Fiber and weight loss - how does fiber help with weight loss?

High fiber diet weight loss

Diet fiber is becoming more and more popular in today's world, when more and more people are aware of how eating food affects our health. The diet has been popularized by fitness experts and nutritionists. It is rich in dietary fiber and low in fat.


The combination of fiber and low-fat products turns out to be crucial for people who want to lead a healthy life, for people who want to lose weight and especially for people suffering from high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood sugar. What makes a diet rich in fiber so beneficial?

Advantages of fiber diet 

It is a fact that the diet of most people is rich in salt, fats, sugars, or ingredients that do more harm than good. The fiber, mainly derived from fruit and vegetables and whole grains, contains parts of plants which are not absorbed by the body during the digestion process. In short, it is not digested and is excreted from the body and, at the same time, it has a beneficial effect on the passage of digestive waste through the intestine.

Fruit fiber is twofold: soluble and insoluble. Both play an important role in digestive processes. The fiber facilitates digestion by faster removal of digestive waste. This prevents irritating and chronic constipation, lowers blood sugar and cholesterol levels, reduces the risk of obesity and helps with weight loss. In order to reduce body weight quickly, the fiber diet should be supplemented by exercises.

Fiber diet plan 

Food rich in fiber has very little fat in it, which makes it ideal for weight loss, just need to be included in our daily diet. What fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber? It is possible to name apples, beans, cereals, whole grains, parsley, soya beans, chickpeas, berries, barley and more.

Sample menu in fiber diet

Breakfast (270 calories, 7g fiber): 
6 spoons of bran with 3 dried apricots, 1 banana and curdled milk.

Morning snack (50 calories, 2g fiber):
1 apple

Lunch (400 calories, 8g fiber): 
2 pieces of wholegrain bread, spread with butter
grilled chicken breast
salad of 2 tomatoes with natural yoghurt
1 orange

Evening snacks (30 calories, 1g fiber) 
strawberry bowl

Dinner (460 calories, 14g fiber) 
1 boiled potato
100 g of cooked asparagus beans
2 tablespoons of chopped yellow cheese
lettuce

The total value is: 1200 calories and 30g of fiber. 

Summary:

Do not increase the amount of dietary fiber immediately, as this can lead to bloating, bowel shrinkage. Give your body time to get used to the increased amount of fiber. Start to slowly increase its amount in your menu, drink plenty of water (up to 2 litres a day), watch out for what you eat - use the dietary table.

Why is fiber so important?

Fiber - are plant polysaccharides and lignins (parts of plant cell walls) that are not digested or absorbed in the human digestive tract. Fibres include: cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, gums, mucilages, lignins.

The action of dietary fibres is varied and has a great influence on the function of the digestive tract, and in particular depends on whether it is soluble or insoluble in water. In order to trigger its function, it is necessary to is an adequate supply of water.

Role of fiber:

Helps with constipation and diarrhoea (depending on the type of fiber) - fiber travels throughout the digestive tract (is not digested). It swells in the small intestine (absorbs water), thereby increasing the volume of the faecal mass and accelerating the elimination of undigested debris. This facilitates regular bowel movements (mechanical irritation of the large intestine).

Helps fight excess weight - by absorbing water, it swells, gives a feeling of satiety, causes some food to simply not be digested (difference between whole-grain and processed foods - lacking fiber), reduces fat absorption.

Lowers cholesterol and triglycerides (water-soluble fiber) - slows absorption of fats and glucose, binds bile acids.

Stabilises blood glucose levels - fiber delays the metabolism/digestion of carbohydrates so that glucose is absorbed more slowly. This prevents rapid insulin release.

Absorbs toxic compounds - bacterial toxins, heavy metal ions - water-soluble fiber binds toxins into gels, hindering their absorption, while insoluble fiber accelerates intestinal peristalsis, speeding up the removal of fecal matter from the body before it can This speeds up peristalsis and thus accelerates the removal of stool masses from the body before the toxic substances start to cause disease in the intestines.

Important information about fiber:

The introduction of fiber into the diet should be gradual. Large amounts (more than 40g/day) can Large amounts (more than 40g/day) may cause bloating as the body is not used to it. The food we consume is usually Usually the food we eat is processed and lacks fiber (mainly white flour products, few vegetables and fruits). 

A high fiber intake can reduce the effectiveness of medication. The interval between meals between fibre rich meals and medication.

Taking uncontrolled amounts of fiber tablets can be dangerous. In case of insufficient water supply water supply, faecal masses may become trapped in the intestines (fiber has the property of absorbing water and swelling).

If the diet is rich in fiber and the body is not sufficiently hydrated, the effect is counterproductive. Instead of speeding up bowel movements, constipation occurs (fiber swells up in the intestines and gets stuck).

Fiber reduces the absorption of iron, zinc and calcium (phytic acid). Consider their supplementation or increase the proportion from natural sources (suitable foods).

How much fiber should there be in the diet?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends consuming 20-40 g of fiber per day.

Where can you not find fiber?

In animal products (meat and processed foods, fish, milk and dairy products, eggs), as well as alcohol and fatty products (butter, margarine, vegetable oils).

Where is fiber scarce?

In products of plant origin that have been processed, i.e. stripped of their seed coat (cleaned, bleached), e.g. wheat flour, potato flour, rye flour (commonly used in our cooking). We can recognise this by the designation on the packaging, e.g. type 500, type 750. The lower the value and the lighter the flour - the less fiber it contains. You will also find little fiber in overcooked, crumbled and peeled products.

Where is the most fiber?

Definitely in wheat bran (which can be added to a variety of products, but be careful - see: Effects of excess fiber in the diet). In addition, vegetables and fruit - raw and unpeeled, wholemeal and whole-wheat bread, cereals (unprocessed), brown rice, buckwheat groats, etc. buckwheat.

Where can you not find fiber?

In animal products (meat and processed foods, fish, milk and dairy products, eggs), as well as alcohol and fatty products (butter, margarine, vegetable oils).

Where is fiber scarce?

In products of plant origin that have been processed, i.e. stripped of their seed coat (cleaned, bleached), e.g. wheat flour, potato flour, rye flour (commonly used in our cooking). We can recognise this by the designation on the packaging, e.g. type 500, type 750. The lower the value and the lighter the flour - the less fiber it contains. You will also find little fiber in overcooked, crumbled and peeled products.

Where is the most fiber?

Definitely in wheat bran (which can be added to a variety of products, but be careful - see: Effects of excess fiber in the diet). In addition, vegetables and fruit - raw, unpeeled, wholemeal and whole-grain bread, cereals (unprocessed), brown rice, buckwheat groats.