| Fiber and Brain Health | | | | normalize blood glucose levels by slowing down the |
| As we age, our bodies begin to deteriorate. No matter | | | | time it takes food to leave the stomach and delaying |
| how well we take care of ourselves, we become | | | | the absorption of glucose (blood sugar) from a meal. |
| slower, more fragile, and our mental capacity suffers. | | | | Finally, because it helps to block the absorption of |
| The good news, however, is that a diet rich in | | | | calories consumed and lead those calories out of the |
| high-fiber foods may help support brain and bone | | | | body, fiber actually eliminates calories from the foods |
| health-two of the most common concerns among | | | | you eat. As a result, those who consume a high-fiber |
| elderly Americans. | | | | diet tend to lose weight and more effectively manage |
| More than 4.5 million Americans suffer from | | | | a healthy body weight. |
| Alzheimer's disease, and every year more than | | | | Fiber and Bone Health |
| 350,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United | | | | Can high-fiber foods keep your bones strong? When |
| States. While its affect on memory and personality are | | | | researchers turned their attention to the bone health of |
| profound, Alzheimer's can also be deadly, resulting in | | | | people taking part in the long-term Framingham Heart |
| approximately 60,000 die deaths yearly. | | | | Study conducted in Massachusetts, they found that |
| By the middle of the twenty-first century more than 13 | | | | those who ate the most fruits and vegetables also |
| million U.S. citizens are expected to have this | | | | had the strongest bones as they aged. According to |
| irreversible brain disorder, but a high-fiber that includes | | | | Associate Professor of Nutrition at Tufts University |
| plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts | | | | Katherine L. Tucker PhD, "this provides yet another |
| and seeds may be effective in lowering your risk of | | | | reason to emphasize the intake of fruits and |
| developing Alzheimer's as you age. | | | | vegetables." |
| Swedish scientists have established that people who | | | | Although the healthy bone benefits of high-fiber fruits |
| effectively control their weight, cholesterol, and blood | | | | and vegetables may be linked to the beneficial |
| pressure can significantly decrease the risk of | | | | amounts of potassium and magnesium that they |
| suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and | | | | contain, researchers cannot rule out other factors, |
| that's where high-fiber foods come in. In addition to | | | | such as fiber, as an aid to bone strength. |
| regulating blood pressure, fiber helps to lower LDL | | | | An important discovery in the study was that people |
| (bad) cholesterol levels while raising the protective HDL | | | | who ate large amounts of processed foods (that are |
| (good) cholesterol levels. | | | | low in fiber and minerals) had weaker bones. Eating a |
| As a calorie-free weight loss tool, fiber helps manage | | | | low-fiber diet also makes you more likely to be among |
| hunger by stimulating the release of cholecystokinin | | | | the nearly 30 million Americans who suffer from |
| (CCK), a hormone that sends a message to your brain | | | | osteoporosis, a degenerative bone disease that often |
| that you are full. It also promotes and prolongs the | | | | occurs in middle age. Osteoporosis can often lead to |
| elevation of CCK in the blood, which makes you feel | | | | debilitating hip fractures, which in many cases cause |
| full for longer periods of time. High-fiber foods also help | | | | disability and an overall deterioration of health. |