In this article, I will reveal some little-known facts about fibres and the harmful effects (lack of) or beneficial effects (presence of) they have on your body.
What are Fibres and How it Impacts Health?
Fibre is the indigestible part of all plant foods. It is found in fruits, vegetables, grains and beans. Your digestive system cannot stomach fibre, so it is excreted undigested. You may think that you do not need fibre since it is excreted undigested anyway. This notion is wrong.
Let’s imagine the following scenario:
You overeat at least once or twice a week, more often at weekends. And your regular menus do not have much fibre. This might be your preferred lifestyle and diet; however, this will create a lot of health problems (effects) for you, including:
– Constipation
– Discomfort in stomach & aches
– Gases in the digestive tract
– Haemorrhoids
– Indigestion
– Getting tired easily
– Lack of concentration on what you are doing
Overall, you become less productive at work and more irritable at home. Besides all these, you gain more and more weight. Hopefully, that is the moment you realise you do have a ‘problem’.
What Cause Digestive Problems?
The culprit is often linked to lower intake of fibre-rich foods and, conversely, higher intake of foods without fibre (like meat). The average amount of fibre intake should be about 25-30 grammes per day. Unfortunately, most people’s regular diets include less than 10-15 grammes daily.
To help your digestive issues, you should start consuming more fibre-rich foods like:
– all bran cereal
– beans
– peas
– spinach
– wholemeal brown bread
– red cabbage
– carrots
– baked potato with skin
– apples, bananas, oranges and all fruits
Types of Fibres
There are two types of fibre – soluble and insoluble. If you start eating more food rich in fibre, you will be amazed by its beneficial effects on your body, health and way of life.
Soluble fibre forms glue-like gel in the intestinal tract. The gel softens stools (no more constipation) and improves your digestion (no more indigestion).
Fibre slows down ‘stomach-emptying’ process and you feel fuller longer. This effect helps you crave and eat less, and your body burns additional calories to digest fibre, which will help you lose weight.
Insoluble fibre is an excellent natural laxative because of its ability to hold onto water and to push waste faster along the intestines. The fibre in intestines also decreases the risk of colon cancer.
Like many others, I used to have little fibre-rich food, and suffered frequent stomach issues and indigestion. Then I started to include more fruits and fibre-rich foods in my daily diet. This really worked for me and eradicated my digestive problems. Now, fibre-rich food is the most important nutritious part of my regular diet.
What if Fibre-rich Diet Does Not Help?
You may ask: What if the fibre-rich diet protocol does not work for me and my digestion is still very bad? The drug-free solution is to get a Zone Chiropractic adjustment, specifically with Zone 4 (aka the Digestive Zone). The Zone 4 adjustment will allow proper ‘brain-to-spine’ communication and vice versa. So, all nervous system interferences in the digestive system will be restored and your digestive health will be functioning in a more robust manner. Chiropractic adjustments in conjunction with a high-fibre diet is most ideal in obtaining the most optimal digestive system synergistically.
Your Trusted Chiropractor (Specialist in Zone Chiropractic)
Dr. Nicholas Lim, D.C., ANutr, B.Sc. (Hons)
[Dr. of Chiropractic and Nutritionist &
Secretary of Chiropractic Association of Singapore]
WhatsApp :+65 9352 8828
Telephone : +65 6970 8152
Email : contact@drchiro.com.sg