AUGUST 28, 2011 WHAT ABOUT FIBER?

"Health is not valued until sickness comes." --Thomas Fuller MD 1732

Even though Thomas Fuller stated this more than 250 years ago, it is perhaps more true today. Do you value your health? Most people I know do not worry about their health until illness sets in. Those that eat sugar do not worry about its effect until they are diagnosed as pre-diabetic. The same can be said about other addictions. I do believe everyone should begin to have blood work done in their 30's and sometimes earlier depending on family history. I believe for one week you should write down everything you eat. You might be surprised! I believe that every person at one time in their life should see a therapist. I have many other personal opinions. One, if you know me well enough, is to do a hobby. I can't express to you enough that a hobby is to help boost your self esteem.

Value your health!!!

Fiber is important in any dietary lifestyle. Fiber is NOT present in animal food. It is only contained in plant food. If you ever tried the Induction Phase of the Atkins Diet, you only eat meat, minimal grams of carbohydrates and no fruit and vegetables. This will certainly NOT give you fiber in the diet.

The definition of fiber is the indigestible part of food that helps move it through the GI tract. The jury is still out on fiber as it is with Vitamin E and D. Do not ever try a low fiber diet as you will not be able to pass the fecal waste though the colon. Thus it would get more concentrated and remain in the body longer. This will surely lead to constipation. I feel physicians see far too many individuals, mainly older patients-- with constipation. No one has ever told them about fiber.

There are many studies to show that lack of fiber can lead to many medical diseases you have heard of. Diverticulitis, hemorrhoids, gall bladder issues, cardiovascular diseases and some cancers. The Far East has far less problems related to lack of dietary fiber. Perhaps we should learn from that patient population. Too many refined carbohydrate foods are a major cause leading to fiber deficiency is our diets. Stop shopping in the center of the grocery stores-- instead shop on the periphery where the fruits, vegetables, fish and dairy are located. If you are lactose intolerant or cow dairy sensitive-shop for the goat and sheep milk products.

There are three major deficiencies I see in a vegetarian diet due to the lack of animal protein: iron, vitamin B12 and omega 3 fatty acids. If you are a vegetarian who eats fish then you certainly get the omega fatty acids and probably some mercury/arsenic depending on what fish you are eating. There are many research papers detailing that omega 3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and help lower chronic diseases as autoimmune, cardiac and brain. We all need omega 3 fatty acids for cognitive memory and brain performance. To me iron is a given-- if you do not eat meat and you are low in iron. You must supplement but be careful not to take too much.

B12 is found in may meats also. It is not found in high concentrations in plants. I also do B12 levels as well as Iron levels when seeing a patient who is vegetarian. I get lots of tips from true vegetarians about different foods. This is always interesting to me. Both miso and tempeh are the vegetarians sources of B12.

After all this vegetarian talk, I might consider slowly becoming a vegetarian but I couldn't give up my fish. What is a man to do?

Until tomorrow...