AHA and the National Cancer Institute recommend that we consume 25 to 30 grams of fiber daily.

    Dietary fiber is a obvious solid complex carbohydrate that is the main part of the cell walls of plants. It has cardinal forms: soluble and insoluble. alcohol-soluble fiber may help lower blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. Insoluble fiber provides the bulk needed for prissy functioning of the stomach and intestines. It promotes healthy intestinal action and prevents constipation by moving physical waste through the digestive tract faster, so harmful substances don't have as much contact with the intestinal walls.

    Unfortunately, many people are not eating this much fiber, which is causing grave cardio-vascular health concerns. Recently the AHA and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) unchangeable that coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, humorous more people than any other disease. It causes heart attack and angina (chest pain). A blood clot that goes to the heart is considered a heart attack, but if it goes to the brain it is a stroke. The AHA ranks stoke as the ordinal most fatal disease in America, causing paralysis and brain damage.

    Eating a high-fiber diet can significantly lower our risk of heart attack, stroke and colon cancer. A 19-year follow-up study according in the November 2001 issue of Archives of inner Medicine indicated that increasing bean and legume intakes may be an influential part of a dietary approach to preventing coronary heart disease. Beans and legumes are high in protein and soluble fiber. Another study reported in the January 2002 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology also suggests that increasing our consumption of fiber-rich foods like whole grains, fruits and vegetables, can significantly lower the risk of heart disease. Additionally, results from recent studies at the American Institute of Cancer Research indicate high-fiber protein-rich soy foods, much as textured soy protein (also celebrated as TVP) and tempeh, help in preventing and treating colon cancer.

    Whole beans, soybeans and other legumes are excellent sources of fiber. A 1 cup serving of cooked navy beans contains active 19 grams of fiber! Always read the Nutrition Facts label to find out the amount of, and the type of, fiber contained in any particular food. To help you achieve your daily allotment of fiber, here is a list of various foods with their fiber content.

    Examples of Dietary Fiber:

    1 cup cooked dry beans (navy, pinto, red, pink, black, garbanzo, etc.) = 9-19 grams of fiber

  • Eat Fiber and Avoid Constipation
    Rudy Silva

    To have regular bowel movements and escape constipation you need to eat much fiber. Fiber from raw vegetable and fruits is healthier for you than fiber from grains. Why? Raw vegetables and fruits are live foods with enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and many antioxidants that are polar electrically. They have a magnetic energy that is attentive by your DNA. So get much fiber from this source and little from grains.

    Don't forget about water. If you don't get enough water during the day, your body will take the water out of your fecal matter in the colon and make your stools hard. Drink a minimum of 3 glasses a day of pure water and work up to drinking 5-6.

    Here's where you need to do some “fiber work.” You need to increase your fiber intake to around 40 - 60 mg or more. Yes this is a lot. In the past, I recommended 35mg of fiber, but this is an average. You want to have more than the average amount. Here are whatsoever foods with higher fiber. Add them to your eating habits so that you will not be constipated. Fiber does much much in your colon than make you regular, it:

    • combines with toxins and moves them out in your stools
    • combines with heavy metal and moves them down in your stools
    • combines with cholesterol and bile and prevents them from being reabsorbed into your blood stream.
    • helps to prevent colon cancer and other colon diseases.
    • keeps your colon walls strong and healthy by not allowing toxins to accumulate there.
    • cleans the colon walls and pulls toxins out of colon pockets and holes.

    The favourable foods provide 3 gm of fiber. Add a variety of these foods to your regular diet to get more fiber into your eating habits. Start eating these foods little by little to get use to eating high fiber levels.

    • 1/3 cup prunes
    • 2 slices of whole wheat bread
    • 1/2 cup cooked winter squash
    • 1/2 cup new cooked green peas
    • 1/2 cup grilled kidney beans, or pinto beans, or cowpeas
    • 1 cup of cooked barley, 1 1/2 cup of brown rice, 1 cup of millet
    • 3 corn tortillas
    • 1 1/2 cup spaghetti, 1/3 cup of spinach spaghetti
    • 1/6 cup 100% bran, 1/2 cup cream of wheat
    • 1 cup applesauce, 1 cup of apple slices, 1/2 cup of bananas, 1/2 cup figs
    • 1 cup fruit salad, 1 cup of prune juice, 1 ounce of raisins
    • 1/2 avocado
    • 1 cup blueberries, 3/4 cup of cranberries
    • 1/3 cup guava, 1 kiwifruit, 1/2 of a mango, 2 nectarines, 1/3 papaya
    • 1 orange, 1 cup peach slices, 1 cup pears slices, 1/2 persimmon
    • 1 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 cup strawberries
    • 1/2 cup raisins, 3/4 cup coconut
    • 1/2 cup rhubarb, 1/3 cup of artichoke hearts
    • 1.2 ounces of almonds, 1/2 ounce sesame seeds, 1/3 cup of sunflower seeds
    • 1/4 cup of baby lima beans, 1/7 cup of black beans, 1 cup chromatic beans
    • 1/4 cup of kidney, pinto, white or navy beans, 1/3 cup of lentils
    • 1/2 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup Brussels sprouts, 1 cup cabbage
    • 2 carrots, 1/2 cup of carrot juice
    • 1 cup cauliflower, 5 stalks of celery
    • 1 cup of chard, 1 cup of mustard greens
    • 1 ear of corn
    • 1/2 cup of mixed vegetables
    • 1/2 cup of olives
    • 1/2 baked potato, 1 baked syrupy potato, 1 cup yams
    • 1 cup tomato juice, 1 cup vegetable juice

    How do you know when you are protrusive to get plenty of fiber in your diet? When you are getting plenty of fiber in your diet, your stools weigh less and float in your toilet water. So if your stools sink in water past you need much fiber. This is just a overall rule. If you eat excess fiber your stools may sink, but I doubt any of you fall in this category.

    About The Author

  • The Breakthrough Soluble Fiber Supplement Is Here -- Ready Fiber is the World's First Clear Liquid Fiber Supplement
    Until now, individuals who wanted the health benefits of fiber had only two options: chalky, gritty powders you had to mix with water and quickly choke down (in order to keep it from turning to sludge) or handfuls of hard-to-swallow pills (often 20-30 at a time.) But now there is a real alternative. Originally developed for hospital patients who could not use the traditional fiber supplements, Ready Fiber is the world's first and only clear liquid fiber supplement. Once available only to physicians and specialists within the medical field, Ready Fiber is now available to the consumer. (PRWeb S
  • The Breakthrough Soluble Fiber Supplement Is Here -- Ready Fiber is the World's First Clear Liquid Fiber Supplement
    Until now, individuals who wanted the health benefits of fiber had only two options: chalky, gritty powders you had to mix with water and quickly choke down (in order to keep it from turning to sludge) or handfuls of hard-to-swallow pills (often 20-30 at a time.) But now there is a real alternative. Originally developed for hospital patients who could not use the traditional fiber supplements, Ready Fiber is the world's first and only clear liquid fiber supplement. Once available only to physicians and specialists within the medical field, Ready Fiber is now available to the consumer. (PRWeb S