The Real Facts About High Fiber Foods

There are so many benefits of a high fiber diet that one wonders why it took so long to realize it. It provides total body support, from cleansing, detoxifying and decreasing the risk of deadly diseases. As a matter of fact, a high fiber diet promotes healthy cholesterol levels. When the wrong type of cholesterol accumulates in your blood and arteries, it can block the flow of blood to your heart and the result can be life-threatening. However, the remedy is not to banish all cholesterol, but to encourage the good cholesterol and limit the bad to maintain good heart health.

Cholesterol is a waxy substance made predominantly by the liver. It forms a part of every cell wall. That is why it is impossible to live without it. Cholesterol also creates bile salts, as well as sex and adrenal hormones. It helps the body to make vitamin D, which helps the nervous system to perform its function. But, when too much low-density lipoprotein or LDL (bad) cholesterol enters the bloodstream, it is deposited on artery walls and interferes with the blood flow. This leads to the oxidization of the arterial plaques of LDL, which can rupture and set off a clotting reaction that prevents the heart muscle from receiving the nutrients it needs to survive. In contrast, high-density lipoprotein or HDL (good) cholesterol helps keep arteries clear. According to the National Institutes of Health, your LDL cholesterol level should be below 130 mg/DL, and your HDL level above 40 mg/DL.

This is where a high fiber diet can do magic. It helps to maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Unicity International, a global health and wellness company conducted a study and found that supplements of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber boosted HDL and lowered LDL. “The remarkable observation is that this works on two sides,” says Unicity Chief Science Officer Peter J. Verdegem, PhD. “It decreased LDL and increased HDL by significant amounts at 90 days. This approach is virtually free of side effects. When it is in the intestines, fiber decreases re-absorption of cholesterol from a meal.”

Another study focusing on more than 150 Hispanic men and women revealed that consuming soluble fiber resulted in a significant decrease in LDL levels by speeding the elimination of waste from the intestines. It also prevents bile from reentering the body.

How Much Fiber Do You Need

Most experts recommend 20 to 35 grams of fiber per day. Unfortunately, majority of Americans take hardly 10 to 15 daily grams. In some countries people take in 100 grams of fiber every day; they have very low incidence of heart diseases.

Fiber is found in vegetarian foods. In contrast, meat and other animal products are devoid of fiber. Refined foods like cakes and cookies made from white flour have had their fiber removed.

Fiber is indigestible with no fattening calories. It was considered of no consequence because it consists of carbohydrates impervious to the digestive enzymes in the gut. That explains why it was ignored for so long. However, now we know that fiber nourishes the immune-boosting, friendly bacteria that line the digestive tract.

Fiber is divided into two types: soluble and insoluble. Both of them produce different health benefits. Soluble fiber exits the stomach slowly, and takes the toxins with it through the digestive tract. Insoluble fiber sweeps toxins off the walls of the intestines. You need to consume a balance of soluble and insoluble.

Author: Brandon H. Masters

Reduce Your Cholesterol With Natural Vitamins

Because of the great efforts of the American Heart Association and other similar organizations, we have gained a lot of knowledge on cholesterol and its effects on our health. We know that high cholesterol levels increase our risk for heart attacks and strokes. We also know that lowering our cholesterol levels will reduce this risk and keep our hearts and blood vessels healthy. Additionally, we know that diet, weight loss, and exercise can help us lower our cholesterol levels. Prescription drugs that lower cholesterol have recently become available and advertised by pharmaceutical companies. However, these medications have some serious side effects including myopathy, reduction in CoQ10 levels, which can lead to heart disease, and rhabdomyaolysis, a rare, but fatal condition. Fortunately, there is a safe alternative to these prescription medications, pantethine and plant sterols, which are also known as phytosterols, are nature’s solution to high cholesterol levels.

Cholesterol, a soft, waxy, fat-like substance, is found in every cell of the body. It is needed to help digest fats, strengthen cell membranes, insulate nerves, and make hormones. Made primarily by the liver, our body makes all the cholesterol that we actually need, but we also get additional cholesterol from the foods that we eat. The highest sources of cholesterol are egg yolks and organ meats including liver and kidney. Peanut butter, avocado, and all other plant-derived foods contain no cholesterol. However, all foods from animal sources do contain cholesterol. Even though cholesterol is responsible for many important functions in the body, too much cholesterol in the bloodstream can be very dangerous. Once blood cholesterol has reached high levels, it builds up on artery walls, and therefore increases the risk of blood clots, heart attack, and stroke. Because the heart is a muscle, it needs a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients. The bloodstream, which transports these nutrients to the heart through coronary arteries, cannot transport the oxygen if the arteries become narrowed or clogged by cholesterol and fat deposits. Depending on the severity, this can result in coronary heart disease, angina, or heart attack.

Because cholesterol and other fats can’t dissolve in the blood, they can’t travel on their own. Instead, they are transported to and from cells by special carriers called lipoproteins. There are two major lipoproteins: low density lipoproteins (LDL) or “bad” cholesterol, and high density lipoproteins (HDL) or “good” cholesterol. LDLs cause atherosclerosis because they clog up our arteries with the continual buildup of fat. On the other hand, HDL prevents fat buildup by carrying it away from the arteries to the liver, where it can be processed and eliminated.

Triglycerides, which are fats used as fuel by the body, can make the blood more sluggish and less capable of transporting oxygen when in high amounts. There are many medications prescribed by physicians for people with elevated triglyceride levels. Some of the most effective, and most harmful, are the statins. The all-natural combination of pantethine and plant sterols can safely lower triglycerides and LDL cholesterol levels, while increasing HDL cholesterol.

Pantethine, which is a form of pantothenic acid that is found in liver, salmon, and yeast, is known for its ability to lower cholesterol by blocking its production. The production of cholesterol in the human body is a very complex process, involving many biochemical reactions and enzyme activity. Pantethine inhibits several of these enzymes, blocking the activity of those coenzymes involved in cholesterol synthesis by about 50%. To compensate for the lowered cholesterol production, the liver pulls LDL out of the bloodstream, resulting in a lower total cholesterol level.

Plant sterols, which are the fats of plants, are found in nuts, vegetable oils, corn, and rice. They are structurally very similar to cholesterol and are therefore able to act as a stand in for cholesterol and block its absorption, causing it to be eventually excreted. If we eat enough plant sterols, the amount of cholesterol transported from the intestinal tract to the liver is greatly reduced. And, just like pantethine’s effect on the liver, this cholesterol reduction causes the liver to pull LDL cholesterol out of the blood, which reduces both total and LDL cholesterol levels.

Because the plant sterol and pantethine found in food just aren’t enough to have much of an effect on our health, we need to take a concentrated combination of pantethine and plant sterols in just the right ratio. Plant sterols, which are bound in fibers in the plants, can not be adequately consumed even if we ate lots of raw fruits and vegetables. There are also several forms of plant sterols, with some ratios of these plant sterols being more beneficial than others. While pantethine is found in several food sources, it is hard to get beneficial amounts from our food. Manufacturers of high quality nutritional supplements offer pantethine and plant sterols in the most beneficial ratio, proven by research. The best results are found when taking a combination of 400 mg of plant sterols and 200 mg of pantethine three times a day. Recent studies have shown that lowering cholesterol in people without heart disease can greatly reduce their risk for ever developing CHD, along with heart attacks and atherosclerosis. This is also true for those with high cholesterol levels and for those with average cholesterol levels. Most physicians would never consider prescribing statin drugs to people without actual heart disease or high cholesterol levels because of the many health risks of the drugs. However, the combination of pantethine and plant sterols are very effective in helping those people with heart disease, high cholesterol levels, high triglyceride levels, as well as those just wanting the extra health insurance for their hearts. Pantethine and plant sterols are both very safe. Although some people may experience a mild upset stomach when first taking pantethine, taking the combination of pantethine and plant sterols with meals can usually solve this problem. Pantethine and plant sterols are available at your local or internet vitamin store.

Author: Darrell Miller