“It is the healthiest gift you can give your body,” my grandmother used to say.
breakfast message about oatmeal that served me 50 years ago.

It would amuse you to know that the last 10 years of medical science have given you
test your gut about the value of whole oats. Grandma would laugh too
that I’m still following your breakfast advice with additional ingredients like
or frozen berries.

Oats and berries have a health value in common; they are not only nutritious
in many ways, but they are also related as great sources of fiber with important
health benefits now recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Canada and European Medicines Evaluation Authority.

The FDA lists whole grain oats, barley, and psyllium seed husk as excellent sources of
dietary fiber that may reduce the risk of cancer through regular dietary intake.

Health benefits of fiber in the diet

Consumed for as long as people have eaten plants, dietary fiber has recently arrived
in the opinion of governments, nutrition advisory groups and the public as one of
our most important dietary macronutrients.

However, nutritionists have estimated that Canadians and Americans consume less
than 50% of the amount of daily fiber required to maintain intestinal health and
its many other benefits.

Steady fiber intake through foods like whole grains, berries, and others
fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts is now associated with a lower risk of
some of the world’s most prevalent diseases, including:

Various types of cancer

Obesity

Type 2 diabetes

high blood cholesterol

cardiovascular disease

Numerous gastrointestinal disorders (constipation, intestinal inflammation
ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis, and colon cancer)

Fiber Health Benefits

Recent medical research has shown various physiological benefits of consuming
fiber, including:

Improved absorption of calcium, magnesium and iron.

Reduction of cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood

Stabilization of blood glucose levels after a meal, i.e. a low glycemic index

Food fountain

Maintenance of an optimal intestinal environment

Stimulation of immune responses

Over the past 30 years, government agencies around the world have undertaken
fiber analysis and definitions to more accurately describe this diet
nutritious. Among some 32 reports submitted, the most universally accepted definition
is one of the American Cereal Chemists Association. The AACC focused on the
physiological and metabolic significance of the fiber, defining it as:

“…[T]The edible parts of plants or similar carbohydrates resistant to digestion.
and absorption in the human small intestine with complete or partial
fermentation in the large intestine.

Recognizing these facts, there are now notices in various countries for
increase dietary fiber intake in adults to 30 grams per day, twice the current level
intake levels Achieving this goal has been difficult because high-fiber foods
do not always taste good and may lack other qualities necessary to attract
consumers

Resistant starch and fermentation provide health benefits

Let’s review some properties of how our bodies use fiber. “resistant starch”
(same as “resistant carbohydrate”) is a term sometimes used to refer to fiber
sources resistant to complete digestion in the small intestine. These fibers
sources need to pass into the large intestine maybe just attractive
water on the way. In the large intestine they undergo fermentation by the
colonic bacteria.

Remember that fiber fermentation is normal and healthy, although
Fiber products sometimes cause minor gastric discomfort when the user has not
they previously had sufficient fiber in their diet.

“Fermentation” is a normal biological process that many people never consider when
they eat healthy foods like berries or fresh vegetables. Fermentation is just
the breakdown of soluble and resistant starch composed primarily of carbohydrates
molecules in the large intestine, producing gases and other useful chemicals
such as short chain fatty acids. A typical property of soluble fibers is to bind
water that forms a viscous gel that has numerous health benefits during passage
through the digestive system.

Other sources of dietary fiber include polysaccharides (chains of starch or sugar from
dozens to many hundreds or thousands of units), oligosaccharides (short chain
sugars, usually 2 to 20 units long), monosaccharides, lignins, and “insoluble” fiber
sources such as cellulose, vegetable waxes and collagens. insoluble fiber sources,
however, they do not undergo fermentation, but are nevertheless valuable for their
water-attracting properties that help intestinal regularity.

Some of the sources of soluble fiber that you may see in the public news and a variety of
Functional foods are:

o Pectins, a seed-like component common in berries, fruits, vegetables

o Bran cellulose and many vegetables

o Beta-glucans in whole oats and barley

o Vegetable waxes of many edible species

o Inulin polyfructoses and oligofructans

o Gums and mucilages from tree exudates, corn syrup fermentation
(xanthan gum), algae (agar, carrageenan), and cereal seeds (eg, psyllium seeds
peel)

If fiber is new to your diet, add fiber sources to your diet gradually
more than a month. This will allow your intestinal system to adjust slowly until the
30 grams per day of fiber becomes your normal intake. Drink plenty of water. Yew
you have persistent discomfort from the use of fiber sources, talk to your doctor
or a nutritionist.

Fiber fermentation and prebiotic nutritional value

The intestinal fermentation process involves the action of natural bacteria,
sometimes called flora, which resides in our large intestine (mainly the colon).
These bacteria require soluble fiber as fuel and as a source of fermentation to
produce valuable chemicals and health benefits.

Since fiber serves as food for bacteria already in the intestine, this
is called a “prebiotic” nutritional value, which means that before the bacteria can
serve their primary purpose in digestion, producing enzymes that digest food,
they should be fed a substrate of their choice (ie fermentable fibers). the main
intestinal flora are bifidobacteria and lactobacilli that are essential for our
health.

Berry pectins, inulin, psyllium, and xanthan gum, all mentioned above
list, are sources of soluble fibers that provide this prebiotic function in the
normal fermentation process.

Rubus berries such as blackberry (Rubus nigra) and red raspberry (Rubus
idaeus) have the highest density of dietary fiber per gram of any other
Published food source.

Fermentation is a metabolic process that involves the use of an organic source to
create others, such as enzymes to digest food that then release new elements.
Among the products of fermentation are gases (methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen,
nitrogen) and short-chain fatty acids, which result as new cleaved molecules
of the most complex digested food and fiber compounds.

Short-chain fatty acids such as butyric acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, and
Valeric acid constitutes approximately 90% of the total fatty acid yield from fermentation.
in the human body. Collectively, these fatty acids have several benefits.
physiological effects on the large intestine worth repeating from above.

Fatty acids…

Improve the absorption of calcium, magnesium and iron (for which they are important for the bones
and blood health)

Helps reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood

Promote colon health by raising nutrient-enhancing acidity levels
absorption and lower risk of colon cancer

Act as anti-inflammatory mediators.

Stimulate immune protection through a series of intermediate effects within
the intestinal system, including the production of cytokines

It appears to suppress appetite, leading to reduced calorie intake and weight gain.

Insoluble fiber sources from plants, such as cellulose, do not normally suffer
fermentation so they do not add new elements. Rather, they bind water
effectively making them valuable in digestion as stool softening agents with
the essential benefit of promoting bowel regularity.

Summary

Including more fiber in your diet is a crucial step towards a healthier life.
Lifestyle. From oats to berries, the combination of ways to create creatively
include this nutrient are innumerable. Why wait?

Reading

Wong JM, de Souza R, Kendall CW, Emma A, Jenkins DJ. colonic health:
fermentation and short chain fatty acids. J Clin Gastroenterol. 40:235-43, 2006.

Kendall CW, Emma A, Augustin LS, Jenkins DJ. resistant starches and
health. JAOAC Int. 87:769-774, 2004.

Tungland BC, Meyer D. Oligo- and indigestible polysaccharides
(Dietary Fiber): Its Physiology and Role in Human Health and Nutrition, Understanding
Rev Food Sci Food Safety 1:73-92, 2002.