Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.
March 2009
The common view of dietary fiber is that we need it for bowel regularity. Diet gurus tout its fullness factor; the bulk and the water-retaining properties of fiber that tend to make us feel full and keep us from eating too much.
Foods that are high in fiber are generously endowed with some important nutrients including folate and magnesium, deficiencies of which are common and contribute to heart disease. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains release their carbohydrate slowly and thus help to prevent type 2 diabetes. Fiber helps to lower blood cholesterol, another factor in heart disease.
The need for dietary fiber goes far beyond appetite suppression, bowel regularity and cholesterol. We need it to help feed the trillions of bacteria that inhabit our intestines and which comprise about one or two pounds of our body weight. These are not only friendly microbes, we couldn't survive without them. Known as normal flora, they protect us against harmful germs such as the infamous E. coli O157:H7.
When our friendly bacteria dine upon some forms of fiber they release a chemical that inhibits cancer cells. That could be one reason why a diet that is high in fruits and vegetables lowers the risk of several types of cancer of the intestinal tract, the most common of which is colon cancer.
The true Mediterranean diet is high in fiber. About half of its calories come from fruits and vegetables and even its pasta and bread are made with whole grains. In the early 1960s researchers found that the death rate from coronary artery disease on the Mediterranean island of Crete was one-twentieth that of the United States. Of course, other factors in the Cretan diet and lifestyle played a role but fiber itself is important.
Americans have a dull diet. Monotony has replaced the enormous variety of plant foods that nourished our ancestors until a dozen decades ago. Only 5 vegetables and a similar number of fruits make up more than half of our fiber-containing menu. Most of us never touch whole-grain bread. The potato is rich in fiber and other nutrients yet it has become the poster child for nutritional pornography. Stripped naked, fried and salted it is a valueless food that sells for 40 times its cost of manufacture.
It's time that we appreciated fiber. It could be a lifesaver.
Philip J. Goscienski, M.D. is the author of Health Secrets of the Stone Age, Better Life Publishers 2005. Contact him at drphil@stoneagedoc.com.