Here are four ways this nutrient is the most important you can eat for weight control. The fourth way may be a game-changer.
1. It Holds onto Water and Fills the Stomach
This nutrient holds onto water and fills the stomach, increasing your sense of fullness — so you wind up eating fewer calories overall.
2. It Feeds the Right Gut Flora
It provides prebiotics that help grow the right kind of gut flora, which supports weight control.
3. It Slows Calorie Absorption
This nutrient slows the absorption of calories, which keeps insulin levels low. This matters because insulin stimulates the body to produce fat.
4. The Surprise Benefit: It Blocks Calorie Absorption
Of course, this nutrient is fiber. But unexpectedly, the fourth way it helps is that it actually cuts the amount of calories that get into your body. In one study, people on a high-fiber diet absorbed 116 fewer calories than participants eating the same number of calories but with less fiber.
For a list of 25 foods and their fiber content, download the free eBook Health Secrets at peacediet.org.
About Dr. Terry Shintani, MD, JD, MPH
Dr. Terry Shintani is a Harvard-trained physician and nutritionist, named a Living Treasure of Hawai’i and recipient of the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Award for Excellence. He is the creator of the Peace Diet and the landmark Waianae Diet — published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and cited over 137 times — and the author of 16 books on natural health and nutrition, drawing on more than 35 years of clinical practice in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Learn more about Dr. Shintani’s work and recognition: NLM Native Voices
Sources:
- NIH/PubMed — Dietary Fiber and Fecal Caloric Excretion
- NIH/PubMed — Fiber, Satiety, and Gastric Emptying
- NIH/PubMed — Fiber Fermentation, Gut Microbiota, and Weight Regulation