Are you getting enough fiber in your diet? If not, you are putting yourself at risk! You need fiber for several reasons and there are easy ways you can get fiber into your diets such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and supplements if needed. Most people do not get enough fiber in their diets and you should take in 14 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories. That means if you are on a 2,000 calorie diet, then you will take in 28 grams of fiber. What happens if you don’t get enough fiber? Let’s go over the risks that you will face if you don’t take in enough of this critical nutrient.
You Won’t Be Satisfied For Long
Fiber is a critical component for feeling full and if you don’t take in much fiber, you will be hungry soon after eating. That will harm your weight loss and weight maintenance goals. Foods that are high in fiber will help decrease the speed of stomach emptying which is why you will be hungry soon after eating if you don’t take in much fiber. If you eat more fiber, you will be able to reduce your caloric intake because you will not be as hungry. Therefore, if you want to maintain or lose weight, you must add fiber-rich foods to your diet.
Your Cholesterol May Be Higher
The role of fiber is to remove bile salts from your system that consist of cholesterol. Therefore, if you don’t get enough fiber in your diet, you will end up with higher cholesterol for this reason. Therefore, you are putting yourself at risk for having a heart attack or stroke as high cholesterol raises the risks of that happening. Therefore, if you have a family history of heart attacks and strokes, you will want to ensure that you take in fiber.
Your Gut Flora Will Be Imbalanced
The role of fiber is to also keep your gut flora balanced because fiber feeds it, and you want to make sure that you have a healthy microbiome in your system. That will help keep your immune system strong, and also help with digestion, and with other health. If you don’t have the right flora balance in your system, you will end up struggling with having digestive problems such as diarrhea and you will also be quite prone to getting sick because your immune system will be a lot weaker. Therefore, for this reason alone, you want to make sure that you get enough fiber.
Bowel Movements May Not Be Healthy
If your bowel movements are not healthy, and you also suffer from constipation, then you will need to evaluate your fiber intake. If you are not taking in enough fiber, then your bowels will not be healthy, and poor bowel health will always lead to poor overall health. You want to make bulky healthy bowel movements so you know that your system is healthy. Fiber does help make that happen.
Higher Blood Sugar In Diabetics
If you are diabetic or prediabetic, then you need to bulk up on fiber because if you don’t have enough fiber, that will mean that your blood sugar will be higher. Fiber helps the blood sugar remain stable, and if you don’t get enough of it in your diet, it will be harder for you to control your blood sugar.
The way to make sure that you have more fiber in your diet is to eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Specifically, foods such as apples, whole grains, lentils, brown rice, oats, berries, beans, peas, and leafy greens have loads of fiber. You can always take supplements if you find it hard to eat a lot of those foods. Either way, you want to make sure you have enough fiber in your diet.
