EAT FIBER

“Published in the prestigious Annals of Internal Medicine, a study entitled single component versus multi component dietary goals randomly assigned hundreds of people into one of two weight loss regimens. One simply encouraged people to get at least 30 grams of fiber each day, which is about the recommended minimum adequate intake. The other group was advised to follow a far more complex weight loss program recommended by the American Heart Association. Even though both groups were told to reach the same fiber target, the group whose sole focus was fiber intake ended up eating more than twice as much extra fiber as the multi component intervention, and surprisingly similarly improved the quality of their diets.”

“Researchers in Sweden gave people beans for supper, and by the next morning, after their friendly flora had a chance to eat them too, their satiety hormones like PYY were up, their hunger hormone ghrelin was down, and they reported feeling less hungry. The researchers didn't measure subsequent food intake, but a similar study with whole grain rye for supper did and found a decrease in food intake at lunch the next day. Those who had eaten the fiber rich food the night before felt fully satiated with about a 100 fewer calories at a meal more than twelve hours later.”

“Researchers in Sweden gave people beans for supper, and by the next morning, after their friendly flora had a chance to eat them too, their satiety hormones like PYY were up, their hunger hormone ghrelin was down, and they reported feeling less hungry. Those who had eaten the fiber-rich food the night before felt fully satiated with about 100 fewer calories at a meal more than 12 hours later.”

“Even though both groups were told to reach the same fiber target, the group whose sole focus was fiber intake ended up eating more than twice as much extra fiber as the multi-component intervention, and surprisingly similarly improved the quality of their diets. So the fiber only group ended up reducing their saturated fat intake as much as the group was explicitly instructed to do so.”

“A cohort study of overweight youth found that the amount of fiber found in a single half cup daily serving of beans, about six grams, over about a two year period was associated with a profound twenty five percent difference in abdominal obesity. In about the same time frame in middle aged women, each two gram increase in daily fiber was associated with a weight decrease of about a pound.”

“In a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study, researchers showed that people's metabolism can be boosted within 30 minutes of an infusion into their rectums of short-chain fatty acids. The molecules our gut bacteria make when we feed them fiber. The study used the amounts we'd expect to create ourselves just from eating a fat-fiber diet.”

“For example, the average Pima Indian in Mexico eating their traditional high fiber diet centered around the three sisters, corn, beans, and squash, is normal weight. But the average Pima on US reservations has obesity.”

“Less than three percent of Americans reach even the recommended minimum daily adequate intake of fiber. There's so much fuss about protein, but for that, the stats are reversed. More than ninety seven percent of Americans do get enough protein, and more than ninety seven percent of Americans do not get enough fiber.”

“Not only did the study participants get an increase in their resting metabolic rate, the amount of calories burned just by existing, but specifically their fat oxidation shot up as well, increasing the amount of fat they were burning by more than 25%. This translates to about an extra third of a pat of butter's worth of fat burned off their body within two hours of the infusion.”

“How much money can you make selling beans? So there are all sorts of fancy new fibers on the market with names like IQPG zero zero two a s. The IQP stands for InqFarm, the drug company that came up with it. Ironically, it was found to be quite effective according, of course, to the employees of said drug company who published the study.”

“The evidence for the role of fiber in weight control started with so-called ecological studies. These involve comparing population averages. For example, the average Pima Indian in Mexico, eating their traditional high-fiber diet centered around the three sisters—corn, beans, and squash—is normal weight. But the average Pima on US reservations has obesity.”

“Not only did the study participants get an increase in their resting metabolic rate, the amount of calories burned just by existing, but specifically their fat oxidation shot up as well, increasing the amount of fat they were burning by more than 25%. This translates to about an extra third of a pat of butter's worth of fat burned off their body within two hours of the infusion.”