Emily Morris asked: Diverticulitis seems to be the new “Disease of the Year”, in the media. Everywhere you turn you’re hearing more doctors and medical studies say “More people in the world have either diverticulitis or diverticulosis than ever before!” But how many of them are telling you effective and easy ways to stop it? Certainly not many.
It’s time for a change, and it’s time for YOU to take control of your digestive health. However, in order for you to be fully in charge, you need to understand the facts. When you’re armed with what’s really going on, it makes it so much easier to reveal the easy change you can do to prevent this painful problem.
First, these intestinal changes don’t develop over night. Due to dietary habits, the problem takes a while to form, and then be noticed by the affected person. Diverticulum are small pockets in the intestine wall which develop when the intestine has to work too hard to move food through it. The great strain causes these hazardous pockets to form. They can become infected, sore, or even break open and harm your health.
But why do they form? And why “now more than ever”?
It’s not your fault! Just look around at the foods readily available to everyone. They’re full of refined flour and there isn’t a lot of ‘whole grain’ that tastes delicious as an option for you. The combination of not enough liquid throughout the day, along with not enough soluble and insoluble fiber adds up to intestinal trouble.
Fiber is important for your health on many different levels. Once you understand the benefits of fiber, you can use it to combat many common problems! There are 5 main points to keep in mind.
First:
Fiber that is incompletely or slowly digested promotes normal bowl function and treats constipation. This type of fiber also helps prevent diverticulosis and diverticulitis. It provides relief from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) which is also on the rise.
Second:
Fiber-rich foods are processed more slowly by the body. This is a great benefit if you’re trying to lose weight! When foods process more slowly, you feel ‘satisfied’ or ‘full’ much faster than normal. This makes it easy to eat less at mealtime.
Third:
By packing in fiber, the food you eat is less calorically dense. The fiber fills you up, and performs its important roles, but ISNT absorbed by the body to turn into extra calories and fat.
Fourth:
Reduce your risk of colon cancer. When the food you eat has enough fiber in it, it does not spend very long in the intestines. Bile acid doesn’t get re-absorbed. Unwelcome bacteria don’t get a chance to ferment food in the intestines. Toxins don’t build up or have the opportunity to be absorbed into the body because everything “Keeps on moving”. Thirteen case-control studies were recently published on the use of fiber in the diet. They concluded with substantiated evidence that the risk of colorectal cancer in the USA could be decreased by 31% JUST by adding 13 grams more fiber each day. Easy to do? Just keep reading.
Fifth:
Cholesterol and blood glucose. Everyone knows about cholesterol levels, good and bad. There have been so many studies on it as a risk-factor for heart attacks and heart disease. There’s plenty you can do naturally to help lower cholesterol, but did you know getting enough fiber will help too? Soluble fiber has been proven to lower blood cholesterol levels.
But what about glucose? Glucose and insulin levels are important for preventing type-2 diabetes. Starchy foods, sugary drinks, and other modern-day diet options that convert quickly into sugars in the body spike insulin levels. These are hard on your body to digest…so you can give your system a break with fiber. Viscous fiber (that which appears like a gelatin) slows down the conversion of carbohydrates into sugars and helps normalize blood glucose levels.
But if fiber is so beneficial, why isn’t anyone getting enough?
There’s plenty of fiber in apple peels, celery stalks, whole-grains like oat and flax…but these foods don’t always fit into what people think is delicious or convenient. “An apple a day…” is rarely practiced by anyone! What about fiber pills or powders? These can be expensive, gritty, or “Just another pill” among a handful that people already didn’t really want to choke down every day. Plus, with supplement pills or powders, the body misses out on important oils, micronutrients and anti-oxidants available in plant fiber sources.
What can YOU do about it?
The power to save yourself from this range of digestive maladies is now in your hands. Now that you have a basic understanding of what fiber can do for you, and how it works, it’s time to take easy action and get your health under your control.
What you need, are seeds!
Chia Seeds, to be exact. These seeds are loaded with soluble & insoluble fiber. In fact, it is their special type of fiber that allows the seeds to form a bead of gel on their exterior when exposed to liquid. The fibers trap more than THREE times the weight of the seed in water, and hold it close to the outside. What does this mean for you?
Easier digestion! The liquid clings to the seed, and is removed slowly throughout the digestive process. This keeps the colon hydrated, so it’s easy to move food.
Insoluble fiber is found in the seed’s outer coating. It’s this type of fiber that isn’t digested by the body and is sometimes called ‘roughage’. It acts like a ‘sweeper’ moving things along in the intestinal tract and preventing constipation.
Fiber isn’t the only thing…remember the above points? Chia Seeds have you covered on all five points. You can even literally see the viscous (appears like a gelatin or gummy) fibers on the outside when you make Chia gel. These help lower blood cholesterol and normalize blood glucose and insulin levels.
It’s time to feel full longer, reduce your cholesterol, and clean up any colon problems! Chia Seeds are incredibly easy to use. They have no flavor of their own, so you can add them to anything you already like to eat. If they are allowed to hydrate in a liquid food (like yogurt, juice or cola) they will take on the flavor of that food. In cooking, because of their ability to distribute flavors, they can actually make the food more flavorful!
A tablespoon of Chia a day is generally what most people require. Chia seeds are incredibly safe and simple to use, so you don’t need to worry about having too much. The seeds also contain essential micro-nutrients, omega 3 healthy oils and b-vitamins. No fiber substitute can do all of that, while tasting as great and being as versatile as Chia. When you add Chia to your meals, you’re guaranteeing that you and your family are getting the fiber your body requires.
NOW is the time to take control of your digestive health, and the easiest answer is Chia.
Minnie
