Fiber for bowel cleansing
Without exception, doctors advise people to eat foods that contain a sufficient amount of dietary fiber. This is necessary to maintain normal bowel function, to cleanse and heal it. Fiber is a great food for fighting constipation.
Coarse dietary fiber helps to reduce blood cholesterol levels, enhances the production of bile, and reduces the likelihood of developing serious diseases, including atherosclerotic vascular injury, diabetes mellitus, intestinal cancer, and heart disease. It is recommended to introduce fiber into your diet for people suffering from overweight. You won't be able to lose weight without it. Fiber-rich foods can help reduce appetite by keeping you feeling full for a long time.
Content:
- What it is?
- Kinds
- 10 foods that are good for your gut
- Benefit
- Using fiber to cleanse the intestines
- How to clean: rules of use
- Contraindications
What it is?
Fiber is nothing more than complex carbohydrates that fill the voids in the fibers of plant cell walls. Fiber does not dissolve in water, but it is able to absorb large volumes of it and swell. It is broken down only in the large intestine.
It is the ability of fiber to increase in size and not be digested under the "attack" of the enzymatic juices of the stomach and intestines that are its main features.
Having absorbed water, the fiber will pass through the entire digestive tract, cleaning its walls from undigested food debris. The natural contractions of the intestines will be strengthened, and its villi, cleared of deposits, will begin to work as expected. This will allow the body to get maximum benefits from food, saturated with vitamins and minerals.
It is imperative to include foods with fiber in your diet for those people who are trying to lose weight. Such food has a minimum calorie content, and also promotes long-term satiety. Hunger will not bother for a long time, because the swollen dietary fiber moves slowly along the digestive tract, absorbing all the harm that was accumulated earlier.
Kinds
The source of fiber is plant foods.
There are several types of dietary fiber, including:
- Soluble. It is found in oatmeal, flaxseed, apples, orange and red vegetables, citrus fruits and legumes. Upon contact with liquid, these fibers expand and become jelly-like. Swollen, they fill the entire stomach. The substances that make up soluble fiber are inulin and pectin. This also includes resins, gums and mucus. They are a kind of binding components.
- Insoluble is found in vegetables and fruits (mostly in their skins), in brown rice, in cereals and bran, in seeds and nuts. It has a spongy consistency and increases in size when it interacts with water. Insoluble fiber is represented by substances such as: cellulose, hemicellulose, lignins. The body cannot digest such fibers.
It should dwell in more detail on the main types of fiber and products that contain it:
- Comedin can be obtained from oatmeal and dried beans.
- Pectin is rich in apples, carrots, citrus fruits, cabbage (white and cauliflower), dried peas, green beans, strawberries, potatoes, strawberries, fresh fruit drinks. Pectin, like gums, affects the absorption of food in the stomach and small intestine. They react with bile acids and reduce the consumption of fat by the cells of the body. This helps to lower blood cholesterol levels. Food stays in the stomach longer, and the intestines are enveloped from the inside, which reduces the rate of absorption of sugars. This is important for people with diabetes mellitus, as it allows you to reduce the dose of insulin administered.
- Cellulose is present in bran, cabbage (broccoli and Brussels sprouts) and young peas, wheat flour, waxy and green beans, cucumber skins, apples, carrots and peppers.
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Hemicellulose can be found in bran, cereals, brown grains, beets, mustard greens, and cabbage. Cellulose, like hemicellulose, has the ability to absorb water, relieving stress on the large intestine. Feces easily and quickly pass through the intestine, which allows you to get rid of constipation. Eating foods with fiber is an excellent prevention of diseases such as hemorrhoids, cancer and varicose veins of the colon, diverticulosis, spasmodic colitis.
- Lignin can be found in bran, grains, and stale vegetables. The fact is that over time, the level of this substance in vegetables increases compared to the level of lignin in fresh products. This type of fiber is present in strawberries, peas, green legumes and radishes. Lignin reduces the absorption of other fibers, has the ability to bind to bile. Thanks to these properties, the level of cholesterol in the blood decreases and the process of moving food masses through the intestines is accelerated.
- Pharmaceutical fiber is presented in granules and powder. It can be consumed as a stand-alone food product or added to dishes. If a person eats food with fiber, he needs to drink enough water. Its volume per day should be at least 2.5 liters.
10 foods that are good for your gut
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Wholemeal bread. This bread is a source of fiber, which is available to everyone. In addition, it contains many useful substances represented by vitamins and microelements. To get enough fiber, you need to choose bread made with wholemeal flour. The most beneficial is rye bread, which is low in calories and rich in fiber. Eating it helps to lower blood cholesterol levels as well as cleanse the intestines. Therefore, it is not surprising that such bread is included in a wide variety of therapeutic nutrition schemes. Two slices of rye bread a day is enough to normalize the digestive processes.
- Bran and cereals. It is enough to eat one serving of cereals with pieces of fruit to provide your body with 14 g of pure fiber. A saucer with oatmeal 25% covers the daily human need for dietary fiber. Oatmeal contains starch, but it is slowly absorbed by the body, so it does not harm it. This allows you to get rid of hunger for a long time.
- Lentils and other legumes. Having eaten a portion of lentils, a person will provide himself with 16 grams of fiber. Such food is a source of iron and zinc, it does not lead to the accumulation of toxins in the body. All other legumes are also not devoid of dietary fiber. A serving of black beans provides 15 g of fiber, and a serving of beans provides 13 g. In general, legumes are considered healthy food, so they are recommended to be included in dietary schemes. However, they need to be consumed in small portions so as not to provoke flatulence.
- Strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries and raspberries. These berries are high in fiber. One serving of raspberries is enough to saturate the body with 8 g of dietary fiber. Moreover, the calorie content of such a dish will not exceed 60 kcal.
- Avocado. One medium-sized fruit accounts for 12 g of fiber. Its use in food allows you to normalize the intestinal microflora, increase peristalsis, get rid of constipation.
- Nuts. 30 g of almonds contains 161 kcal, but despite the high calorie content, this product contains 13 g of useful fatty acids, as well as 3.4 g of fiber, which exceeds the daily requirement of the body by 14%. Pistachios are less nutritious, but no less useful. To reduce blood cholesterol levels by 8.5% and increase the elasticity of the arteries, you need to eat about 80 g of these nuts every day. They can be eaten neat or added to cereals, yogurt, sauces, and baked goods.
- Pear is a fruit that contains about 5 grams of fiber. Fruits contain a lot of fructose, but little glucose. Therefore, it can be included in your menu for people with pancreatic diseases.
- Flaxseed contains both soluble and insoluble fiber. A tablespoon of seeds contains 2.8 g of these beneficial dietary fiber. Flaxseed oil is used as a laxative that lowers blood cholesterol levels. Its reception allows you to envelop the walls of the stomach and intestines, which reduces the symptoms of peptic ulcer, gastritis and other inflammations. Food masses move faster through the digestive tract, do not linger in them, which is important for people with obesity and constipation.
- Dried fruits. Prunes are a source of fiber. IN ? its glass contains 3.8 g. As a snack between main meals, it is good to use other dried fruits, for example, apricots, figs, raisins, dates. Do not forget that they are all high in calories, so they should be consumed in moderation.
- Green vegetables. They contain iron, beta-carotene, insoluble fiber. A serving of turnip leaves, beets, or spinach contains 4-5 grams of fiber. There is also a lot of it in black radish, broccoli, bell pepper, cauliflower, zucchini, kohlrabi, celery, carrots, cucumbers, asparagus.
Video: fiber for weight loss. How to take fiber properly?
Benefit
If you regularly include foods with fiber in your menu, then this will bring the following benefits to the body:
- The cholesterol level will decrease, which is the prevention of atherosclerosis.
- Harmful substances will be excreted from the body.
- The likelihood of developing gallstone disease will decrease.
- Fiber is able to heal the body. So, the use of flaxseed helps to protect the walls of the stomach from harmful effects, reduces inflammation and accelerates the regeneration of minor injuries.
- Reduces blood sugar, which is the prevention of diabetes.
- The intestines are cleansed in a natural way, as fiber gently and effectively moves food masses outward, cleansing the walls of the organ.
Eating foods with fiber is a measure to prevent bowel cancer.
Using fiber to cleanse the intestines
Once in the digestive tract, fiber absorbs water, swells and removes toxins and feces from the body. It is advisable to carry out such cleaning once a year. To do this, half an hour before a meal, you need to take a tablespoon of fiber. This should be done three times a day. This method allows you to cleanse the intestines, as well as lose weight, since the feeling of hunger will not bother a person for a long time.
How to clean: rules of use
The rules for cleansing the intestines with fiber:
- You will not be able to cleanse the intestines at once. Fiber should be consumed regularly, in courses.
- You should eat 20-30 g of fiber per day, but it is recommended to start with a teaspoon.
- Do not combine dietary fiber with drugs. She will simply remove them from the body, not allowing them to be fully absorbed. You need to take drugs 2 hours after eating fiber.
- Drink at least 2.5 liters of water per day. If you do not follow this recommendation, then the person will have constipation.
- Fiber only works after it has absorbed fluid. Therefore, before taking it inside, you can pour the powder with water or a fermented milk drink, for example, kefir. This mixture is maintained for 15 minutes, after which it is consumed.
- The duration of the course is 14 days, but not less.
Contraindications
Not everyone can cleanse their intestines with fiber.
Contraindications to her course reception:
- The period of gestation and breastfeeding.
- Childhood.
- Individual fiber intolerance.
- Peptic ulcer, colitis, ulceration of the intestinal wall, acute stage of gastritis, inflammation of the esophagus.
If a person has exacerbated any diseases, then before undergoing a course of cleansing, it is necessary to obtain medical advice.
The author of the article: Kuzmina Vera Valerievna | Endocrinologist, nutritionist
Education: Diploma of the Russian State Medical University named after NI Pirogov with a degree in General Medicine (2004). Residency at Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, diploma in Endocrinology (2006).
