Hey, you! This is your bowel calling and we need to talk. You know why? Because I need more fibre than you’re currently putting into your diet and if we don’t get this fixed, things could turn ugly for me (and then you) in the future. Here’s what you need to know:
High-Fibre Diets And Your Bowel
Your bowel needs a high fibre diet. When you have a high level of fibre in your meals then your stools are more likely to be soft and easy to pass. Who wants constipation? Not me, not you, right? So fibre is the way to stop that. Nobody wants diarrhoea either, right? Fibre in your diet means that your stools are likely to be bulkier and more solid. That should be reason enough but there are long-term consequences of a low fibre diet too.
If you have a consistently low fibre diet for long enough, things can start to go wrong in your bowel. You are at a much higher risk of developing haemorrhoids which are painful and can cause real distress later in life and diverticular disease (where pouches start to form in your colon). Yuck. There’s also some good evidence coming in at the moment that fibre is essential to keeping the colon a healthy place too.
The rest of your body will thank you for making the switch to a high-fibre diet too. Fibre has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels and that means a healthier heart and lower blood pressure. It helps the body better regulate your blood sugar levels (reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. And best of all, it really can help you maintain weight loss more easily as high-fibre foods are normally low in calories and bulky so they fill you up faster.
It is also possible, though the evidence is not yet conclusive, that a high-fibre diet can help prevent colo-rectal cancer.
Fibre Supplements Vs Real Fibre
We know that it’s tempting to cheat to try and get the fibre you need into your body. There are fibre supplements out there that you can buy and start taking to try and short cut the process of eating healthy real foods but there’s a problem with this.
When we talk about turmeric we like to be very specific about the health benefits because they are well known and understood and as new research emerges, we like to share that research. When it comes to fibre supplements – there’s not much research to be had.
In fact, it seems likely that chemically generated fibre may not digest or process the same way in your body as real food fibre does. If it doesn’t, then your bowel may not reap the rewards of a high-fibre diet and you won’t either.
We strongly urge you to go with real food solutions to healthy eating approaches. They are far more sustainable and effectively proven to work than chemical solutions.
