Are we eating enough fiber today?

Unfortunately, obesity, digestive disorders or even an increased risk of colon cancer often affect young people today - because if a particularly valuable nutritional component is missing from our diet, this can have devastating consequences for our health, our performance and our well-being.

Reason enough not only to take a closer look at the topic of dietary fiber, but also to reflect on your own supply situation and, if necessary, to consistently close any existing supply gaps.

First the basics: What are fiber?

Doctors, nutritionists and institutions attest that fiber has a high health benefit. But first things first: Fiber is a complex carbohydrate that consists of a large number of sugar molecules. It is a fiber-rich ingredient that is mainly found in plant-based foods. The fiber-rich foods include:

• Grains (e.g. spelt, oats and rye)
• Legumes (e.g. lentils, chickpeas and soybeans)
• vegetables (e.g. cauliflower, broccoli and fennel)
• Fruit (e.g. dried fruits such as dates, plums and raisins)

Basically, dietary fiber can be divided into water-soluble and water-insoluble types. In particular, our "good" intestinal bacteria love water-soluble fiber and we need it as urgently as humans need air to breathe.

Dietary fiber is a true health all-rounder

Anyone who manages to consume enough fiber in their diet will benefit from numerous positive effects. This does not only affect digestion - the most well-known benefit of a high-fiber diet. Insoluble fiber, such as cellulose, can increase stool volume because it binds water and swells in the intestine. This results in the well-known digestive effect.

But that’s not all, because water-soluble fiber is also known as functional prebiotics These include oligofructose, inulin, pectin and resistant starch. They also interact with water and serve the desirable and useful intestinal inhabitants in the form of Lactobacilli and bifidobacteria in the large intestine as important food source. A sufficient supply of food – that is, enough fiber in the diet – has a strong effect on the optimal population of these “good” intestinal bacteria, which play a key role in healthy & efficient intestinal flora are involved.

A high consumption of fiber can even reduce risk, on type 2 diabetes or heart disease to suffer (1). At this point it becomes clear what high nutritional benefits contained in the dietary fibre that was previously wrongly denigrated as ballast!

Fiber helps with weight loss

Slim and fit – this is the goal pursued by many men and women all over the world and is therefore looking for effective means and ways to fight excess pounds. This is where fiber comes into play, because whoever lose weight successfully and healthily If you want to lose weight, you should definitely include fiber in your diet. The fact is: A high intake of fiber can have a positive effect on weight management.Not only studies (2) have reached this conclusion, but even the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has expressed itself in this direction. (1)

Particularly interesting in this context: fiber saturates the Bacteroidetes bacteria, which is also known as fitness and slimming bacteria The bacteria of this genus are a particularly useful intestinal bacteriaA diet rich in fibre supports the spread of these functional bacteria, which also support the bacteria of the genus useful Firmicutes (including Lactobacillus) or a important balance in the intestinal flora create.

A optimal ratio of "good" intestinal bacteria" seems for the successful weight loss to be particularly relevant: Scientific studies have shown that overweight people have significantly fewer Bacteroidetes bacteria in their intestines than people of normal weight! (3)

In addition, fiber provides a satiating effectHere, the swelling properties play into our hands, which ensure better filling in the stomach. In addition, fiber delays the emptying of the stomach, which is why the feeling of satiety lasts longer.

Now, are we eating enough fiber to reap the health benefits?

Everyone should answer this important question for themselves!

How much fiber must end up on our plate in order to maintain our health and lose weight effectively?

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommends consuming at least 25g of fiber per day. (1) This minimum amount is also needed to ensure normal intestinal function.

Other institutions, such as the German Society for Nutrition, estimate a daily minimum intake of 30g per day. (4) Common recommendations are therefore to consume 30 – 40g of fiber daily. Can we achieve this?

Unfortunately, this is rather rare, because low-fiber diet actually represents a real problem of modern society represents.

Due to today’s eating habits, fewer and fewer fiber-rich foods make it onto then the diet of many people. In some cases, this even leads to glaring gaps in care, as scientific studies show.

For example, only around 9% of all adults in Great Britain manage to consume 30g of fibre daily. (5) The situation is not much better in Germany either, where the median dietary fibre intake is 17 – 21g (age-dependent). is well below the recommendations. (6)

Conclusion: Optimize fiber intake to reap health benefits!

Dietary fiber is truly a particularly valuable component of our diet. Its diverse nutritional properties influence health, performance and well-being.

Too little fiber consumption can not only cause digestive problems and promote disease, but can also make losing weight more difficult.

Make sure you consume at least 30g of fiber every day to ensure an optimal supply. Grains, legumes, fruit and vegetables are excellent sources of fiber.

If you are still part of the majority and do not manage to consume enough fiber, you can find, for example:in choco:MAGIC, colon:FRIEND and high:PROTECTORS an optimal nutritional supplement.

Did you know? The difference between prebiotics and probiotics

probiotics contain living microorganisms (including lactobacilli and bifidobacteria), which are used primarily to rebuild the intestinal flora. prebiotics These are indigestible fibers that serve as a food source for the intestinal bacteria mentioned above. They promote the growth of these microorganisms and thus promote a healthy intestinal flora. synbiotics combine probiotic germs and prebiotic substances and thus offer a synergistic effect.

1. efsa – European Food Safety Authority, “EFSA sets European reference values ​​for nutrient intake”, at: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/de/press/news/100326 (last accessed on November 5, 2020)
2. Elena Jovanovski, Nourah Mazhar, Allison Komishon, Rana Khayyat, Dandan Li, Sonia Blanco Mejia, Tauseef Khan, Alexandra L Jenkins, Lea Smircic-Duvnjak, John L Sievenpiper, Vladimir Vuksan, NCBI, “Can dietary viscous fiber affect body weight independently of an energy-restrictive diet? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials”, under: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31897475/ (last accessed on November 5, 2020)
3. Ruth E Ley, Peter J Turnbaugh, Samuel Klein, Jeffrey I Gordon, NCBI, “Microbial ecology: human gut microbes associated with obesity”, at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17183309/ (last accessed on November 5, 2020)
4. DGE -German Society for Nutrition eV, “Carbohydrates, Dietary Fiber”, under: https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/referenzwerte/kohlenhydrate-ballaststoffe/ (last accessed on November 5, 2020)
5. Rachel Gibson,* Rebeca Eriksen, Edward Chambers, He Gao, Maria Aresu, Andrew Heard, Queenie Chan, Paul Elliott, and Gary Frost, NCBI, “Intakes and Food Sources of Dietary Fiber and Their Associations with Measures of Body Composition and Inflammation in UK Adults: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Airwave Health Monitoring Study,” at “https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6722677/#B39-nutrients-11-01839“, last accessed 05.11.2020.
6. Dr. Carolin Krems, Dr. Carina Walter, Dr. Thorsten Heuer, Prof. Dr. Ingrid Hoffmann, MRI – Max Rubner Institute, “National Consumption Study II”, under: https://www.mri.bund.de/fileadmin/MRI/Institute/EV/Lebensmittelverzehr_Nährstoffzufuhr_24h-recalls-neu.pdf (last accessed on 05.11.2020)