High Fiber Eases Inflammation. Soluble and Insoluble…what are they, why should we care, and how do we get it?
Plagued with achy joints? Your remedy may be found on your plate…
New research published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases journal discovered that those that eat a higher fiber diet are less likely to experience osteoarthritic knee pain.
The Framingham study spanned over 34 years and included just over 1,200 people with an average age of 54.
- The group that ate the highest amount of fiber ate an average of 26 grams
- The group that ate the lowest amount of fiber ate an average of 14 grams
The researchers found that the more fiber people ate, the less knee pain they reported, and the less likely they were to be diagnosed with knee arthritis. In fact, those that ate the most fiber had 61% less risk of osteoarthritis knee pain compared to those who ate the least fiber.
No One Gets Enough Fiber
The group that ate the highest amount of fiber was still under the recommended daily allowance for dietary fiber. Fiber only occurs in fruits vegetables and grains. Ii is part of the cellular wall of these foods. High fiber diets may reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. They draw fluid from the body to add bulk to the stool.
Fiber supports healthy cholesterol, feeds our microbiome, stabilizes blood sugar levels, escorts toxic bile to the toilet and keeps the bowels running smoothly.
It safeguards your colon, liver and gallbladder, supports the growth of beneficial gut bacteria and, as the study above showed, it can also reduce knee pain from arthritis! It may not surprise you that Americans only eat about half the fiber they should in order to harvest the health benefits of a high-fiber diet. The average American only gets 10-20g of dietary fiber per day. According to experts, if you can achieve a fiber intake of 50 grams per day or more, you will experience a healthy difference.
Ayurveda’s takes on Joint Ailments
Thousands of years ago, Ayurveda made the connection between joint health and colon health, in that many joint ailments actually originate in the colon. Toxins and undigested food can irritate and compromise the integrity of the intestinal wall. These irritants can lead to lymph and liver congestion, which can lead to an accumulation of toxic irritants in the joints.
A high-fiber diet ensures the health and integrity of the intestinal lining, and also ensures that the unwanted toxins attach to the bile (which acts like a toxin-eating Pac-Man) It is important to be eating fiber at all times of year to ensure the health of the colon. There are two types of fiber, insoluble and soluble fiber.
Insoluble fiber is often called “roughage,” as it generally does not break down in the digestive tract. It is found in fresh fruits, veggies, tubers and legumes.
Insoluble fiber’s job is to provide bulk in the intestines, while helping to balance the pH levels in the intestines. It promotes regular bowel movements, and helps to prevent constipation. Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in water, and doesn’t ferment with bacteria in the colon. It is believed to help prevent diverticulosis and hemorrhoids, while sweeping out carcinogens and toxins from the system. Nuts, seeds, potatoes, fruit with skin, and green vegetables are excellent sources, as mentioned above.
The job of soluble fiber is much the same, however it creates a gel in the system binding with fatty acids. Studies show that it prolongs stomach emptying to allow for better absorption of nutrients. Soluble fiber helps to lower cholesterol and helps to regulate blood sugar levels for individuals with diabetes. It is present in beans, legumes, oats, barley, berries, flax seeds, and some vegetables like okra. It does ferment in the stomach, which can lead to bloating and gas. Increase these foods gradually, and drink plenty of water.
Soluble fibers are the fibers that break down and become slimy and soft during the digestive process. Many foods have a little of both types of fiber, but there is a seasonal emphasis that we can follow.
In the spring and summer, there is an abundance of insoluble fiber with the harvest of leafy greens and fibrous fruits, veggies and tubers. In the fall and winter, there is a shift to a harvest of soluble fibers with more grains, beans and seeds that are readily available.
Where has all the Fiber Gone?
According to a new study out of John Hopkins, every day, massive amounts of fiber are thrown away.
Instead of eating the fiber-rich foods on our plates, we are throwing our uneaten food fiber into landfills. The amount of fiber we throw away annually, if eaten, would provide the amount of fiber we would need to meet our daily fiber requirements.
For example, food wasted each day in 2012 contained about 1.8 billion grams of dietary fiber. That same year, American women under-consumed dietary fiber by 8.9 grams per day.
The daily amount of wasted dietary fiber was equivalent to the amount needed to fill this shortfall for as many as 206.6 million adult women, according to the study.
To help remedy this problem, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency have a goal of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030.
Soluble Fiber–Soluble fiber is soluble in water. It becomes slimy and lubricating in the gut when it mixes with water in the digestive system. Think of psyllium or Metamucil.
Food Sources
Soluble fiber is found in oat bran, barley, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, peas and some fruits and veggies.
Function
- Binds with fatty acids and bile in the gut, which are generally attached to bad cholesterol and toxins earmarked for the toilet.
- Becomes gel-like in the gut and slows the absorptions of fats and sugars into the blood stream.
Benefits
- Supports healthy good and bad cholesterol and LDL levels, thereby supporting heart health.
- Regulates or slows the blood sugar release from the gut for healthy blood sugar levels.
Risks
- Too much soluble fiber can dehydrate the gut. Have you ever added water to psyllium in a glass? Being a soluble fiber, it will attract water and expand quickly in the glass. If too much soluble fiber is taken, it may pull water away from the gut wall, drying it out.
- The expansive effect of soluble fiber can also overly distend the gut. This could cause chronic constipation, a distended bowel, and sluggish absorption of certain nutrients such as sugars and fats into the blood stream.
Insoluble Fiber–Insoluble fiber does not mix with water and generally moves through the gut intact, acting as bulk and scrubbing the intestinal wall. Think of vegetable roughage.
Food Sources–Insoluble fiber is found in wheat bran, fruits, veggies, and whole grains.
Function
- Insoluble fiber tends to speed up the passage of food through the stomach and intestines, adding needed bulk to the stool.
- It is also in charge of maintaining the proper pH of the gut, which regulates the balance of good bacteria in the gut.
Benefits
- Promotes regular bowel movement and prevents occasional constipation
- Removes toxic waste through the colon in less time.
- Scrubs the villi of the intestines.
- Helps keep an optimal pH in the intestines to prevent microbes from producing toxic substances.
Risks
- Too much insoluble fiber can irritate the gut as excess roughage can inflame a sensitive digestive system.
While most nutritionists give soluble fibers most of the credit for cardiovascular support, blood sugar regulation and healthy cholesterol, much of these benefits would not exist without the aid of insoluble fibers.
Insoluble fibers in the form of cellulose escort the toxins into the toilet. If only soluble fibers existed, toxins might be bound to soluble fibers in the gut with no way out, lingering in the gut and eventually being re-absorbed back into the bloodstream and liver.
Experts at the National Academy of Sciences are recommending that these two terms, soluble and insoluble, be phased out with regard to fiber, as their benefits are so intertwined that their exact roles in the gut are still unclear.
How much daily?
Today, the general consensus is that we should eat about 25-30 grams of fiber a day in a ratio of 3:1 insoluble fiber to soluble fiber. This suggestion is the same for every day of the year. Nature has a nutritional cycle that takes one year to complete, so getting all your nutritional needs met each and every day in a daily nutritional allowance is quite impossible from nature’s perspective.
Nature’s Prescription
It should be clearly understood that most whole foods carry a balance of soluble and insoluble fibers. That said, each food seems to have an emphasized amount of either soluble or insoluble fiber, helping fulfill the function of that kind of fiber in the diet.
In the spring and summer, we harvest mostly fruits and vegetables, which clearly emphasize a higher content of insoluble fiber, which is abundant in fruits and veggies.
In the fall and winter, the harvest is mostly nuts, seeds and grains, which emphasize a higher soluble fiber content.
It seems that nature may have intended us to eat a soluble fiber-rich diet of lubricating and moisturizing nuts, seeds and grains in the winter, and a higher insoluble fiber diet of cellulose-rich fruits and veggies in the summer. Why?
The Indisputable Logic of Nature
In the summer, the digestive strength weakens in an attempt to not overheat the body, and survive a long hot summer. To balance the weaker summer digestion, the foods harvested in this season are cooked on the vine by the hot summer sun. Being pre-cooked in this way, they do not require excessive digestive heat.
Insoluble fibers in the form of fruits and veggies are cooling in nature and provide intestinal bulk and the proper pH to keep a somewhat weaker digestive process moving through the summer months. Since it is the insoluble fiber that moves the waste out of the intestines, a diet low in insoluble fiber will allow toxins to linger in the gut and be re-absorbed to the liver, where they will slow bile flow. Toxins (also known as internal heat) will build up in the liver.
In the fall and winter, as the heavier, warmer, and denser foods are harvested, the digestive fire and body heat are increased to boost digestive strength and provide needed winter warmth. It is much the same as turning the heat on in the house in the winter!
Foods high in soluble fiber are emphasized this time of year to lubricate and during a long, cold and dry fall and winter.
**Eat more raw Fiber Foods for Spring/Summer:
**Eat more Cooked Fiber Foods for Fall/Winter: Think vegetables, lentils, peas, beans, grains, (in moderation), nuts, seeds, fruits etc. **Refer to Seasonal Eating Handout.
Reference list of high fiber foods: Avocado, figs, Asian pears, Artichoke, Berries, Coconut, Peas, Okra, Brussels sprouts, Lima beans, Lentils, Nuts, Flax and Chia seeds, Quinoa
