How Important Is Dietary Fiber?

A recent study funded by the Council for Responsible Nutrition Foundation (CRNF), studied a group of American adults over the age of 55 that had heart disease. The study concluded that taking psyllium dietary fiber every day, could save the healthcare system nearly $4.4 billion a year.

The effect may be even greater than that, as new research reveals that the lack of fiber in the diet may not just impact your health, but also that of future generations.

Low-Fiber Diet Promotes Extinction of Gut Bacteria:

Healthy people have about 100 trillion bacteria living on and inside of them. That is about 2 - 3 pounds of bacteria in total. To be healthy, we should have 20,000 to 30,000 various species of bacteria in our gut. We should also have at least 85% beneficial bacteria and less than 15% pathological bacteria in our gut.

A recent study found that low-fiber diets cause "waves of extinction" of the bacteria in the gut of mice. It was also found that this altered gut flora gets passed down to their offspring. As much as 60% of the microbe species suffered severe decline in the low-fiber group.

Each successive generation of offspring in the low-fiber group also ended up with less diversity than their parents, suggesting the problem compounds over generations.

This all leads to leaky gut syndrome, which I think should be renamed as hyper-permeable gut syndrome. Leaky gut syndrome occurs when the pores, known as tight junctions, enlarge in the intestines. The result is that molecules that normally should not get into the bloodstream do. This leads to allergies, inflammation, auto-immune diseases and premature aging. Leaky gut syndrome also is a strong contributing factor in diabetes, neurological dysfunction, heart disease, stroke and cancer, which are all major causes of death in the United States.

Besides a low fiber diet, leaky gut syndrome is caused by eating foods that contain grains that were grown in fields treated with Roundup (glyphosate), consuming GMOs, eating meat treated with antibiotics, consuming antibiotics and certain other drugs and consuming gluten. Gluten by itself never seemed to do that much damage in the past, until it synergistically teamed up with these other factors. That is why years ago, you never heard of people with gluten sensitivities.

Exercise Alters Gut Microbes and Promotes Healthy Development:

Early activity can also be helpful. Surprising as it may sound, researchers have discovered that exercise during childhood promotes healthy brain development and healthy metabolism, in part by positively impacting gut bacteria.

The Importance of Fiber for a Healthy Gut:

One of the quickest and easiest ways to improve your gut health is by eating REAL food, along with traditionally fermented foods.

Mounting research suggests that a high-fiber (especially soluble fiber) diet can help reduce your risk of chronic disease and premature death from any cause.

Some of the microbes in your gut, specialize in digesting the soluble fibers found in legumes, fruits and vegetables. The byproducts of this fermenting activity help to nourish the cells lining your gut, thereby preventing leaky gut and all of those related health problems.

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