Why you need fiber in your diet

Why you need fiber in your diet

Your ancestors evolved from little monkeys that lived their entire lives in the trees.   The foods that these monkeys ate were “fruit and nuts from tree and vine.”   Occasionally they would eat insects or bird eggs, but mostly they ate fruit and nuts.   All these foods have fiber.  The fiber is the plant cell wall.  These fruit and nut foods today are still the most healthful foods for humans to consume.

Our digestive system is designed to process food that has a certain amount of fiber occurring naturally.  In plant food this is about 2 – 3 grams of fiber per one hundred calories, and more for beans.

Our bodies do not measure the caloric content of food.  Our bodies measure fiber content of food to calculate caloric content.  When we drink cola, or eat ice cream, or eat candy, our bodies are unaware that we have consumed additional calories.  It is as if our bodies thought we were consuming water [which has no calories] instead of high calorie liquids.

We do not get satiated from fulfilling caloric requirements.   We get satiated from a feeling of “being full” due to the fiber content in the food.   If you eat food with fiber content, it is almost impossible to eat too much food.  You will naturally stop eating when you have consumed enough calories, because the fiber in the food will “fill you up.”

Use the measurement of at least “one gram of fiber for every one hundred calories.”  This is based on the idea of 30 grams of fiber a day and 2500 calories a day.   The ratio is actually 1.2 grams of fiber, but 1.0 grams is easier to calculate.

It is best to eat foods that have natural fiber content.  Eating processed “health food” with more than 5 - 6 grams of fiber [for every one hundred calories], might cause digestive distress.  Some supplement bars have 9 - 10 grams of fiber for every one hundred calories.  This is artificial fiber and should be treated with caution. 

So remember, for optimum health only eat foods that have at least “one gram of fiber for every one hundred calories.”  Only drink water.

Copyright © 2016

William Schaeffer