7 Reasons You Should Add More Fiber to Your Diet

Make your gut happy !

2 min

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By Leyla Spiesky
April 13, 2022

Why trust us?

When you read about healthy eating, it’s not just about the big macronutrients. If you want to maximize the healthy power on your dinner plate, you can’t avoid making sure you’ve got plenty of fiber on there.

Although “roughage” isn’t the same kind of nutritional category as “carbohydrates” or “protein”, it’s been proven to have a positive influence on your well-being.

The NHS recommends 30g of dietary fiber per day for adults. In reality, most adults are only consuming about 18g of fiber daily.

We’ll give you the ultimate reasons to add fiber to your diet.

#1 It has a satiating effect

Dietary fiber is largely a vegetable component of food that cannot be broken down (completely) in the small intestine. High-fiber foods must be chewed for a long time, which sends satiety signals to the brain before the food even reaches the stomach. They are also classified according to their solubility in water. Highly soluble dietary fibers are found in oats and legumes, for example. These increase their volume by binding to water. As a result, they’re digested more slowly. This explains the longer retention time in the stomach, as observed in a study from 2016. According to this study, water-soluble dietary fibers have a positive influence on the feeling of satiety.

#2 It curbs cravings

Simple carbohydrates from white flour products cause your blood sugar levels to spike — and drop just as quickly. These blood sugar fluctuations can lead to cravings. Slowly breaking down fiber-rich foods also slows down digestion. As a result, our blood sugar levels don’t rise as steeply and also drop again more slowly.

#3 For a healthy gut

Your intestinal flora includes more than 1000 different species of bacteria that influence your digestion and immune system, among other things. Some dietary fibers serve as a nutritional basis for your intestinal flora. Soluble fiber is better fermented by the bacteria than insoluble fiber. The energy produced by this fermentation is used to maintain your protective intestinal barrier. Additionally, it improves water and sodium absorption in the gut.

#4 Good for digestion

Dietary fiber gets your digestion moving and is the key to a sluggish stomach. Their ability to bind water increases their volume in the intestine, which stimulates intestinal activity to move things along. Importantly, if you incorporate more fiber into your diet, you must also increase your fluid intake.

#5 Health benefits

A study commissioned by the WHO in 2016 showed that the daily intake of dietary fiber can have a direct impact on health. According to the study, a daily intake of 25-30 grams of dietary fiber led to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, intestinal tumors, and diabetes. The study doesn’t show, however, whether this connection is only due to the dietary fiber or to other ingredients in the foods consumed.

#6 Lowering cholesterol levels

Water-soluble dietary fibers have a positive influence on cholesterol metabolism. They bind bile acid, which interrupts the intestinal-liver cycle and leads to increased formation of bile acid. As a result, more cholesterol is broken down, and the amount of “bad” cholesterol decreases.

#7 Improved absorption of micronutrients

The consumption of non-digestible fiber promotes the absorption of the minerals calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc.

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Sources for this article

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