Eat more fiber for a healthy heart

Last week we talked about how important fiber is for feeding the good bacteria in your gut.  To have a healthy gut you need to populate it with good bacteria by eating yogurt and then you need to “feed” those good bacteria by adding some fiber to your diet.  Fiber is not only good as a food source for your good gut bacteria, fiber is also good for your heart.  A recent article in our local newspaper points out “Four ways fiber helps your heart” taken from an article by a registered dietitian, Carolyn Williams.  She acknowledges fiber is good for your gut but also your heart by saying, “to put it simply, eating more fiber means a healthy gut, and a healthy gut means a healthy heart.”  

 So how does fiber promote heart health? 

1. Fiber lowers your cholesterol.  Have you seen the oatmeal and Cheerios packages?  Right on the front of Cheerios, it states, “Can help lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet”.  Foods like oatmeal and Cheerios, which is made from oats, have fiber that acts like a sponge and literally helps carry the cholesterol out of your body.  Not just any cholesterol.  This fiber in food helps lower the bad cholesterol or LDL cholesterol.  Your good gut bacteria also help lower LDL cholesterol and your triglycerides. 
2. Fiber helps prevent inflammation.  Having a healthy gut helps your body absorb needed nutrients but also helps block out any food components that are inflammatory.  If you don’t keep a healthy gut, then these inflammatory food components can “leak”” into your body.  Keeping these inflammatory food components out helps prevent heart disease. 
3. Fiber can help lower blood pressure.  As noted last week, fiber feeds the good bacteria in your gut.  When this happens, some fiber is fermented which produces short chain fatty acids (SCFA). These SCFA’s in turn feed the good bacteria.  Research has shown these SCFA also lower your blood pressure.  If you have high blood pressure, consider upping your fiber intake.
4. Fiber helps you lose belly fat.  This may surprise people.  Who doesn’t want to lose some fat around their belly?  (See Nutrition in the News).  People who have more fiber in their diet have less fat around their midsection.  Fiber also helps fill you up at meals so you may eat less and help with losing weight.   

How much fiber do you need?

The Food and Drug Administration recommends 25 grams of fiber a day for a 2000 calorie diet.  UCSF Health recommends:  Total dietary fiber intake should be 25-30 grams a day from food, not supplements.  Most Americans are taking in far less fiber than these recommended amounts – only about 15 grams a day.   If you want to increase your fiber intake, do so gradually.  Otherwise, your stomach will protest in the form of bloating and gassiness.  My son-in-law aptly terms this as having a “bubble gut”.  To avoid “bubble gut”, add fiber to your diet slowly and give your body time to adjust.

How can you increase fiber in your diet?

After the article appeared in our newspaper, a reader wrote in to say she was coming up with ways to add fiber to her diet.  She started adding 1.5 tablespoons of ground flaxseed to her oatmeal.  UCSF Health has some great ways to add fiber to your day:

• Whole grain bread – choose whole grain instead of white bread.  If you don’t like whole grain bread, then choose a bread that is part whole grain.
• Wheat germ – this used to be a popular health food but has fallen out of favor.  Sprinkle wheat germ on cereal, yogurt, or on a salad.
• Cereal – oatmeal is always a healthy choice as are Cheerios.  But all General Mills cereals are whole grain so choose a cereal you like.  Look for a cereal that has at least 5 grams fiber per serving.
• Whole wheat crackers – Triscuits, Wheat Thins – there are many to choose from.  Even Goldfish offers a whole grain version.
• Beans – add a lot of fiber to your diet.  Beans and franks, chili that has beans in it.  Add garbanzo beans to a salad.   

Cheerios add fiber that is good for your heart.

·         Fruit and Veggies – Choose fresh fruit and vegetables.  I like juice but no fiber in orange juice unless you get the OJ with pulp.  (See: How many fruits and vegetables do you need?)  Eat some dried fruit.  Add raisins to your oatmeal, have dried fruit as a snack.  Dried fruit is easy to carry for a snack when you are on the go.  Add a handful of baby carrots to your lunch.  I try to eat some baby carrots every day at lunch.   

Years ago, my husband wanted to lower his cholesterol.  I told him to up his fiber.  He asked me how much fiber he needed each day and then he started tracking his fiber intake.  Although he had a healthy diet overall, he was short on fiber grams.  We both added more fiber to our diet.  Our stomachs were not too happy at first.  It does take awhile for your gut to adjust to a higher fiber intake.  But now, we both have higher fiber diets and include yogurt each day to add those good bacteria.  The added fiber in his diet did lower his cholesterol so he still keeps up his fiber intake.  My sister said she has added chia seeds to her diet.  A super food.  Not only are chia seeds loaded with nutrients, 2 tablespoons of chia seeds add 11 grams of fiber to your day.  How can you add more fiber to your diet?

Look for cereal with 5 grams of fiber per serving.

Sources:  Four ways fiber helps your heart , Nutrition in the News , recommends , Americans , UCSF Health , How many fruits and vegetables do you need?   Image sources:  Cheerios  ,  Vegetable heart , High fiber foods