Fans of dietary nutrition and experts in various innovations in losing weight have long believed that fiber is something miraculous and salutary, when it comes to losing weight. How many times have you heard that in your diet you should add foods rich in fiber, they say, this helps to lose weight. But the question "why" is hushed up and remains unanswered. Today we will answer you on a number of established mysterious questions: what is fiber and where it is extracted, and also why it is worth replenishing its diet.
What is fiber and what are its types?
First, fiber is a complex (slow) carbohydrate, consisting of polysaccharides and cellulose. Fiber is plants, fruits, vegetables, legumes and seeds. Depending on the variety of fiber, it performs a number of invaluable functions. There are two types of vegetable fiber in foods:
- soluble;
- insoluble.
Benefit
Soluble fiber is very resistant to our digestive enzymes, it takes a lot of effort to digest the stomach. This type of fiber is responsible for the duration of the assimilation of carbohydrates, thus, prevents the leaps of sugar in the blood. In addition, the constant consumption of soluble fiber in foodstuffs normalizes the intestinal microflora.
This type of fiber protects against gastrointestinal cancer, because it binds toxins and removes them from the body, not allowing to interact with our cells. Soluble fiber serves as a preventive measure of atherosclerosis, because it lowers the level of low-density lipoproteins and increases the production of "useful" cholesterol.
Insoluble fiber is excreted from the body in an unchanged form. Its task is to swell in the intestines and perform a laxative function. Insoluble fiber is like a sponge - interacting with water, it increases in volume, thereby, relieve us of constipation.
The constant use of products with insoluble fiber not only relieve constipation, but also put a fatty point on the rotting of foods in the stomach - not digested and not in time food, begins to rot and serves as a favorable environment for the multiplication of pathogens. Rot and toxins get into the blood, which, already, is not a joke.
Fiber in products
Now, specifically on the case, or about what products contain fiber.
Soluble fiber is found in all cereals, cuts, legumes, nuts. Excellent sources of soluble fiber are:
- porridge - not refined and not "early cooking";
- bran;
- beans, lentils , peanuts;
- whole grains - baking and flour;
- Fruits and vegetables - contain not only soluble, but insoluble fiber;
- nuts.
The main source of insoluble fiber is the seeds. Flax seeds and pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds will be saved from constipation. Just one tablespoon of seeds contains a quarter of the daily dose of fiber.
Is it worth emphasizing that the content of fiber in foods depends on the degree of their processing. First of all, it concerns refined products - rice, buckwheat, oats, sugar, flour. All that is white - does not contain fiber, as the "purity" of grains, just, implies their cleaning from the outer layer - the husks, which is the source of fiber.
Therefore, choose not refined analogues, they are tastier and more useful.
Buy foods that contain fiber is not enough to lose weight. The question is how we are going to prepare them. Do you have any doubts about the fiber in the beans that you cook for 3 hours? Correctly, that is, because no shell can withstand such a prolonged boiling. The most useful way to heat treatment, and in terms of preserving fiber, and any vitamins and amino acids - is soaking. In order to preserve the benefits of cereals and pulses, soak them overnight in water. The next morning you will get ready-made grains, which you just need to pass on with boiling water.