But the statement that high-fiber diet can protect you against breast cancer is questionable. The investigations from the Nurses' Health Study, which involved 89,494 women that have been held for eight years, have showed in 1992 that the consumption of fiber doesn’t affect on the risk of breast cancer in middle-aged women. Before that 12 studies were reviewed and investigated and there was found the dependence between the consumption of high fiber foods and reduced risk.
In the early stages, some breast tumors can appear due to the extra amounts of estrogen circulating in the bloodstream. It is believed that fiber can hinder their growth if it binds with estrogen in the intestine. It prevents the absorption of estrogen into the bloodstream.
* Digestive disorders. Due the ability of fiber to assist in digestion and to add bulk to the stool it accelerates the transition of fecal materials through the gut. It is useful for avoiding or alleviating constipation. Also fiber decreases the risk of diverticulosis (the formation of small pouches in the colon wall because of the pressure of straining during the movements in the bowel). People suffering from diverticulosis take a lot of fiber in order to lessen the symptoms like constipation and/or diarrhea, abdominal pain, flatulence, and mucus or blood in the stool.
* Diabetes. Soluble fiber can slow the digestion and the absorption of carbohydrates. It is suggested that it aids in the regulation of blood sugar levels during the day. Also recent studies held in the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the Feb. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, state that a high-sugar, low-fiber diet creates doubled women's risk of Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes. Cereal fiber managed to lower this risk by 28 percent while fiber from fruits and vegetables didn’t produce any effect. But it should be mentioned that cola beverages, white bread, white rice and french fries increased the risk.
High-fiber diets can help you blunt the negative influence of smoking and the other risks that may cause heart diseases.
* Heart Disease. It has been proved that heart- heathy diet which is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and contains a lot of fruits, vegetables and grain products with soluble fiber are crucial for decreasing the cholesterol levels that can drop between 0.5 percent and 2 percent for every gram of soluble fiber eaten per day.
When soluble fiber passes through the gastrointestinal tract it binds to dietary cholesterol and aids in its elimination. Due to this your blood cholesterol levels also decrease which as a result reduces cholesterol deposits on arterial walls that eventually choke off the vessel. Also there is a thought that soluble fiber may slow the production of cholesterol in your liver and makes low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles larger and not so dense. It is known that such small and dense LDL particles are very useful for your health.
The two recent long-term large-scale studies of men showed that high fiber intake can dramatically reduce the risk of heart attack.
It means that high-fiber diets helps in reducing the bad effects caused by smoking as well as other negative factors that may lead to heart disease.
* Obesity. Due to the fact that insoluble fiber in indigestible and it passes through your body intact it is very law in calories. Foods that contain fiber are also very filling because your digestive tract can handle only so much bulk at a time so that you will eat less. Insoluble fiber aids in the absorption of dietary fat which is dense in calories. That’s why if you tend to lose weight it will be more beneficial for you to take an apple instead of chips.
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