Fabulous fiber: no matter how careful you are with nutrition, you may find increasing your fiber intake will do wonders - especially the right combination of the right fibers.(Brief Article)

In the past few years, fiber has received a great deal of well-justified attention from nutritional scientists throughout the world. In addition to its impressive known benefits, research now underway may shed light on its possible role in preventing certain types of cancer, heart disease and other ailments too common in Western civilization. Yet few people really understand what fiber is and why it is so important to your health and well being.

Many people think of fiber as roughage or bulky material which must be eaten in large quantities. In actual fact, in its purest form, fiber is a powder and very little pure fiber is required every day. The reason lies in its ability to absorb many times its own weight in water. Thus, a small amount creates an effective bulk in your intestines where it acts as an intestinal regulator, maintaining a smooth flow of nutrients with proper opportunity for their absorption. Fiber itself is not a nutrient. In fact, its definitive characteristic is that it passes through the intestines intact while the nutrients with it absorb into the body.

Another very important misconception shared by most people is that all fiber is pretty much the same. In fact, there are a great many different fibers from many different sources with individual characteristics. They all come from one of three natural sources: grain, vegetable and fruit.

Broadly, fibers from grain are classified as "crude fiber". Bran is the best known, but by no means the most desirable, of this group. Then there are the "dietary fibers" which include gums, pectins, hemicelluloses and polysaccharides. These are found primarily in fruits and vegetables and are quite different from crude fiber. They appear to have amazing properties. For example, apple pectin absorbs many different destructive materials from the intestinal tract. Pectin, in combination with guar, helps regulate the absorption rate of nutrients, especially sugar, spreading it over a longer period of time. The result is a slower rise in blood sugar level and a less rapid subsequent drop, a quality very important to diabetics and those with a tendency toward hyperglycemia.

It is unwise to try to get all your fiber from one source. Many people who do need additional fiber rely on bran, largely through ignorance of the variety of fibers with which nature has blessed us. Wheat bran tends to accelerate the passage of food through the intestines. This can interfere with the proper absorption of nutrients, which takes place there. Even worse, it contains a lot of phytic acid, which binds with and robs you of calcium, magnesium, essential trace minerals and metals before they can be absorbed. It is a harsh type of fiber.

As a crude fiber, psyllium seeds have twice the bulking capacity of bran without its tendency to rob you of essential nutrients.

That is why many doctors recommend psyllium-based products for ordinary constipation instead of laxatives. Constipation, in an otherwise normal person, is an almost certain indication of inadequate fiber intake and an improperly functioning gastro-intestinal system. You should not take a laxative that is going to roar through your system overnight like an intestinal rotor-rooter. You want ...