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EATING-VEGGIES.COM
EAT BEANS AND GRAINS FOR HIGH FIBER HEALTH Complementing
your alkaline
diet with lots of high fiber grains and beans is an excellent step
toward
balancing your healthy eating style. Focusing on fiber intake is an
important
part of an healthy lifestyle and should be a important part of every
meal to
help prevent gastrointestinal disorders. Eating a high fiber diet along
with
high alkaline food consumption is a
must if you
are interested in a diet that promotes anti aging. And if you want to
control
body fat and blood sugar levels then eating beans and grains should be
a
mainstay in your diet. Grains
have been an important
part of the human diet for thousands of years. Early man cultivated
grains such
as wheat, oats, barley and rice for their early survival. It allowed
large
civilizations to grow and feed themselves without having to worry about
hunting
animals. All that was needed was fertile soil and lots of water to
insure a
plentiful crop of food for both people and the animals that they were
raising. The
Kellogg brothers of Battle
Creek, Michigan were big advocates of a high fiber diet during the late
1800's.
At that time Americans ate a breakfast high in beef and pork. They
taught
healthy nutrition at their health spa and worked hard at designing food
products that would help prevent disease and encourage anti
aging. They developed such breakfast items as corn
flakes, grape
nuts, granola and coffee alternatives. They were Seventh Day Adventist
and
believed in the power of disease prevention and reverse aging. At
that time in history, most
of America suffered from some form of constipation. Meat was the
breakfast food
preferred by most people and their digestive systems suffered greatly.
The
invention of their popular breakfast cereal "cornflakes" was an
accident
but became the backbone to their high grain breakfast cereal campaign.
Eating a
high fiber diet was discovered to reduce certain kinds of cancer and
people
took this eating style as a way to improve their quality of life. Today
the
refining of grains has eliminated the natural fiber and nutritional
benefits. Any
edible food material that
passes through the intestinal tract undigested is referred to as fiber.
There
are two kinds of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber forms a
jelly-like
substance in the intestines and water content in the stool is
increased.
Soluble fiber is found in citrus fruits, legumes (dried beans), oats,
and
barley. Researchers have found that soluble fiber decreases blood
cholesterol
and results in a lower blood sugar after meals. Insoluble
fiber is famous for
increasing your feeling of fullness, stool size and bulk and helps
reduce
constipation and hemorrhoids. Insoluble fiber includes wheat bran,
whole cereal
grains and vegetables. Researchers have suggested that insoluble fibers
may
reduce colon cancer. These fibers drag unwanted waste from the
digestive system
and help prevent toxic waste build up. On
the North American
continent people consume less than 50% of the dietary fiber levels
required for
maintaining optimal health. When you considered the food choices of the
younger
generations, this number may be lowered to 20%. Most medical
guidelines
suggest a minimum of 20-35 g/day of fiber for a healthy adult. No
guidelines
have yet been set for the elderly or very ill. Studies show that rural Africans, who eat a diet high in grains and fiber, usually eliminate waste in about one-third of the time it takes people from urban, American cultures. Their stools are larger and softer. Because of the greater bulk and the speed that the food travel through the digestive tract, it is believed that harmful toxic substances are also swept out of the body before they can cause any problems. This is the case in most of the rural communities around the world. In rural China, the people do not suffer from the same diseases that the people in the large modernized, mega cities of China suffer. The health situation in Hong Kong is very similiar to those found in large American cities. |