Fiber is an important part of a healthy diet. Fiber comes from foods like grains, fruits, and vegetables. Eating more fiber when you’re young will benefit you by cutting your risk of diabetes, giving you better digestive health, and helping you maintain a healthy weight. Here are a few reasons why!
Cut Your Risk of Diabetes
Diabetes is a problem with managing blood sugar. There are two types, type 1, and type 2. Type 1 is an autoimmune problem, while type 2 diabetes functions by your cells not being sensitive to insulin or the pancreas not being able to make enough insulin. Getting more fiber in your diet helps to manage your blood sugar. Fiber slows the digestion of carbohydrates to manage your blood sugar and keep them more stable over time. While other factors are involved in diabetes risk, eating a diet with enough fiber will help reduce your risk for diabetes down the road.
Better Digestive Health
Fiber is important for your digestion. Fiber is a carbohydrate that isn’t digested by the body and so it serves to bulk up your stool and normalize your bowel movements. There are two kinds of fiber that each serve a purpose. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and helps bind to cholesterol and lowers blood sugar. Insoluble fiber helps bulk up your stool and promotes healthy bowel movements. Eating enough fiber can prevent constipation and other problems such as hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids can lead to unpleasant symptoms that eating more fiber can prevent.
Helps Maintain a Healthy Weight
Fiber can help you maintain a healthy body weight. While this may not be hard while you are young, it can become harder as you age. Maintaining a healthy weight is important in preventing many diseases that can appear later in life. Fiber helps you with body weight because it helps to fill you up and helps to keep you satisfied for longer. This leads to a reduction in overall calories because of feeling satisfied by your food. Fiber also binds to fat and sugar which will decrease the amount absorbed, decreasing the number of overall calories your body will absorb.
Increasing the fiber in your diet has so many benefits, especially if you start at a young age. Increasing your fiber intake is as simple as increasing consumption of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Increasing your fiber will help you maintain your health as you get older.
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