The Life Extension Editorial Staff
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 There are alternative therapies that are safer and more effective than conventional laxatives and they work better for more people than fiber supplements.
For the most part, chronic constipation is amenable to changes in lifestyle. Begin by increasing exercise or general activity during the day. This can be as little as 20 minutes of walking briskly on a regular basis. Remove as many processed foods as possible from your diet and replace them with fiber-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain cereals. |
Nicola Reavley
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 Therapeutic uses of supplements
While fiber supplements do not substitute for a high fiber diet, they may be useful in certain circumstances. fiber supplements are available in several forms, such as psyllium seed, oat bran, rice bran, guar gum and flaxseeds. They are used to treat constipation, high cholesterol, irritable bowel syndrome2 and obesity.
Algae: spirulina and chlorella
Algae are green, or 'blue-green' freshwater, one-celled organisms that can be grown, dried, and used as nutritional supplements.
What they do in the body
They are high in protein and contain all the amino acids. |
Bill Gottlieb
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 FIBER SUPPLEMENTS: Adding Bulk to Loose Stools
Taking fiber supplements with meals can be extremely helpful for chronic diarrhea, says Dr. Salt, because they help make stools firmer. Look for a product that contains psyllium seeds, without dyes or fillers. With each meal, take 2 rounded teaspoons in an 8-ounce glass of fat-free milk, water, or fruit juice, he advises. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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 Replace lost minerals that may be absorbed by fiber with a mineral supplement taken at another time. fiber supplements of all types should be taken between meals, or at least one-half to one hour before meals. If taken during meals, fiber will bind with food nutrients and remove them from the body.
FOODS WITH THE HIGHEST FIBER CONTENT
Among foods that will add the greatest amount of useful fiber to your diet are whole-grain cereals and flours, brown rice, all types of bran, apricots, dried prunes, apples, and most other fruits. Be careful of oranges, however. |
| However, fiber supplements should not be a substitute for fiber-rich foods, which also contain nutrients that help fight chronic disease.
TYPES OF FIBER
Found only in foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes, fiber makes up the components of plant cell walls. There are two basic categories of dietary fiber: soluble and insoluble. Most plants contain some of each form. Both soluble and insoluble fiber are needed in the diet, as they have different health effects. |
Ralph Golan, M.D.
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 Using flaxseed powder or psyllium husks as regular fiber supplements would present less of this risk.
If you are trying to lose weight and need a strategy that will help you eat less, take a low-phytate fiber supplement before meals—it will fill you up and lessen your appetite. If a particular meal is especially fiber poor as well as fat and sugar rich, taking your fiber supplement with it may reduce some of the inherent bowel and blood sugar consequences.
Fiber supplements should not be used on a regular basis in place of the adoption of an appropriate diet. |
| Fiber Supplements Of great help to many individuals is the addition of a fiber supplement to the diet. fiber supplements are available in powders, capsules, tablets, and wafers, from a variety of sources (psyllium seed, flaxseed, oat bran, rice bran, pectins, guar gum, gum karaya, cellulose gum, glucomannan, carrageenan, agar, triphala, etc.). Any health food store should be well stocked with a variety of these products. Some supplements contain single agents, others are combined; still others contain such synergists as herbs, bentonite clay, acidophilus, and barley malt. |
The Life Extension Editorial Staff
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| FIBER IS NOT THE SOLUTION FOR SOME PEOPLE
Studies show that some chronically constipated people do not find relief from fiber supplements.
An example of fiber not working was the report of a trial showing that 80% of patients with slow transit and 63% of patients with a disorder of defecation did not respond to dietary fiber treatment. In 85% of patients without these disorders, fiber was effective. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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| If you really do need to take fiber supplements, do not take them at the same time as any other medications. The information that follows will help you to understand the different types of fiber and how you can use them to your best benefit.
Pectin
Pectin is useful in managing diabetes because it slows the absorption of food after meals. It removes unwanted metals and toxins and helps to lessen side effects of radiation therapy. Pectin also helps to lower cholesterol and to reduce the risk of heart disease and gallstones. |
Brenda Davis and Tom Barnard
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 It is important to note, however, that problems with mineral absorption can occur if concentrated fiber supplements are added to a plant-based diet already rich in fiber. Such supplements can be valuable for people eating low-fiber, animal-centered diets, but are both unnecessary and potentially damaging to those eating high-fiber, plant-based diets.
Fiber and Gas
Gas production is a normal, healthy function of the intestines. |
The Life Extension Editorial Staff
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| Note: Do not take fiber supplements with oil-based products such as CLA.
8. Consider taking Life Flora. Six 300-mg capsules taken daily with NutraFlora (Vz to 1 tsp daily) are suggested for initial GI tract loading. One to four capsules of Life Flora are suggested for maintenance of healthy GI tract bacteria. Life Flora is most effectively used when taken between meals in divided doses, either dissolved in the mouth ot taken with water.
9. Take folic acid (800 meg) + B12 (300 meg), 1 capsule daily for healthy people. Folic acid is especially important for women of child-bearing age.
10. |
Mark Stengler, N.D.
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 FIBER SUPPLEMENTS
Many people benefit from taking fiber supplements. They may be helpful to you if you suffer from constipation, hemorrhoids, or digestive conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn's disease, or ulcerative colitis.
When patients have these conditions, I generally recommend that they first try to increase their dietary intake of fiber before taking supplements. But when you just can't get enough fiber from your daily diet, supplements are extremely helpful. |
Natural Prescriptions: Dr. Giller's Natural Treatments & Vitamin Therapies For Over 100 Common AilmentsRobert M. Giller, M.D.
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| In addition to eating a diet high in fiber, you can take fiber supplements, which have been shown to reduce blood sugar elevations and insulin requirements (fiber supplements should be taken before meals). The first one is guar, which comes in powder form. It's very important that you take guar with a large glass of water, so that you swallow it completely before it thickens. The second fiber is psyllium, which is available in the form of sugar-free Metamucil available at all health food stores. |
The Life Extension Editorial Staff
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| The fiber was derived from foodstuffs, with no emphasis placed on special or unusual fiber-fortified foods or fiber supplements. After 6 weeks, tests revealed that the high fiber diet had reduced blood glucose levels by an average of 10%; equally important, levels of circulating insulin were also reduced (Chandalia et al. 2000).
Fiber is also valuable to persons on diets because it produces a feeling of satiety, negating the desire to overeat. |
Gale Maleskey
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 It can also block the esophagus, so experts recommend avoiding fiber supplements if you have trouble swallowing.
Too much fiber can block the absorption of minerals such as iron, calcium, and zinc. It could also cause calcium losses.
If you supplement, try to get your fiber from a variety of sources in addition to a high-fiber diet. Look for products like psyllium, apple and grapefruit pectin, guar gum, methylcellulose, and calcium polycarbophil. At your local health food store, you may also find wheat and oat bran tablets and multifiber tablets with ingredients like beet and carrot fibers. |
Bill Gottlieb
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| So if you've been diagnosed with diverticulitis, use fiber supplements only with the approval and supervision of your doctor.
HIGH-FIBER FOODS: Natural Colon Protection
Eating at least five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day will provide loads of dietary fiber, with the bonus that you'll get dozens of disease-preventing phytonutrients such as vitamin C and beta-carotene, says Lipski. She also recommends adding plenty of fiber-rich whole grains and beans to your diet. |
the Editors of FC&A Medical Publishing
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 Taking fiber supplements, which don't contain any nutrients, could lead to a deficiency.
Nutritional blockbusters that fight constipation
Fiber. When your bowel movements don't happen easily, look at what you are putting on your plate. Chances are, you are piling it high with processed foods that have very little fiber. Or maybe you are filling it with meat, eggs, and dairy products. These foods don't have any fiber.
For better results, dish up lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Add plenty of dried beans, like navy, kidney, or pinto, and include whole grains, like brown rice and barley. |
| It also showed you could achieve this type of diet without taking fiber supplements or eating special fiber-fortified foods.
Prevents cancer. Wheat bran gets most of the attention when it comes to colon cancer, but oats may have some anti-cancer powers, too.
Again, the soluble fiber beta-glucan does the dirty work. Like the insoluble fiber of wheat bran, beta-glucan speeds food through the large intestine. It may also react with tiny organisms to form compounds that protect the colon wall and tame carcinogens. |
Gale Maleskey
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| Metcalfe recommends taking two tablespoons daily—in two separate doses—of a fiber/nutritional supplement that contains psyllium husks. fiber supplements like Metamucil come in a wide range of textures, and some are flavored to make them more palatable. Take them before meals, or take one tablespoon in the morning and another before you go to bed. Just make sure that you mix each tablespoon dose with at least two eight-ounce glasses of water, says Dr. Metcalfe.
Calming the Colon
Irritable bowel syndrome isn't just irritating; it can be downright painful. |
| If you've increased your dietary fiber but are still experiencing constipation problems, ask your doctor about healthy fiber supplements like Metamucil or Citrucel. phlebitis_
Phlebitis is inflammation of a vein, usually caused by a clot that forms in the vein due to poor circulation. When the clot forms, blood flow is blocked, causing pain and swelling.
Often, someone who has phlebitis can actually feel a lump under the surface of the skin where the blood-distended vein is bulging. It may feel like a hard, painful knot or a sore, bruised spot. |
Bradley J. Willcox, D. Craig Willcox, and Makoto Suzuki
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 Beans also tend to be high in flavonoids—an added bonus. fiber supplements such as psyllium are a good choice. Psyllium is an ancient Indian grain that has been found to be extremely high in fiber. It's the active ingredient in Metamucil. One large scoop in a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice gives you about 5 grams of fiber. Watch out for gas and intestinal cramps. Increased intestinal gas is a common but temporary side effect of adding more fiber to your diet. It can be avoided by upping your fiber intake slowly, and largely resolves in a few weeks. |
Bill Gottlieb
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| Once you reach this point, you can stop taking any other fiber supplements if you no longer have discomfort. Adding psyllium to your diet gradually will help control the gas that sometimes accompanies a sudden increase in fiber, she says.
Fiber creates large, soft stools by absorbing water, Lipski adds, so when you're taking psyllium or any other form of fiber, you need to drink up. She recommends drinking Vi ounce of water for each pound you weigh. Thus, if you weigh 130 pounds, you should drink 65 ounces of water; if you weigh 160, you need 80 ounces. |
Bradley J. Willcox, D. Craig Willcox, and Makoto Suzuki
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| It can also be lowered simply by adding fiber to your diet in the form of fiber supplements. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Toronto found it a particularly good research tool for predicting who would develop Type II (adult-onset) diabetes over the next few years. (The group with the highest glucose load, also called "glycemic load," was at two to three times the risk of those with the lowest glucose load.)14 Recently, the same Harvard researchers reported that glucose load is also an important risk factor for coronary heart disease. |
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
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 Drinking eight glasses of water per day supplemented with cranberry juice extract helped her kidneys flush out poisons. fiber supplements moved waste out of her colon and milk thistle helped her liver detoxify more effectively. Finally, deep breathing exercised her lungs. After three weeks, she had lost 17 pounds.
!jCAilflfN$ Many health professionals use fasting for therapeutic reasons other than weight loss, particularly detoxification. |
Ralph Golan, M.D.
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| Treatment and Preventive Measures
DIETARY RECOMMENDATIONS
• Change your diet to include fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. Add fiber supplements, such as psyllium husk, oat bran, pectin, and/or flaxseed powder, to keep stools soft and to minimize straining during elimination. Drink plenty of water (four to six large glasses daily).
DETOXIFICATION PROGRAM
• A fluid fast, from seven to ten days, may be needed to allow fissures time to heal. Passage of even normal stools can stretch injured tissues, causing pain and bleeding. |
J. Robert Hatherill
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 Processed foods contain little fiber which, in turn, supports a growing multimillion-dollar industry for fiber supplements!
The new techno-refined foods quickly became the staples of the affluent diet. As long as we gleaned enough daily vitamins, everyone assumed overprocessed foods were causing no harm.
Why Overprocessed Food Is Unhealthy þProcessing strips away anticancer agents like glutathione that cannot be obtained from any other source in your diet. þToxic products are formed by high heat. |
Michael T. Murray, N.D., Joseph E. Pizzorno, N.D.
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 These fiber supplements are now being used, along with the standard ADA diet, by many experts in diabetes.4 For example, David Jenkins and colleagues developed a palatable crisp bread containing guar gum.436 When diabetic patients ate between 14 and 26 grams of guar per day, they required less insulin and had better control of blood sugar levels.4,36 It is interesting to note that these beneficial effects are maximized in patients whose diet includes at least forty percent complex carbohydrates. |
Lita Lee, Lisa Turner and Burton Goldberg
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 The reported health effects of fiber come from studies on whole food fiber, not fiber supplements which have been extracted from food.
As the colon is the dumping ground for wastes from the gastrointestinal tract, a short colon transit time (the time between ingestion of food and excretion of waste materials) is crucial to eliminate toxins from the body as quickly as possible. Colon transit time is 15 to 18 hours among populations who eat a diet high in raw, high-fiber foods. |
| Don't confuse fiber as it exists in whole raw foods with fiber supplements, which consist of a gamut of synthetic alternatives including sawdust. To really work, the fiber must not be separated from its mother plant. I am not saying that some of the excellent colon cleanse formulas containing fibers do not help. They are better than nothing when an American low-fiber diet is the standard fare. However, there is no substitute for fiber as it naturally occurs in food. |
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