High Fiber Foods Helping Aging

Fiber and Your Brain

There has been an increase in recent years of the numbers of people who experience a variety of weaknesses in their bones and brains. But new studies believe that if you follow a healthy, high-fiber, diet it may stop the break down of the brain and bones, and actually keep those parts of your body healthy into your later years.

Unfortunately the numbers of those who are suffering with the brain disease Alzheimer’s is growing. Right now there are 4.5 million American’s who have it. Another 350,000 will find out this year that they do as well. Even worse, some 60,000 will die from it.

At the rate the numbers are growing, there should be over 13 million Americans suffering the mentally debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s by 2050. With that frightening number in mind, what if someone told you there was a simple path to not being one of those numbers, just by eating more fruits, vegetables, beans, grains and other fiber-rich foods.

This is exactly what a group of scientists in Sweden are saying. In their study they found that there are a number of things that may help determine who gets Alzheimer’s and dementia. They discovered that regulating blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and weight control might help people avoid getting these brain-related disorders are. High-fiber foods could be the key since they have the benefits of helping to regulate blood pressure and keeping good and bad cholesterol levels in check.

In addition, fiber may be a friend to your weight loss plans. As you ingest fiber, it sends a message to your body release CCK hormone (cholecystokinin). This hormone sends a memo to your brain telling it that you have had enough to eat and that you are full. High-fiber foods also help moderate blood sugar levels by breaking down slowly.

Fiber also assists in weight loss by acting as a cleaner as it moves through your system. When it is making its way through the digestive tract, it picks up extra calories that have not yet been absorbed and are sitting around, then removes them from your body through bowel movements.

Bones and Fiber

When it comes to the war against weakening bones with old age, fiber may be a great ally. Framingham Heart Study researchers in Massachusetts conducted a long duration survey of the effects of diet on bone health. Over the years, they discovered that the people surveyed who kept their diets full of higher-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables, and beans had better bone health than those who had less of these items in their diet.

As you consider that 30 million Americans have the osteoporosis bone disease, you may wonder if fiber can help you prevent being next. While various studies cannot guarantee that fiber is the catalyst to being healthy, it could be. They do believe that it is most important that the fiber consumed is raw fiber from fresh, non-processed foods. Processed foods end up with a lower fiber level because of the processing.

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