How Eating Fiber Can Help You Lose Weight

Can Fiber Cause Weight Loss?

       Eating more fiber can help you lose weight, even if you make no other changes to your diet. Fiber is very satisfying. Fiber is digested by your body more slowly than starches and simple sugars.

Dietary fiber, also known as fibre, is the indigestible part of plant foods. Fiber has health benefits, including reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Fiber is mostly in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and nuts. There are 2 types of fiber: soluble and insoluble, and they both play important roles in health:

Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water and adds bulk to stools, preventing constipation.

Fiber dissolves and absorbs water and forms a gel-like substance in your digestive system. Soluble fiber can help lower cholesterol and help regulate blood sugar levels.

Basic Facts of Fiber 

Fiber is a nutrient in food that cannot be digested by your body. Fiber is found only in plant foods, and not in animal products such as milk and other dairy products, meat, fish and eggs. The fiber content is higher when the food is less processed, so unpeeled apples have more fiber than peeled ones, oranges have more fiber than orange juice, and whole grains have more fiber than refined ones.

These foods are high in fiber.

- Whole Grains

- Non-starchy vegetables.

- Nuts, peanuts and seeds.

- Starchy vegetables, like sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas and corn.

- Peas, or chickpeas, split and black eyed peas, and lentils.

Types of Dietary Fiber

Fiber includes non-starch polysaccharides, such as cellulose, dextrin, lignin, waxes, inulin, pectin, beta-glucans, and oligosaccharides.

There are 2 types of dietary fiber, soluble and insoluble.

Most high-fiber foods have both insoluble and soluble fiber, so people don't have to think too much about the difference. Instead, they could focus on their overall fiber intake.

Insoluble Fiber

Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water and passes through the gastrointestinal tract, mostly intact. It does not provide calories.

Insoluble fiber helps build mass in stool, helping you pass stool faster. This can also help prevent constipation.

Good sources of insoluble fiber include: fruits, whole grain foods, beans, vegetables.

Soluble fiber

The type of soluble fiber will dissolve in water and form a gel-like substance in the stomach. Bacteria then break down the gel in the large intestine. Soluble fiber provides a few calories for the individual.

Soluble fiber provides these benefits:

- reduce LDL cholesterol in your blood by affecting how your body absorbs fat and cholesterol

- slows down the absorption of other carbohydrates through digestion, which can help regulate blood sugar levels

Good sources of soluble fiber include: peas, nuts, vegetables, fruits, whole grains.

Does Fiber Help You Lose Weight?

Some studies say that fiber can help with weight loss. (health line) People who eat more fiber tend to have lower body weights and less adult weight gain than people on low-fiber diets. Fiber can promote feelings of fullness so you eat less. It can lead to weight loss because losing weight means taking in (taking in) fewer calories than you use up.

Fiber may also help you eat less due to its effect on blood sugar. After you eat, your blood sugar rises and then decreases back to a normal blood sugar level or below it. When the post-meal spike is higher, the post-meal spike is lower. Low dips can lead to hunger pangs and sugar cravings. The fiber makes for smaller blood sugar swings, which means the post-spike drop isn't as low. That means less hunger and cravings, so you're more likely to eat less and choose less sugary foods than when you have no fiber.

How are fiber and weight loss related?

Fiber is a non-negotiable part of living a healthy life, whether you want to lose weight or not. Fiber adds to your diet, a key factor in losing weight and maintaining [healthy] weight.

That extra volume can help you feel satisfied more quickly, and because fiber stays in your system longer than many other nutrients, it can also help you feel full longer, he explains.

Fiber offers a number of other weight-related bonuses. High-fiber foods such as vegetables and fruits have low calorie content. This nutrient also helps regulate your blood sugar, which is part of why refined carbohydrates like high-fiber cakes can cause intense blood sugar spikes.

Fiber may also help sort out your gut microbiome, or the collection of bacteria that keeps your stomach healthy and may be related to your weight. The composition of the gut bacteria can play a significant role in weight management. In general, soluble fiber is fermented by gut bacteria, although some insoluble fiber can also be fermented—and promote growth and maintenance of beneficial gut bacteria.

Give fiber a high place on your nutrition priority list, regardless of whether or not you want to lose weight. Remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day, and you should be golden.

Soluble Fiber Helps Reduce Appetite

Soluble fiber is a strong natural appetite suppressant. Soluble fiber may help you lose weight By suppressing your appetite, you are likely to reduce your calorie intake, which can help you lose weight.

There are several theories as to how soluble fiber might help reduce your appetite.

Soluble fiber helps regulate hormones that are involved in appetite control.

Eating soluble fiber reduces the level of hunger hormones produced by the body, including ghrelin.

Others have shown that soluble fiber increases production of hormones that make you feel full, such as cholecystokinin, GLP-1 and the peptide YY.

When nutrients such as glucose are slowly released into the intestines, your body releases insulin at a slower rate. This is linked to reduced hunger.

The Health Benefits of Soluble Fiber

These types of fiber-rich foods include apples, oatmeal, nuts, and blueberries.

Health benefits of Soluble Fiber include:

Weight loss:

Soluble fiber can also help you reach -- or maintain -- a healthy weight by making you feel full without adding a lot of calories to your diet.

Diabetes protection:

Because soluble fiber isn't absorbed well, it doesn't contribute to blood sugar spikes that can put you at risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. If you already have diabetes (either type 1 or type 2), soluble fiber may even help keep your condition in check.

Cardiac protection:

In your digestive system, soluble fiber attaches to cholesterol particles and flushes them out of the body, helping to reduce overall cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease. Oatmeal offers perhaps the most heart protection.

Healthy bowel movements:

Soluble fiber absorbs water as it passes through your system, which helps increase your stools and prevent constipation and diarrhea. In fact, most fiber supplements contain largely soluble fiber.

Sources of Soluble Fiber

Soluble fiber is easily added to your diet and is found in a variety of plant foods.

Foods that are high in soluble fiber include sweet potatoes, fruits like apricots and oranges, Brussels sprouts, nuts and seeds like oatmeal.

However, even though soluble fiber can help you lose weight, it's not a good idea to eat lots of soluble fiber right away.

This can cause side effects, such as abdominal cramps, diarrhea and bloating. It is best to slowly increase your intake to help increase your body's tolerance.

As far as the recommended daily intake, the US Department of Agriculture recommends that men aim to consume 30–38 grams of fiber per day, while women should aim for 21–25 grams per day.

When increasing your dietary fiber content, it is best to do it slowly. Add just a few grams at a time to allow the intestinal tract to adjust; otherwise, abdominal cramping, gas, bloating, and diarrhea or constipation may occur. Another way to help minimize this effect is to drink at least 2 liters (8 glasses) of fluids every day.