7 Ways Fiber Helps You Win At Losing Articles | Weight Loss

By: Richard Bleuze

7 Ways Fiber Helps You Win At Losing

You have gone through diet pills, sweat suits, and supplements.  Yet, you cannot seem to lose weight.  What are you doing wrong?

Chances are you are not eating enough fiber.  Studies have shown that obesity rates are tied to the amount of fiber people eat.  A good example is the United States where the average person only eats 15 grams of fiber per day.  Thus, 60% of adults are considered overweight while so called poorer countries only have 12 to 15% of their population considered overweight since they eat at least 60 grams of fiber daily.

If you are one of the people considered overweight, you will need to change your diet to include more fruits and vegetables since most fiber comes from these plants.  You will find fiber in whole-grain foods, legumes, fruits, leafy vegetables, root vegetables and their skins,
nuts, and bran flakes. 

What can fiber do for you.  Well, it keeps you trim by doing the following:
1.  Offers more food per calorie - some of its calories do not count since much of dietary fiber      cannot be digested
2.  Prolongs your meal - a high fiber diet requires lots of chewing and swallowing, thus it can take a longer time to finish a meal
3.  Bulks up in your stomach - you will not feel hungry since water soluble fiber absorbs water from your stomach and forms a kind of gel that swells up  and sends a signal to your brain that your stomach is full
4.  Keeps you satisfied longer - processing of food is slower
5.  Stabilizes blood sugar - most food with fiber will slowly release their sugars for energy
6.  Boosts your hormones - the hormone GLP-1 slows down the digestion process and gives you a sense of fullness.  It can also help you lose weight
7.  Blocks some calories - dietary fiber can block the absorption of some of the fat and protein that you eat.  If you are overweight, that could be a good thing

Just changing your fiber intake, without altering the number of calories you eat, could mean losing a couple of pounds.  Be careful to add fiber to your diet slowly since too much fiber all at once could cause you uncomfortable gas and bloating.

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