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