Naturally optimize your health, prolong your life, and prevent or reduce your exposure to cardiovascular disease through the use of a powerful, but often overlooked, natural supplement – fiber.

As many people already know, excess cholesterol can form plaque in your artery walls, making it harder for your heart to circulate blood. Those plaques that break loose in your arteries can block a blood vessel that feeds the brain; this is what causes a stroke. If the plaque breaks loose and blocks a blood vessel that feeds the heart, it causes a heart attack. Fiber can reduce cholesterol, thereby reducing these plaques.

Fiber’s role in reducing cholesterol

Most of the heart health benefits of fiber come from soluble fiber and its role as a binding agent for cholesterol in your diet. Simply put, fiber binds with cholesterol in our diet and prevents its absorption into the body, letting it pass harmlessly through our digestive tract.

Cholesterol circulates in the blood and is critical for numerous cellular functions including the production of hormones, the building of cell walls, and proper neurologic function.

In addition to what our liver makes, the body also derives cholesterol from our diet – primarily foods from animal sources that contain saturated fat and trans fats such as meat, poultry and fattier dairy products. This is called dietary cholesterol.

Soluble fiber binds with dietary cholesterol in the intestines and passes it through the digestive process. This helps reduce the amount of cholesterol which is absorbed into the bloodstream where it can adversely affect heart health.

What is fiber and what does it do?

Fiber is generally classified into two groups – insoluble and soluble fiber.

Insoluble fiber increases the movement of material through your digestive tract, making it great for constipation relief, weight loss and for supporting intestinal health. Sources of insoluble fiber are whole wheat foods, bran, nuts, seeds, and the skin of some fruits and vegetables. Soluble fiber, found in foods such as oats, legumes, apples, bananas, berries, barley, some vegetables, and psyllium, dissolves in water and is what keeps cholesterol from absorbing into the body.

Full on fiber

Being overweight is a major risk factor for heart disease, often due to the dangers of plaque buildup in the heart’s arteries, and fiber’s ability to provide the body with a low-calorie substance that makes you feel fuller for longer helps prevent overeating and makes it easier to lose weight.

Have you had trouble sticking to weight-loss diets in the past? Increasing fiber intake may be the easier way, because a study from Annals of Internal Medicine found that that those who simply ate more fiber lost almost as much weight as those who dieted instead.

The Harvard Study

Fortunately, Harvard University conducted a study of more than 40,000 health professionals, aged 40 to 75. The health professionals completed a detailed 131-item dietary questionnaire that measured their usual intake of fiber and which sources they typically get it from.

The researchers found a 40 percent lower risk of heart disease among those who had high dietary fiber intake, also the study’s results demonstrate that fiber, is one of the most important dietary components of preventing heart problems. Another interesting part of this study to note is that the researchers concluded that cereal fiber, which includes whole wheat bread, brown rice, barley, and seeds, is even better than vegetable or fruit fiber for reducing the risk of heart disease.

How much fiber do I need?

I always tell my patients that the best way to get any substance you’re looking for (fiber in this case) is to eat a diet rich in whole foods that contain it. Foods such as beans, brown rice, almonds, and lentils are all great sources of dietary fiber that can keep your heart healthy.

National guidelines for fiber tell us that men should aim to eat 30 to 38 grams a day and women between 18 and 50 years old should eat 25 grams a day (21 grams if you are a woman over 50). Most men only eat 18 grams a day and that women average just 15 . This is partly due to some foods that we think are quite fibrous having less fiber than we expect. What do half-cups of broccoli, butternut squash, and celery all have in common? They each contain only a single gram of fiber.

If you are like most Americans and just don’t eat enough fibrous foods, or feel like you could benefit from an extra, therapeutic dose of fiber in your diet, I like Herbal Bulk by Seroyal.

For those who prefer the convenience of capsules over powder, Fiber Formula contains similar ingredients and two capsules is equivalent to 1 gram (or a half cup of broccoli). Fiber-Plex, by Douglas Labs, is also a good capsule option because it includes fiber from a wide variety of natural sources.

Many popular, conventional fiber supplements contain more sugar than natural fiber supplements. For example, to get 18 grams of fiber from Metamucil®’s Orange Coarse powder, you also consume 42 grams of sugar – over 160 sugar calories. When compared to the just 2 grams of sugar one consumes when getting the same 18 grams of fiber from Seroyal’s Herbal Bulk, it seems like the Metamucil® simply contains more of what you don’t want.

That same Metamucil powder also contains artificial flavoring and yellow 6, which most subscribers of natural medicine try to stay away from whenever possible.

We hope this slide show was helpful and informative. Should you have questions, or suggestions, please feel free to fill out our Ask the Doctor form found at the Doctors Corner.

Yours in health!

Dr. Gittins