Fiber

The digestive system is an important part of the human body. Therefore the digestive system is also important an aspect for maintaining your health and regulating digestive system, in a certain way, will help you loose weight. For you to fully understand how to properly regulate the system I will inform you on what your digestive system actually does for you.
First off, the digestive system is a living organism that needs food to stay alive and to follow through with various activities. These activities include: ingestion, digestion, ingestion, respiration, movement, circulation, absorption, coordination, secretion, excretion, and reproduction. Also, it builds up immunities against diseases while maintaining and building metabolic and cellular growth. Food is absorbed by the digestive system’s body tissues which convert your food to energy.
To learn about the actual process that food goes through, check out hyperlink. Also here is a list of interesting facts (know your body) about the digestive system.
The key to regulating your digestive system is FIBER. Fiber is not digestible so it creates mass in the intestines that helps cleanse the internal digestive tract. There are two types of fiber-soluble and insoluble.


Soluble fiber is the type that will dissolve in water and as it dissolves, it forms a gel-like substance called bulk. This type of fiber can be found in apples, oat bran, citrus fruits, pears, beans, and carrots.
Insoluble fiber is the one can’t be dissolved in water and is the bulk that cleanses and moves through the system. These help those with constipation or irregular movement issues. Insoluble fiber is found in cabbage, wheat bran, all nuts, and many vegetables.
Fiber has a lot of benefits which make it a key to being healthy internally. Insoluble fiber eliminates constipation. This is caused by creating a bigger size and weight of food excreted from the body. A high-fiber diet can lower your risks of contracting disorders such as: hemorrhoids, IBS, and the development of diverticular disease. Soluble fiber lowers bad cholesterol levels. When this cholesterol is pulled out through waste, the digestive system takes the cholesterol out of the blood. This causes a significant decrease in cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber can also slow the process of sugar being absorbed which helps regulates blood sugar levels for patients and could possibly reduce the risk of contracting diabetes type 2.
Foods high in fiber are harder to chew and might take longer; which causes you to eat less and be filled up faster. This is a good tip to use while eating. Get tough foods that are somewhat hard to chew and try chewing for about 20 seconds. Be sure to pick fiber foods so that you actually get filled up fast and stay full for a longer time. Fiber foods are also lower in calories so choose these rather than a lot of meat or pastas.
The National Academy of Sciences’ institute of medicine says that men younger than 50 should consume about 38 grams of fiber and women should consume approximately 25 grams each day. Men over the age 50 should intake 30 grams and women 21 grams of fiber every day. On this page you will find a list of some foods that are high in fiber and should be consumed at least once a week. Fruit juice, white bread, and pastas are refined or process which lowers the protein. (Juice is really good for you so try to buy brands with the least amount additives. A good sample is Ocean spray or Welch’s.

Ocean spray and Welch’s are a hundred percent real juice and are guaranteed to have no additives!) Don’t remove the skin on your fruits and vegetables either; it is the most important part!
Don’t use supplements like Metamucil or Citrucel either because they don’t provide the “real deal.” Yes, they do have an abundant amount of fiber but they don’t have the vitamins and minerals that you get from the actual food.
Also, some people can get addicted to the results and increase their intake. Increasing the amount of fiber to you diet to quickly can cause bloating, gas, and cramps. Do not start taking fiber supplements or laxatives every day. It’s alright to take the supplements if you’re just looking to boost your fiber intake but do it every other day or maybe once a week. Wal-mart has many tasty fiber supplements that you can add to a water bottle. I found that the Vita Splash and the South Beach Diet work the best. These come in two different enjoyable flavors, raspberry lemonade and strawberry and banana smoothie. There around $2 each and come with about ten packets per box. Crystal Light also has two flavors: berry and raspberry peach but these only have 3 grams of fiber. The two I mentioned early have five grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein.
High fiber foods