Fiber, Nutrition, Etc...

Without getting into too much detail or taking a whole lot of time, I just wanted to share something real quick that shocked me.

Our internet opens up to Yahoo ... and on it there was an article about the "15 worst health and diet myths" or something like that. The part where I will not share much detail is whether or not I agree with what all they say there. I do want to share however one point. Here is what they say (there are a few spelling errors!) :

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Myth #10: You need 38 grams of fiber a day
Reality: More fiber is better, but 38 is nearly impossible

That's the recommendation from the Institute of Medicine. And it's a lot, equaling nine apples or more than a half dozen bowls of instant oatmeal. (Most people eat about 15 grams of fiber daily.) The studies found a correlation between high fiber intake and lower incidence of heart disease. But none of the high-fiber-eating groups in those studies averaged as high as 38 grams, and, in fact, people saw maximum benefits with a daily gram intake averaging from the high 20s to the low 30s.

Put the Truth to Work for You: Just eat sensibilty. Favor whole, unprocessed foods. Make sure the carbs you eat are fiber-rich—that means produce, legumes, and whole grains—because they'll help slow the aborption of sugar into your bloodstream.
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Getting 38 grams of fiber a day is "NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE"??? What planet are they on? I was so shocked by that statement because I KNEW IT WAS NOT TRUE. How do I know? I used to track what I ate using a nifty free website called nutridiary.com and also fitday.com. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables each day and also try to stick to whole grains and beans, with a little bit of meat (sometimes I have days with no meat) and little to no dairy. When I read that article and the point about how it is nearly impossible to get 38 grams of fiber in one day, I quick went on to fitday.com and plugged in what all I have eaten so far today.

Breakfast - a green smoothie consisting of 2 large bananas, 2 medium sized apples, a big handful of kale, a slice of lemon, about 2T of fresh ground flax, and 1/2c of frozen mulberries.

Lunch - Whole wheat pasta with a tomato sauce and a bowl of steamed carrots.

That's all I've had so far today, unless you want to also count the 5 cups of water and the cup of peppermint tea :)

How do I measure up? According to fitday.com, here's my tally thus far:

Calories 1,088

Fat 15.4g
Saturated 2.6g
Polyunsaturated 6.3g
Monounsaturated 4.4g

Carbohydrate 233.5g
Dietary Fiber 40.4g

Protein 29.5g

The only way this could be a little different is because I did not know how to plug in the tomato sauce I made. It did not give me an option for whole wheat noodles apart from having sauce on it, so I had to choose the "whole wheat noodles with meatless tomato sauce" option. But, that will not make a big difference for the fiber tracking point. Also, I've almost met all of the RDA's for the vitamins and minerals they have listed.

Notice my fiber intake so far today - yes, 40 grams ... and that does not even include supper, which will be beans, rice, veggies and corn tortillas ... another 20g of fiber or more. That's over 60g of fiber for one day.

If you are only getting 15g of fiber a day, you MUST eat more fruits and vegetables!! Did you know that you are supposed to have 2-3 bowel movements a day? If you are not regular in this way, you MUST do something about it. There is a lot to be said about the health of your intestines and colon ... but once again, I do not have time to get into all that stuff.

What in the world does a person eat in a day that they only get 15g of fiber?? I have an idea ... meat, cheese, white flour products, chips, soda, ... and maybe some heavily processed fruits and vegetables? Yuck. There is NO FIBER in animal products, and hardly any at all in white flour products or heavily processed fruits and vegetables.

Take care of yourself. Eat healthy foods. Stay away from foods that offer no nutrition. Snack on raw fruits and veggies. Eat a raw salad of some kind with at least one meal a day. Try green smoothies. Eat as many greens in one day as you can. Eat as much lacto-fermented foods as you can. Try making your own whole wheat bread. Or better yet, sourdough bread. (update 6-28-12: I'll try to have a recipe for that soon)

I might post more on this stuff some other time. If any of this has triggered your curiosity and you have a specific question, please ask!! A sincere question could give me a good idea for another blog post.