Health Benefits of Fiber

Written by Guy Gustafson
April 04, 2017

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Fiber plays a key role in living a healthy, fit lifestyle, but it commonly gets overlooked by people in their diets and daily meals.

Fiber plays a key role in living a healthy, fit lifestyle, but it commonly gets overlooked by people in their diets and daily meals. A 2014 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study concluded that a high fiber intake lead to a longer lifespan in participants. It has also been documented that about 90 percent of Americans do not meet their daily fiber intake requirements which range between 20-35g a day, vary for males and females.

Most people know fiber for helping to keep them regular and assist with digestive health, but fiber provides many positive benefits throughout the body. For example, fiber helps aid in weight loss, can improve cholesterol numbers and even helps decrease the risk of some cancers.

Fiber assists in fat and weight loss by helping to prevent overeating. Fiber isn’t digested the same as other macros (protein, fats, carbohydrates); they are through the body fairly slowly and remain intact. This prevents a satiating and full feeling thus stopping you from grabbing that quick sugar and fat-filled snack when cravings usually tend to occur. It also help improve and control blood sugar levels, thus leading to additional reduced fat storage.

One of the most interesting pieces of research done on daily fiber intake is the research done that shows it can help decrease or lower the chance of some cancers. It has been shown that meeting your daily fiber requirement can help lower the risk of heart disease, diverticular disease and even the chance of getting Type 2 diabetes. There was a Harvard University study done that showed that “a high total dietary fiber intake lead to a 40% lower risk of coronary heart disease as compared to a low fiber intake.”

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