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Tuesday, June 05, 2007

How Important Is Fiber In Preventing Diabetes?

I enjoy writing articles that contain information that can help someone in a dire situation. Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects some 40 million plus people here in America. Diabetes results when the body doesn’t produce enough insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels or when cells in the body don’t respond appropriately. In type II diabetes the pancreas continues to manufacture insulin, sometimes even at higher than normal levels. However, the body develops resistance to its effects and the sugar in the blood does not enter the cells as well as it should resulting in higher blood sugar levels.

Fiber is the indigestible remnants of plant cells found in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and beans. As fiber works its way through the digestive tract, they increase; they increase the elimination of waste matter in the large intestine and give you an urge to have a bowel movement. An easy way to classify fiber is how easily it dissolves in water.

Soluble Fiber, which is found in oatmeal, nuts, and seeds, beans, apples, pears, strawberries, and blueberries, partially dissolves in water.

Insoluble Fiber, which cannot be broken down by water, does not dissolve in water and is credited with reducing the risk of colon cancer. Examples of insoluble fiber are whole grains, barley, brown rice, cereals, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes.

Americans on average consume about ten grams of fiber each day, when we should ingest roughly 30 to 40 grams of fiber a day. Research indicates that eating more fiber the 30 plus grams a day could possibly prevent type II diabetes. Studies show that when eating a meal containing carbohydrates, consuming high fiber with it actually slows down the amount of sugar entering the bloodstream at once. For example, consuming yogurt (crabs) and almonds or sesame seeds (fiber) causes the sugar to trickle into the bloodstream instead of all at one time. Follow the link in the resource box to a website that has more on diabetes.

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