Chapter 4 - “Hay”, What About Fiber?Want More Diabetes Info? Search HERE
was much closer to the average weight of Americans; however that hasn’t been anywhere near the average weight for us now for dozens of years. Divide your weight by two. That’s how much water you need in ounces every day. Tea doesn’t count, nor does juice, not coffee, not soft drinks – only water. It can be spring water, reverse-osmosis drinking water, even tap water in some places. But it must be water! There’s controversy about drinking distilled water however because it can leach out our minerals. Other researchers tell us that using distilled water is fine if you add about a teaspoon of sea salt to each gallon to replace the natural minerals. If you just can’t stand drinking water by itself, squeeze one slice of lemon into it. The lemon slice is good for neutralizing the chlorine in tap water too. In most places, bottled water is tastier than tap water. But be sure to get your water in adequate amounts. Back to the benefits of fiber. Fiber also binds to bile salts in the intestines. Bile is manufactured in the liver for the purpose of breaking down and digesting the fats that we eat. During the digestion process, bile is converted to bile salts. These bile salts are actually toxic, so if they stay in the digestive tract too long they can cause intestinal problems. They can also be absorbed into the body where they may stress internal organs as well. When the fiber binds to bile salts in the digestive tract, it helps to neutralize their effects, and the presence of the fiber keeps food in the digestive tract moving along through the intestines without the delays of constipation. Keeping the contents moving through the intestines is important so that the bile salts will not release toxins into the blood stream through the intestinal walls. Toxicity from the bile salts is reputed to be a contributor to colon cancer. Adequate fiber in the daily diet, on the other hand, is famous for its anti-colon cancer benefits. Where do we get fiber? We get it from just about any kind of vegetable matter. Some vegetables certainly have higher fiber content than others. For instance, I was surprised to discover that an avocado
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