Eating A High Fiber Diet

There are many different benefits from eating a high fiber diet according to the research that has been done in the world of health and nutrition. High fiber diet plans can help individuals who have had bowel issues because a high fiber diet tends to make a person's stool softer and give it more bulk so that a person does not have to strain to go to the bathroom. This helps to prevent constipation as well as hemorrhoids.

In addition, high fiber diets can help to lower high cholesterol, although not all types of fiber seem to have this effect. Rolled oats seem to provide the best effects, so that eating whole grain oatmeal can be of benefit to those with high cholesterol, since this type of fiber seems to help the cholesterol pass from the body. Since eating a high fiber diet helps with bowel problems, it helps to keep the colon cleaner which has been found to be helpful in preventing colon cancer. In addition, although not agreed upon by all research, eating a high fiber diet has also been found to be helpful in weight loss since most of these foods require more chewing and do not allow individuals to intake many calories at a time. In addition, they are low in calories so that when a person eats them they feel full but have not taken in as many calories as other foods.

Recommended Fiber Intake

Children do not need as much fiber until they reach about nine years old, needing only between nineteen to twenty-five grams per day to have a high fiber diet. After that point it depends whether the person is a male or female to determine the amount of fiber needed in his or her diet, and what age they are. For males, the highest need for fiber intake is between fourteen and fifty years of age when they need about thirty-eight grams of fiber per day to have a high fiber diet. For females who are not pregnant or lactating, the highest years for fiber intake are between nine and eighteen with about twenty-six grams of fiber needed per day. When women are pregnant or lactating, they need about twenty-eight to twenty-nine grams of fiber per day to have a high fiber diet.

When determining what foods are high in fiber for a high fiber diet, the rule of thumb is that a high fiber food has five or more grams of fiber per serving. Those that are a decent source of fiber have two and a half up to five grams of fiber per serving. Those below that are not a very good source when trying to have a high fiber diet.