SHARES
“Health isn’t everything, but without it, everything else is nothing.” – Schopenhauer
The idea of eating for gut health has since taken the wellness industry by storm. Therefore, it’s probably no secret that a diet of high fibre food is essential in achieving good gut health. Fibre is said to do everything! Everything from keeping your gut healthy t0, as The New York Times so aptly puts it: lowering the chances of you dying.
No wonder experts are always trying to get us to eat more fruits and vegetables, sources of high fibre!
Benefits of a high fibre diet
While the benefits of fibre are innumerable, available to read all over the net – it’s mechanism is a whole other story. Biologists at the University of Gothenburg, Fredrick Backhead and his team of scientists made incredible progress in discovering fibre’s role in our overall health.
For one, fibre doesn’t directly deliver its benefits to the target organs, rather it does it through the millions of bacteria in our gut.
Here’s where the inflammation-fighting properties come in: When good bacteria populates our gut, it boosts the immune system, helping fight infections ranging from the common cold to more serious ailments, such as immune disorders and IBS.
A separate study published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe, found that mice on a low-fibre diet didn’t have a high population of good bacteria in their gut as their fruit- and veggie-eating counterparts.
A few studies have found that people who eat diets high in fibre have lower C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in their blood. CRP is a marker of inflammation that’s indicative of diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), heart disease and diabetes.
What is Fibre ?
Fibre, a carbohydrate that your body can’t break down, passes through the body undigested.
It comes in two varieties: insoluble and soluble. Insoluble fibre is found in whole grains, wheat cereals, and vegetables such as carrots, celery, and tomatoes. Soluble fibre sources include barley, oatmeal, beans, nuts, and fruits such as apples, berries, citrus fruits, and pears.
Fibre and the Heart
Fibre’s role in preventing heart disease is thought to come from its ability to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. A high-fibre diet also fills you up, which helps you eat less and hence, lose weight!
Fibre and Diabetes
Soluble fibre help improve blood sugar management by slowing down digestion, leading to more stable blood sugar levels after eating. The cholesterol-lowering effect of soluble fibre may also help reduce the risk of heart disease in people with diabetes
Fibre and the Brain
New research suggests another potentially big benefit – high-fibre diets can induce a chemical cascade that reduces brain inflammation. In turn, this would mean less cognitive decline with age and a decreased risk of neurodegenerative diseases.
What a win !
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by Yashwini Ravindranath
Born & raised in Malaysia, Yashwini earned her M.D. studying in Moscow's Russian National Research Medical University. With an affiliation towards research, all things coffee and the startup ecosystem, she now contributes articles to GetDocSays View all articles by Yashwini Ravindranath.
