Eat fiber foods for health and immunity
Whether you get sick or not is determined by the strength of your immune system and dietary fiber is a major factor in increasing your immune system’s ability to fight disease. Fiber feeds your gut microbiome which is to say, poop. Poop, previously thought to be mere waste, has now been found to be a critically important system that interacts with our immune system and the rest of the body. Some 60% of the weight of your poop is bacteria.1 These bacteria interact with the rest of your body and critically, 70% of your immune system actually lives in your gut.2 The importance of your poop to your immunity and health cannot be overstated.
Fiber feeds your good bacteria that feed you
It is the poop bacteria in your colon, the large last part of your intestines, that must be fed and fiber is a major food source that makes them thrive. When they process fiber they feed us back nutrients that determine our immunity and health. Fiber lowers blood cholesterol for cardiovascular health, reduces glucose absorption to mitigate diabetes, and stimulates disease-fighting T-cells.3 Also, fiber makes your whole gut intestinal system run efficiently with softer stools mitigating hemorrhoids.
What are fiber foods?
What are fiber foods? Fiber is only contained in plants so this leaves out meat, chicken, fish, and dairy. Fiber foods include cereals, like oats, vegetables, like broccoli, legumes like beans, and fruit, like apples and mangos. The ideal diet is a Whole Food Plant-Based lifestyle in which there is no need to count calories because you are eating nutrient-rich and calorie-lean food along with exercise, sleep, and stress-reduction. In conclusion, eat your veggies to get the fiber you need…the more the better.
For a thorough analysis of fiber, immunity, and health see an excellent research-based book by gastroenterologist Will Bulsiewicz, M.D., Fiber Fueled.4
References
1. Ming-Wun Wong et al. Impact of Vegan Diets on Gut Microbiota: An Update on the Clinical Implications. TzuChi Medical Journal. 2018;30(4): 200–203, https://doi.org/10.4103/tcmj. tcmj_21_18.
2. G. Vighi et al. Allergy and the Gastrointestinal System. Clinical and Experimental Immunology. 2008;153 Suppl 1:3–6, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2249.2008.03713.x.
3. Etan Orgel and Steven D. Mittelman. The Links between Insulin Resistance, Diabetes, and Cancer. Current Diabetes Reports. 2013;13(2):213–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-012- 0356-6.
4. Bulsiewicz W. Fiber Fueled. New York, NY: Avery Perguin Random House; 2020.
